Sunshine Travelers (00:00)
Welcome back to the Sunshine Travelers podcast. This trip to Paris started months before any of us ever set foot in Europe. We were on a FaceTime with our daughter and grandkids talking about their plans to spend two months living in Spain, and we were comparing itineraries, talking about where our travels might overlap, and trying to figure out if there was a way that we could spend more time together while we were all in Europe.
Then our granddaughter asked a very simple question. Will you meet us in Paris before we fly home? Melissa and I looked at each other, we smiled, and I don't think either of us needed more than a few seconds. Of course we will. About a week into our European adventure, we had met them in Estepona for several days before continuing on through Morocco and Italy. They finished their time in Spain while Melissa and I flew to France.
Spent several days exploring Normandy, which we'll save that for our next episode, and eventually we drove down to Paris.
We arrived the day before, everyone else, and we settled into the apartment in Montreuil Early the next morning they flew in from Spain after a few hugs, a few bags dropped on the floor, and before long we were headed into Paris. This wasn't our first visit to the city. We've been here a couple of times before, but every visit had been quick. A day here, maybe two days there.
Traveling with three generations changes the way that you experience a place. You don't just think about what you want to see. You think about where will everyone stay? How will we get around? What will keep the kids engaged? And when is it time to slow down? Looking back.
Those decisions shaped this trip every bit as much as the landmarks did.
Speaker 2 (01:45)
We're Scott and Melissa, The Sunshine Travelers.
Speaker 1 (01:48)
We're all about exploring the world and sharing the journey with you. Whether you're a seasoned traveler, dreaming of your next adventure, or just here for the stories.
Speaker 2 (01:56)
No matter where you are on your travel journey, we've got first-hand experiences, tips, and plenty of inspiration from some of the most amazing places on Earth.
Speaker 1 (02:05)
So buckle up and get ready to travel with us.
Sunshine Travelers (02:15)
So Melissa, before we jump into everything that we did, I think we should start with the area where we stayed because I think it had an impact on all the rest of the trip. Yes, I definitely agree. And I mean, while that's true for, I guess regardless of where you stay, especially in Paris, when people picture a trip to Paris, I think the natural thing to think is we're gonna stay somewhere right in the middle.
and we definitely looked at that too. That is where we have stayed before. But with six of us, we definitely started looking at apartments instead. We have just found that when traveling with them, not only just so that we can be together, but it's also nice to have a refrigerator, sometimes have a place to like keep food and have things for breakfast, at least. And, maybe even have a place
to like if we do takeout at night, have a place to come back to and do that. So that is how we ended up in Montreuil Our daughter Carey had done some research and actually found a specific apartment, reach searched the area and found that it would be probably convenient for all the things that we wanted to do on this trip. It was near a metro station. It was about the same distance to all the things we wanted to do. And we're going to talk about that.
so that's how we ended up in Montreuil Yeah, I'd say it checked all the boxes for us.
It was much more affordable than trying to find an apartment large enough for six people in central Paris. Second, it was on one of the main metro lines. So getting into the city to Versailles and to Disneyland Paris was incredibly easy and probably about the same amount of time. And finally, everyone had room to spread out. Well, I would say at least had a little bit of room to spread out. More than a hotel room.
Yes. And to be together. More than a h couple of hotel rooms.
But I think what we ended up of all those things we enjoyed the most was the neighborhood. So Montreuil was a place where people actually lived. We would pass neighborhood bakeries, little cafes, when we first got there where they were having a festival, people walking their dogs, pushing strollers, we would walk past the the fire station.
as well. So it really felt like that we were living there for a few days instead of just visiting. And our daughter had again done a lot of research. and all the reviews and different things was that this was also a very safe neighborhood to to be in.
And so since we would be walking back and forth to the metro station from the apartment, even at night, it would be a safe place to do that. we quickly learned our walk to and from that metro station. we went to the same Aldi a couple of times and and the kids got to go and just have fun doing some shopping. and I think that's the difference at making you feel what it's like to kind of live there for a few days, live like a local for a few days instead of just being in a hotel.
Well, after spending all day in Paris and coming back there every evening, I would say that was the really nice part, especially as the temperatures we were dealing with started to escalate and climb.
