Paris, France

We spent yet another holiday season in KSA and this year was much harder than last year for a few reasons.  First, last year we had only been away from home for about four months so missing Thanksgiving and Christmas didn't hurt too terribly bad.  Second, Jameson had just been born and we didn't have his passport or visa yet so leaving wasn't even an option.  Knowing that we couldn't leave made being here a little easier.  And third, Connor was one of just a handful of little kids on our compound at the time so he didn't really have a ton of friends.  He didn't have much to miss when everyone left the country.  This year was much different.  We were living in a basically empty compound for almost three weeks.  After about a week and a half of him moping around I vowed to get out of here next year!  The one thing that kept us going was that we would soon be heading out for a fabulous two week vacation!

We left Dammam at 3:00 am which means we left our house at around midnight.  These middle of the night flights are getting old real quick!  One might think that it would be better to fly through the night because you can sleep on the plane and be rested and refreshed and ready to tackle the day when you land.  This couldn't be farther from the truth!  We arrived in Paris around 10:30 am and our plan was to check into the hotel and head straight to Disneyland for the afternoon.  Harry's parents were scheduled to arrive at 9:30 am, but that didn't happen.  Their flight in Chicago was delayed several hours because of ice and snow so instead of leaving the airport right away, we stayed and waited for them to arrive.  By the time we finally got to our hotel we were all exhausted and Harry started getting sick.  He thinks it was the cheese he ate on our last flight.  We were off to a bad start!  We decided against Disneyland that day and settled for dinner at a pizza place in the mall across the street and early baths and bed.

We arrived in Paris just three days after the terrorist attack at Charlie Hebdo.  When we got to the mall it became very obvious that security had been stepped up.  Upon entering guards checked our bags and there were heavily armed military guys walking around in groups.  When you live in Saudi Arabia you get used to seeing guys with big guns out in public so it wasn't really shocking to me, but it was a little weird to see that in a shopping mall in Paris.

Thankfully everyone felt healthy and ready to go the next morning!  

Happy boy at breakfast!

It was a cold and dreary day, but we didn't care!

Except for him...I think he cared. Haha!

Since we didn't make it to Disneyland the day before we picked which park we thought we'd like best and went there because I knew it was unlikely that we would be able to fit both of them in.  We decided to go to Walt Disney Studios because that's where Spiderman is and all Connor had talked about was seeing Spiderman and the Eiffel Tower.  Walking in was pretty neat.  You passed by all the restaurants and the souvenir shop and got to warm up a little bit.  It is made to feel like you are on a movie set.  I think this park is supposed to be like the Hollywood Studios of Disney World.    

We went straight to Ratatouille to get our fastpass (Disneyland Paris is like old school Disney World - only one fastpass at a time and they are the paper kind that you get at the attraction).  Then we enjoyed some time in Toy Story Playland.

Buzz may speak English and Spanish in the movie, but here he speaks French!

Nap time!

After our Mine Train experience at Disney World, Connor was a little hesitant to ride anything with the slightest resemblance to a roller coaster, but we got him on the Slinky Dog and he loved it.  

He was pumped to be out of the stroller and running around while we waited in line to see Buzz.

Jameson's meeting with Buzz didn't go over well so Connor had to go solo.

Next we made our way to Mickey!

He loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse so I thought meeting him might go better.

Nope!  Haha!  At least we managed to get a somewhat decent family photo.

Not so sure about this after lunch snack!

Okay, okay...I'll try it!

Testing out his scream ability.

So Ratatouille is the newest attraction at Disneyland Paris.  Connor was excited but also quite apprehensive about riding it.  You ride in this little car and are supposed to feel like you are rat sized going around the restaurant.  I thought it was pretty fun, but Jameson was not liking it at all!  And the first time it tilted to make you feel like you were falling I knew Connor wouldn't like it either.  He said, "I told ya'll I wasn't going to like it!"

Finally it was time to meet Spiderman!  This line was just ridiculous!  It wasn't long...it just didn't move.  The line was behind a wall so you couldn't even see what we going on.  We had been going at it all day and this guy was fading fast!  He took a nap on the floor while waiting.  When we moved we would wake him up and he'd scoot over and fall back asleep!

FINALLY!  It was our turn and he got to meet Spiderman.  He was so star struck that he didn't really even talk to him.  After we were done I asked him what was wrong and he said that he just got a little nervous haha!

We made our way back to the hotel and waited for the car to pick us up and bring us to our apartment in the city.  

Crazy hair, don't care!

Nothing wrong with a few drinks while we wait.

Such a rough life!

After we got to our apartment Harry and his dad went to the grocery store to get stuff for dinner and they came back with this.  They claim they didn't even notice...hmmm...

We woke up to our first official day in the city and got ready for our walking tour (Disneyland isn't actually within the city of Paris).  

The Saint Jacques Tower is all that is left of the Church of Saint Jacques de la Boucherie.

