December 23, 2016 Paris, France
Our journey to Paris started of at the Venice airport
waiting for what seemed to be forever for our plane to arrive. After 3 hours of
waiting, we finally were able to board our plane for our 2 hour plane ride to
Paris. I think Daddy, and I were more excited about bringing you boys to Paris
than you boys were ;p Once we arrived in Paris, the challenges began. Long
story short, mommy made a big mistake in dealing with a discounted car rental
company and we were unable to secure our rental car. Fortunately, we made the
best of the situation and ate at the nearby restaurant that the rental car was
supposed to be picked up and enjoyed our first “French” meal. We took an expensive
taxi to the B&B Disney Hotel where we would stay for 4 nights and 5 days J
December 24, 2016 Paris
Our first full day in Paris was dedicated to bringing you
boys to Disneyland. We tried our best to build up the anticipation for Jace
since you were more familiar with the Disney characters. You and Jordy
absolutely loved the Disney parade we saw in the afternoon as well as at night.
You both enjoyed seeing Santa Claus, Mickey Mouse, Toy Story characters and
Donald Duck. The smiles and excitement in your faces made our Christmas Eve
that much better! Despite the struggle of mommy and daddy to ensure our spot
during the parade, it wa worth our pushing back other rude people to make sure
you boys had a clear view of the parade! ;p We saw other characters during the
day and wanted Jace to take pictures with them. Unfortunately, Jace was very
nervous and didn’t want to stand next to any of them! We only took pictures
with two characters: Hook from Jake and the Neverland pirates and Jafar from
Aladdin. Jordy screamed and cried and could not be anywhere near the
characters. Despite all this, you both enjoyed the souvenirs we bought you and
we couldn’t wait to give you boys the rest of your Christmas gifts from Disney.
This night, we returned to the hotel and decided to give your gifts early.
Daddy built up the anticipation by first giving you both the classic mickey
mouse character as a keepsake and Jace’s response was, “I don’t like mickey
mouse.” It was 60 euros not well spent on you both haha Next, daddy gave you
both the souvenirs from Jake and the Neverland Pirates store and lastly daddy’s
choice for Jace’s gift was the StarWars storm trooper helmet which you
absolutely loved! Fortunately, Jordy liked everything given to him so he was
happy with even just the eyepatch ;p All in all, it was a great Christmas Eve
for all of us!
December 25, 2016 Paris
Christmas day! Daddy and I decided to visit downtown Paris
for Christmas and return to Disneyland the next day. We decided to give the
metro system a try and take the train from Disneyland to downtown Paris. It was
actually very easy and both of you boys loved the train ride! We began our
Christmas day by first seeing the Arc de Trimph. As usual, we walked to the
other “tourist spots” with daddy leading the way. Next, we ventured on to see
the Eiffel Tower. We were able to enjoy the Christmas market right by the
Eiffel Tower where we ate very good food from the booths there and you boys
enjoyed the kid games and prizes that we saw nearby. We continued the day into
the evening by going to see the Louvre and then continued walking around Paris
and seeing the big Christmas market there and even stopped to enjoy the
nostalgic carousel we randomly stumbled upon in a nearby park. At the Christmas
market, Jace saw a zombie ride/haunted house he wanted to go into with Daddy. I
was very surprised but reluctantly agreed for Jace to go since he was brave
enough to suggest it. Just as I had predicted, when you and Daddy got close to
the entrance, you changed your mind and didn’t want to do it anymore! Jordy and
I stayed behind and enjoyed more of the food booths while we waited for you and
daddy to do (or not do ) the ride.
We ended our night in Paris by eating at a very nice café/restaurant. We all enjoyed our Christmas in Paris J
December 26, 2016 Paris
We decided to split this day to go back one last time to
Disneyland in the morning/afternoon then spend the rest of the day at a nearby
outlet/mall to eat dinner and light shopping J
We wanted to see how you boys would like doing the rides so we waited to ride
the dumbo ride. We waited 45 minutes for a 3 minute ride! Fortunately, both of
you were able to wait and Jace enjoyed being Mommy’s riding partner. We also rode
the Aladdin ride even though it started RAINING as we actually got on the ride!
What an adventure that was haha Since the lines were too long on all the rides
we decided to focus the rest of the time on shows. The magic show was the show
that we all truly enjoyed watching. You boys couldn’t stop making comments on
all the familiar characters you saw and smiling and gasping in awe as you saw
some of the characters come down from the stage and onto the audience area. It
was definitely worth the 1 hour wait to get in the show!!!! The last show we saw was a car stunt
show that surprisingly Jace really really enjoyed! He wanted to ride in a race
car and couldn’t stop talking about it for a week! We were so happy to see you
both enjoy your last day in Disneyland! Of course when we got to the outlet
mall this was not something you boys wanted to do. Fortunately, we ate at a
great restaurant first and bribed you both with desserts in order to continue
strolling through the mall.
December 27, 2016 Paris
This was our last full day in Paris. Daddy was sest on going
to the catacombs with Jace. We read online that little kids were not allowed to
go in so I took Jordy on a 45 minute walk to a nearby mall. FOUR hours later,
daddy was close to the front of the line. Daddy was so proud at how well
behaved Jace was the entire time and never complained. Daddy made friends while
standing in line for this long and they all said what a well behaved boy Jace
was as well J
Daddy encouraged me to get a cab and see if we could cut in line and join them
before they got into the catacombs just in case Jordy could get in anyways.
Right as daddy was about to leave the ticket counter inside, I saw him as I got
out of the cab. We made it! Daddy’s new friends helped us carry our huge hiking
backpack and stroller down the many many many steps to the underground area
where the catacombs were located. As we walked up to the beginning of the wall
of skulls, both of you boys ran up to the first skulls you saw and immediately
started touching it. Little did we know there was a sign nearby that said no
touching J
It’s okay, daddy actually took a skull out of the wall that was loose and took
a picture with it! It was a very cool experience to go through an underground
catacomb filled with millions and millions of skulls! Was it worth the 4 hour
wait for daddy.....he said no! Regardless, it was a great memory to look back
on! We spent our last night in Paris going downtown once again to enjoy the
sights one last time. Paris gave us a Christmas we will never forget J