So we'll definitely talk more about the heat because it really became a part of almost every day that we were there. but staying outside the city also changed like the pace of what we were doing. We never really felt like we had to squeeze in one more attraction before heading back. when everybody was starting to get tired, for example, we'd just hop on the metro, we'd make our way back to Montreuil, everyone would grab a cold shower.
cool off, change clothes, let the grandkids unwind, enjoy the evening together. One night even did, carry out from a local place where no English was spoken. So that was a fun translation memory, I guess, right? I think we ended up with a whole extra meal than you had planned on buying. So but it's those little things I think that make up the memories of a trip, sometimes more than the attractions.
I think we would stay there again. We might look for an apartment that has AC, maybe a little bit closer to the metro station, especially traveling with family. But for this trip, I honestly don't think we could have made a better choice. And one other thing to consider is that transportation to and from the airport on an Uber is way cheaper than going to Paris and having to make that that trip.
So this also worked in our advantage.
And so the funny thing is when I think back on that first day, I don't immediately think about going to the Eiffel Tower. Cause I think that was the biggest thing for our granddaughter, especially, is to see that Eiffel Tower and be close to the Eiffel Tower. I remember the conversations that we had. we had seen everyone a few weeks earlier. I think it'd been about a month in Estepona. and of course we had FaceTime and talk to them,
probably almost every day. But after we left, they still had another month living in Spain. They moved from Estepona to Valencia. they did a couple of weekend trips. And so everybody had another month's worth of stories. even though we had talked to them, it was just like things that they would remember to, to tell us. So and we never really sat down and said, okay, like tell us everything. Cause that's not how it works with kids. Right.
It just happened very naturally as we walked. somebody would remember something funny and that would remind another one of them of a a story or, something that happened. And so pretty soon we'd realized that we'd walked several blocks not even thinking about exactly where we were. of the things that we tried to do is to ask everybody what surprised them the most about
say Valencia or how did they compare to Estepona? What did they think that they missed the most when they moved to Valencia? What did the kids enjoy? And these conversations just kept weaving in and out of our day. One minute we would be talking about Spain. The next minute somebody'd point out something that we saw there in Paris. And then we go right back
To talking about Spain again. And honestly, that's what I remember the most about that first day, not the landmarks that we saw, just spending time together. We did eventually make our way over to the Eiffel Tower. And even though Melissa and I had both seen it before, and our daughter had seen it before, I still don't think that that view ever gets old. In the past, you used to just could walk up to the tower and walk underneath. they had a lot of
different street vendors there and a lot of people complained about the pickpockets that operated in that area. now they've installed a security perimeter around the tower and you have to go through a security checkpoint to get inside that perimeter.
Yeah. And at first I was like, my gosh, like, do you even have to have a ticket to even go under there? because at this point we did not plan to go in the Eiffel Tower. We didn't have tickets, but that wasn't the case. It was it was literally just a security checkpoint. so that you can get inside without all that distraction. And so it's just people
trying to enjoy being at the Eiffel Tower. So we were able to go through the security checkpoint and walk directly under the tower. And there is a paved area. And so now they have food trucks and kiosks, benches, some tables, and really just a place to spread out. and even though it was hot, the tower creates a good bit of shade underneath that was actually very comfortable. We sat there and we decided to just get some lunch from one of the food trucks.
And just kinda hang out for a little while.
We hadn't intended to go up into the tower, but while we were sitting there, our granddaughter said she had been waiting her whole life to go up into the tower, and it was the only thing that she wanted to do. Well, this was the first we had heard of this, but okay. So Melissa checked online and found out that she could buy day of tickets to walk up the tower. So I guess it looks like we're gonna be walking some stairs from this point. Yeah, and it's really funny, 'cause this is just kinda how kids
role. I had asked our daughter, I said, well, why didn't we mention this before? And and she said, I actually had asked her. No, she didn't have any interest in doing that. but until they get there and then they want to do it. And I was under the impression that you needed to get tickets way in advance. And I think if it's like I mean I I won't say it wasn't busy.
But I think the maybe more in the summer that you go, you probably definitely want to try to do this. Like if this is something you want to do, get your tickets in advance. but they do reserve day of tickets. And I think they pretty much always reserve day of tickets. And so what was so interesting about this is that they had, they didn't have any that you could get online to take the elevators up. So like Scott mentioned, you could go online, you could reserve time tickets to do the walk up.