It didn't take long to see how Je Suis Charlie had taken over the city!  This saying was everywhere!  On buildings, on people's clothes, on taxis.  Even businesses and restaurants had these signs up.

Paris wasn't my favorite place we've been to, but it is a beautiful city!  

One of the many bridges going over the River Seine.

I don't remember what this was (of course lol), but these gates reminded me of Buckingham Palace.

Notre Dame!  Kind of annoying that there is an ugly Christmas tree in front of it.

Many flags were flying at half-staff in memory of the people who were killed in the Charlie Hebdo shooting.

Point Zero right in front of the church - quite literally the center of the city.  Supposedly putting your foot on it will bring you good luck.

Of course the architecture on the church was extremely detailed and beautiful.

 I couldn't possibly remember the meaning behind all of it, but this symbolizes the return of Jesus and some people going to heaven while others go to hell.

Although we couldn't see it, the crown of thorns is housed in the church.  It is only presented to believers for veneration on the first Friday of each month and every Friday during Lent.

I really wish I would have taken pictures inside the church.  I saw lots of people doing it and our guide said we could but that some people might not like it so I didn't.  There was a service going on so I just decided not to.  It is absolutely gorgeous!!

Next we went into Shakespeare and Company.  It is a really cool and unique place.  I'm sure I would have appreciated it a little more if I were into literature.  It was once a gathering place for famous authors such as Ernest Hemingway.  We were told they would hang out and write or read and would sometimes even sleep there.  Downstairs is the bookstore and upstairs is basically a library.  There are several places tucked away where someone can sit and read.  There is also a house dog and cat that roam around. 

This is the city hall.  There is an ice skating rink and carousel right outside.  I found it to be a random place for those things.

We sat on the indoor patio of a restaurant to have lunch and watched all the people walking down the street on their way to the Je Suis Charlie rally.  It was pretty fascinating.

Loving his French baguette during lunch! 

After lunch we popped into another gorgeous, but lesser known church that I can't remember the name of!

The organ pipes.  Crazy!

Our next stop was the Louvre.

We saw military personnel at all the big sites.

This place is just massive.  And we didn't even go inside!  Museums just aren't my thing so I don't feel like I missed out on much, except maybe the Mona Lisa....but that's okay.  

Here we were walking through the garden near the Louvre.  If you look closely you can see the Arc de Triomphe behind the Ferris wheel.

The Luxor Obelisk.  It was once located in Egypt at the entrance to the Luxor Temple.  It is part of a pair with the other still at the temple in Egypt.  It was given to France in an effort to build their relationship.

Beautiful fountain in the Place de la Concorde.

At this point this guy (and the rest of us) were ready to go!  Look at his little red nose.  It was a very cold and windy day!

We ended our day with hamburgers and crepes!  So I have to say that Paris was not my favorite place we've been to.  It is a beautiful city and our guide was good enough, but I just wasn't feeling it.  Even after just the first day I was ready to leave the hustle and bustle.

The next day we took a train out to Normandy to tour that area.  I decided to do a separate blog post about our time there because it was just an incredible day and well...it just deserves it's own post :)

We didn't have any plans for our last day in Paris so since we hadn't been to the Eiffel Tower yet we set out on foot in that direction.

Pont des Arts - the love locks bridge.

So apparently Parisians aren't very fond of the recent trend of people "locking their love" at this bridge.  This is understandable because it really is an eyesore.  Over a year ago it was estimated that there were over 700,000 locks.  Part of the bridge actually collapsed a while back from the weight of it.  The city put plywood up, but that just got covered with graffiti.  I think their plan is to replace all the panels with some sort of glass so that the locks can't be attached.  City Hall has actually started saying that instead of attaching a lock, people should take a selfie on the bridge and share it with a special hashtag and the picture will appear on a website they have set up.  

None of that stopped us from putting our own lock on though LOL!  Unfortunately I forgot to put our names on it before we left home.  We tried making do, but the ink came off so we had to settle for a blank lock.

There isn't plywood on the side rails so you can see how there are locks upon locks upon locks.

Some people get really fancy and get their lock engraved like the red one with the Eiffel Tower on it.

Paris really is a beautiful city!

More evidence of the rally.

Interesting building.

We found it!

The top part of it is much shorter than I was expecting.

On our way back to the apartment we stopped at a little restaurant called Angelina that our tour guide from a few days prior had recommended to us.  He said it is famous for having the best hot chocolate.  I looked it up online after he mentioned it and people raved about it.  People were actually waiting in line outside to get a cup when we passed it while on the tour.  We went inside because we wanted to grab a bite to eat also.  

It was good, but EXTREMELY rich!  It was almost like they just melted a bar of chocolate.  We couldn't even drink a whole cup.  Definitely not our favorite but I can see why some people would love it.

After getting back to our apartment we packed up and got ready for bed.  We had to get up extremely early the next morning to catch our train to Switzerland!