But you could, if you wanted to go stand in a line, they were still selling the elevator tickets. So I think that's that's actually really cool because a lot of places you go, if you don't plan ahead, there's like, just no way that you can do it. And I think sometimes that's kind of frustrating if you didn't know. if you have like a last minute trip, for example. And so I think that's I think it's really cool that that you can still do that. So we opted to
Just do the walk up. and so that was kind of how our schedule we got the tickets and then we're like, okay, well, while we wait, I think it was like maybe thirty, forty-five minutes before our timed entry. And so we just decided to grab some lunch. So we walked up the tower. The nice thing about it is that you can do this at your own pace. So if you need to go a couple of flights and stop, you can. and then you can stay up as long as you want. So super happy with that because
If you heard our episode on Florence, that was kind of my beef with that. You really had to rush up. You couldn't spend very long up there. So that is not the case. you only walk to around the midpoint. And then what's really cool is that there is actually some kiosk. So you can stop and get another drink. You can, there's gift shops, there's restrooms, there's more food options.
So thankfully that's all you can do for walking because knowing me, I probably would have pushed everyone all the way up to the top. but it was, it was very hot. So I think that you just we had to, make sure that we were hydrated and and kind of took our time. But I have to say, what's funny is that of the times that Scott mentioned that we had been to Paris, and even though it was a short visit,
I kind of think the Eiffel Tower is always something that you see, or it would have been something that we would have done this before, but we just had never done it. and it is actually a very amazing view. you get a 360 view of the entire city. they do have a restaurant and like I mentioned, gift shop, something to drink. I do think there's also a way that if you just want to do the restaurant,
You'd have to look into this. If you just want to do the restaurant, there's a line for the restaurant. If you then if you like make reservations for it, and then there's a way just to get to that specific restaurant. But then they have like the little food stands. you can get glasses of champagne to celebrate. I think they have a coffee shop. If it's not so hot, nobody wants anything hot. We were getting as much water as we could. So it really is something cool to do.
and if you are able to walk up it, they also what's funny is even if you buy the ticket to do the elevator up, they really do encourage you to walk down. They have all these signs that are like only this many minutes to walk down or whatever, because it always is easier to walk down, right? but then just so you know, they then also have another elevator that then like we mentioned we didn't go all the way to the top because you can't walk.
that goes all the way to the top. And I think that is something that you have to reserve in advance. But so that was that was fun. That was something that is neat when you do something like that when you didn't expect to do it. So I was glad that we got to check that off her bucket list and ours too.
So then another place that I had started seeing things about prior to our trip was Pont Neuf,
Which is one of the most well known, most famous bridges in Paris. And it wasn't because we necessarily wanted to walk across it, because what we have seen, we already knew it was closed. They were installing a temporary art installation and it incorporated the entire bridge. So an artist had transformed
And this is Paris' oldest bridge into an enormous immersive cave that looked like mountains that were snow covered called La Cavarnay de Pointe-Neuf. And so I had but kind of been seeing pictures about this. And so since I was following it, I kept seeing like reels and and things about this project. and so I knew it wouldn't be open. So the idea was gonna be that they would have that to to be able to see, and then they would open it and
You could walk through it. Kind of like you were going through a cave. There was also a lot of controversy about closing this bridge for the art installation. But it was definitely when we got there and saw it, people were even, I mean, I think a lot of people were locals and they were taking pictures with it and and things like that. So I think it just like brings people into the city to see interesting things like this. It hadn't opened yet, but if someone visits Paris six months from now or even today.
They'll see Pont Nouf the bridge. they're not gonna see the Pont Nof that we saw, which had this installation on it. Honestly, I'm I'm gonna just speak plainly here. It looked like a cheesy exhibit to me. The outside was supposed to look like mountains, but in my opinion, it looked like a cheap bouncy house that they had thrown up.
It need be taller or something. I don't know. it didn't attract my attention at all in a positive way. and I think it was supposed to open the following week after we were there. but let me just tell you, it's extremely hot and I can't imagine being trapped in a giant bouncy house with a bunch of other people with that heat wave that was happening.
What's funny is that I saw later after we had left, is that then they had had a storm and actually delayed the opening because the winds had damaged it as well. So anyway, it was interesting, maybe controversial, maybe look that up to see what it looked like. But a lot of people were there looking at it and and taking pictures
So by this point in the day, it was mid afternoon. So the heat had really settled in. we realized that the day or so before that we arrived in Paris that they were heading into their first major heat wave of the summer. Now, what is so interesting is that when we got to France just a few days earlier, it was raining and quite chilly. For a couple of days, we had on rain jackets and even wore rain pants to the Monet's garden because we didn't want to get
like soaking map walking around, but we wanted to go see it because we had tickets. so it had been all over the news and there had been a lot of discussion on social media and different things. So what you may not know is a lot of places in Paris, in France, they still do not have air conditioning. and this wasn't a surprise to us. This is this has been something that we had can encountered before. We were actually surprised that all the other places
that we had stayed in Spain, in Italy, every single one of them has had air condition installed, and most of them were, I guess should say, was were like mini split units. but Paris is still behind on this. And I don't know if it's because of energy usage or what it is, but the place that we stayed outside of Paris didn't have air conditioned and it was quite hot that last going into that last day.
So of course this this didn't have air conditioned. Thankfully the owner had fans in every room. that made a huge difference at night. We could open the windows. There were some street noise, but
You definitely could tell like people were finding shade, sitting in parks. they called out on a lot of the the things that I was looking at. and of course, especially we were gonna get to Disneyland and Versailles. that both of those websites had things about the heat wave, make sure you're drinking plenty of water.
where water would be available. Water is actually available lots of places in Paris as well. So grab a water bottle, drink it, and refill it, or bring along a water bottle. so be aware of that. if you're ever gonna travel to Paris in the summer, is looking at that as a condition. Scott had mentioned that to me, a lot of the other places that he booked, that was like always his criteria.
This particular one we booked on Airbnb, not really think not really thinking about it. It was at the end of May. They usually don't have heat waves this early. But they're seeing this more and more in Europe. So might want to make that a criteria because like Scott said earlier, I think we would find somewhere because there's just no reprieve from it. We ended up, looking at things like it would say freeze water bottles and, use them as you sleep, to, put
under your pillow or behind your legs or something like that. And then just making sure that you are hydrating Now, not during this particular heat wave, but they had a subsequent one in between the time we went and the the time we're recording this, they actually were keeping the parks open later so that people could enjoy them later. limiting where you could take alcohol, for example. a lot of times you can take it down to
the river and just enjoy it. they were canceling a lot of events just because it was too hot and warning people, I think like even later on, the Eiffel Tower was closed during the afternoon for part of the time just because it was just way too hot. I think the reason and we should make this clear, the reason they were limiting where they could take alcohol, especially around the Seine is because they had had a lot of drowning deaths.
It changed the way that people were experiencing the city. Instead of going from, one attraction to another, a lot of people were hanging out in places where they could find some shade. They were sitting in the parks, they were stopping for long lunches and really just kind of taking their time. And we found ourselves doing the same thing. Normally we'd probably keep walking and try to fit one more thing into the afternoon, even though we kept telling ourselves we're gonna stop.
Doing this. We were doing it anyway. but on this trip, or in Paris specifically because it was so hot, we found ourselves doing this less often. We'd try to find places where we could rest for a few minutes in the shade. And that's one of the things I like about traveling with family. The pace just kind of naturally slows down a little bit. Nobody felt like they had to check.
every attraction off the list. This was more about spending time together and and just being with one another more so than seeing all of the sites. there is this playground at Luxembourg Gardens that is shaded by the trees and we had wanted to take the grandkids there so that they could have an opportunity to just kind of run around and play. But unfortunately by the time we got there it was closed for the day.
However, just keep that in mind if you're going and you're going with children that that playground there at Luxembourg gardens is a good option for them.
So I think that was one of my favorite parts was the evenings. and I know Scott mentioned that if the heat gets so bad, they have to limit some of this, and then the maybe the park hours change a little bit. But it was just seeing families, couples, groups of friends in the parks, by the river. They may have gone and gotten something to eat, bottle of wine.
And just sitting there together, like enjoying the sunset, enjoying just being together. and it wasn't organized event. It's really just it literally is what people do.
I mean, it feels like the entire city gravitates to the water to find a little relief and just relax and enjoy. because it is just such such a neat feature of this of a city, right? That has a river running through it and then the boats that are restaurants and things like that. So as long as it's not in a major heat wave, that is a definitely an option of something to do. and then also go in the park.
We also saw a lot of people in the Tuileries Garden just hanging out. And they do have little kiosks that sell ice cream and and drinks and and things like that. So just keep that in mind because it's not always about, okay, we saw this church and that church and did the Eiffel Tower and went to all these museums. Notice that we haven't talked about any museums yet. and because part of being in a city and enjoying a city, especially with family.
is just enjoying things like this and being together.
Kind of makes you wonder how Paris is going to change over the next 10 to 20 years. Every summer it seems to bring on yet another heat wave. They've they're starting earlier, they're lasting longer. The temperatures are skyrocketing, 93 degrees while we were there the first time. The second time we went back, it had reached over a hundred degrees in Paris. So it'll be interesting to see how the city adapts while still preserving.
a lot of its history. are they gonna be able to retrofit these buildings with air conditioning? Are the homeowners that live in Paris or the people that live in Paris, are they gonna start adding air conditioning into their homes and apartments? It'll be interesting to watch and see what happens there.
One thing that worked really well for our family was the Batobus
If you're not familiar with it, it's basically a hop-on-hop off boat that runs along the Seine River. I don't think that enough people consider it as transportation. Everybody that we talked to talks about the metro and that the metro is fantastic, but the Batobus lets you kind of just slow down. You aren't underground, you're sitting on the river, and you get to watch Paris go by
As you are on this boat.
So and it really just gave us a chance to keep talking and talking about, catching up on all our stories. And even though we'd spent the whole morning catching up once we got on the boat, we just kept being able to just be together because a lot of times when you are on the metro, it's a lot more crowded. You're okay, when's the next stop? That kind of thing. and so what the Batobus does and is is that you can you can get on.
And off at any of the stops, you can buy a ticket on their website. Just go to look up, Paris Batobus And and you can buy it. It's like a 24 hour, a 48 hour period. So it really just depends on how long that you're going to be sightseeing. We just did the 24 hour or the one day one because we were going to be going to Disneyland the next day. And what's nice about it compared to the metro, because so much of the metro is underground and you're not seeing anything. Kind of the same thing as if you're in London.
And so you get to go past the Eiffel Tower. It takes you down to where Notre Dame is and and just different things
A lot of people online had mentioned that this is a terrific way to see Paris if you're traveling with children. And from the river, you get a completely different perspective. You pass so many of the famous landmarks that you see in pictures, whether it's Notre Dame, the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, bridges that you probably wouldn't think twice about if you were just walking across them or suddenly part of the scenery that you're looking at.
The biggest challenge for us is that it was so hot and the sun was so bright on that day, everyone was just kind of miserable and trying to find some shade. And so I think the Batobus would be extremely beneficial outside of the times when they're having the heat waves. otherwise, it didn't have enough shade to protect you, and you were just sitting there baking in the sun, and it was hard to look at.
Everything because the sun was so bright and so hot.
Well, the next day belonged to the grandkids. And at least that's what we tell ourselves. And if you're taking two young kids to Paris, Disneyland is a great option to give them a break from museums and sightseeing. I don't know who Scott's kidding. He knows that I was just excited as they were, even though I had been before, but I was also excited because you were gonna get to go for the first time. Our daughter and her husband, I think we're excited. We just really enjoy seeing.
the different Disney parks around the world. So I we think we talked about this in the episode way back somewhere, but I had been previously for a few hours. Scott had stayed in Paris for a meeting. My flight back to the US was just canceled when I got to the airport and he had told me, why don't you just go to Disneyland Paris for the rest of the day? So I didn't get really get to do a whole lot. So this time we did we got tickets for the two parks that are right there together for the whole day.
And getting there was really easy. one of the nice things about staying in Montreuil is that we were already on a major train line and with just a couple of quick connections, there's an RER line that takes you right to the front gate of the park. You step off the train and basically you're there.
So the park itself feels familiar enough if you are familiar with Walt Disney World in Orlando or Disneyland in California that you kind of always know where you are because of the way it lays out, but it's different enough that everything still feels like a new experience. And I think that's kind of how they've designed these parks as well. And we of course enjoy seeing the little differences.
Some attractions are familiar, but then they might be a little bit different. And then some are completely unique to Disneyland Paris. And so we tried to prioritize the things that each of the kids and everybody wanted to see and do.
And so, but let's be a hundred percent honest. It wasn't really about comparing the Disney parks. It was really about watching the grandkids. They had were so excited. we bought tickets for this for this particular day, like months in advance, and which I recommend that you do if you plan on going, because in all of the research I had done, The ticket prices are demand based.
so instead of it being like a set ticket price, it really depends on the demand. So if you know you're gonna go on a certain day, I recommend you go ahead and get the tickets. that's just my little side tip. So watching them decide what they wanted to ride. So they had some things in mind and what they wanted to do next and just seeing their excitement, talking about what they were seeing, the different characters, the different rides. and so those are really the memories that I came away with.
And I think one of the biggest things that I've noticed about traveling as grandparents is the destination is still important to you, but your focus changes. You're paying more attention to the experience that they are having than your own. And so for us, being able to watch them have fun and to do all these things at Disneyland Paris was probably more exciting than going to Disneyland Paris itself.
Yeah, and we've been fortunate enough to visit a lot of amazing places over the years, but there's always something really special about going back and seeing those places through somebody else's eyes, whether they are a spouse that hasn't been before, or whether they're your kids or their grandkids. It's just always really fun to be able to do that. I would say the only challenge that we ran into all day wasn't inside the park itself.
It was as we're leaving. So Disneyland Paris, the way that they do it is they have their fireworks show. And then right after the fireworks show, the whole park closes at once. So there's nothing to do. There's no reason for some people to stay inside the park after the fireworks show. And so everyone is exiting at the same time. And that means everyone is trying to get back on those trains at the same time as well. And
I think the trains do a really good job moving people, but you're definitely part of a crowd at that point. And so if you're planning your family trip and you're going to do that, just expect that. And maybe just I don't know, take your time walking to the train station. Maybe just hang out in the park. There's really not anything for you to do other than to look around, but maybe just
stay there a little bit longer. I would say it's not a reason to not go. it's just part of the experience that you need to be prepared for. Yeah. And one of the things you might want to think about it, wasn't really something that we had planned because of our short amount of time, is that you can actually add that as part of your experience and stay. they have multiple hotels there, kind of like they do in Orlando. So that might be something that you wanna go and stay.
as part of that. But like Scott mentioned, it's super easy to get out there on the train. The trains run fairly late. I think we there was a couple of more that we could have taken back, but you do have to kind of get on there and and go. But I mean, we were out till way past midnight, I wanna say. So once we did finally get back to Montreuil I think it's about an hour from there.
to Disneyland Paris, probably about the same from from Paris as well. I think everybody slept really well that night, which worked out perfectly. The next day we were gonna explore one of our favorite neighborhoods in Paris, and also visit Notre Dame. And our plan was then the next night to end the evening with the the special moment that everybody kind of wants to do in Paris, which is watch the Eiffel Tower.
sparkle after sunset. It's just a little trickier in the summer because the sunset's so late
And I'd say by that third day, everyone had already settled into a pretty comfortable routine. we started out with breakfast in Montreuil at the apartment. We would hop on the metro and then head to wherever the day took us. And that third day, that morning, we were off to Montmartre.
Scott, Montmartre has always been one of my favorite neighborhoods in Paris because it feels like a little village, maybe almost in the middle of a major city, especially where you get to the part where like the artists are and and things like that. But it has a fun atmosphere with those artists and the cafes, little side streets and people just enjoying the day. So even if you don't have a destination in mind, which is actually the first time we went to Montmartre and up to Sacra Curve, that was kind of
we were. didn't really have a destination in mind. It's the kind of place that's just really fun to just kind of wander around. it's fun to look at the authentic Prisian art. people doing silhouettes, people doing portraits, all kinds of or just having their art on showcase and doing their work right there on the street in the little plaza.
For that day, our destination happened to be Sacre-Coeuer And because it was already getting incredibly hot, we decided that we would take the funicular up to Sacre-Coeuer instead of walking. And at the time, that sounded like a really smart decision because there's a lot of steps that go up there. And I would say that's right up until the doors closed. We already knew that it was shoulder to shoulder because you could see the crowds.
But what we didn't know is there's no ventilation on that funicular. And with temperatures already in the mid nineties, it felt like we had climbed into an oven. And it's really strange because any other funicular I've been on, they have like windows that open up and then like you get a little bit of a breeze, but this one had nothing. Not this one. So thankfully it's like the shortest funicular ride in the world, but it really did feel long. You were like, my gosh, I would have rather have
Climb those stairs. We had spent the entire morning trying to stay cool and then unknowingly voluntarily stepped into the hottest place we were in all week. Our son in law Brady said he was just fighting to maintain consciousness. He said, I just wish we had just walked up those stairs.
So we laughed about it afterward, but at the time I think everybody was just hoping that the doors would open as quickly as possible and we could just get off the funicular. if we ever find ourselves back in Paris during another heat wave, we're definitely gonna walk. It's a lot of stairs, it's up. but at least you'd have a breeze. And also it's funny because the funicular is like a separate charge, unless I think you have one of the
the longer turn navigot passes or something like that. We just kinda had done, we were doing things a la carte at this point on the metro because it just made more sense. we had to pay for that whole ride. So no, we weren't gonna take it down. We went down a different way anyway. Yeah, and it's interesting to note that it does use the same ticket system as what the trains use. And so as Melissa said,
We don't I don't know if it's included in the Navigo pass, but I believe it may be. And I just wouldn't do it during the summer during a heat wave because that was a miserable experience. once you get up to Sacre-Coeuer though, the views are absolutely incredible. We had to wait in a long line to get into Sacre-Coeuer, but they had a street musician out there that kept everybody entertained while we were waiting.
I don't remember going in Sacre-Coeuer the last time that we went to Montmartre, but as I was looking back through some old photos on my phone, we must have. I even showed them to Melissa and she said, Well, I didn't go. And I showed her a picture of her there.
Neither one of us remember going in there, but we must have. I even have a few from inside of Sacre-Couer and they tell quite an opposite story being there in January as it was in June. In January we had these heavy parkas on and we were freezing our tails off, I imagine.
And I guess I just didn't remember anything about this going in at all. So we had researched it. You can go into Sakuracur for the most part. The the main part of it is free. You just have to stand in the line. it moved pretty fast. I think if you want to do like the dome and the viewpoint, it then you need to get a ticket for that. so maybe we just went in it real quick. I wanted to say something really interesting. I know that we did an episode about
travel and AI and things like that a few episodes back. But this was one place where it was a really good use of AI to have some information about Sacre-Coeuer kids. So let me give you an example. I used Claude and just told it I am a seven year old and I'm at Sacre-Coeuer and
Give me some history and some context about some of the things that I'm seeing. And so then that way the response is for a seven-year-old, which is our what our granddaughter is, and wanting to her to have a little bit of context about what she was seeing on the ceilings and things like that. And then she could just ask questions of it back. So she's really good, as probably most kids are, of using the feature where you have the microphone and you can just ask questions and then
of course we wanted to kind of be quiet. So I didn't let it like read the stuff out loud, but she would ask the questions really quietly. and so it really gave her some good information because then she was able to ask questions and get responses that were geared toward her age group. So just a little another little quick tip, not just specific to Paris or but using that to kind of cater a visit to kids and
It could be a museum, it could be whatever, have it create a scavenger hunt, but having the like telling it I'm this age and this is kind of like my interest and let it interact. We're gonna get back to some AI here in a second. but just wanted to share that tip because I think it really made that visit a lot more meaningful to for her.
Well, we left Mount Mart and walked our way back down into the city towards Notre Dame. This was our first visit since it has reopened. As many of you know, probably everybody knows, Notre Dame had this huge fire and I think for a while they were afraid that the church had been lost in that fire completely.
So we had both been there before the fire. We'd actually been with our daughter before the fire. So walking back inside was something that we were really looking forward to. and our son in law had never been. So and like Scott mentioned, there's so like so many people around the world, we watched that fire unfold in twenty nineteen and wondered what the future of Notre Dame would look like, how they would be able to restore it as well.
One the first things I noticed was how bright everything looked on the inside. And I'm certain that that has to do with the restoration. But maybe it'd been so many years since we had actually been inside. Either way, it almost felt like a completely different cathedral. And I was absolutely in awe of how quickly they restored something that is so magnificent in such a short period of time.
Yeah, I thought the same thing. And I think that once you visit so many churches like this in Europe, you realize that they've had to do restorations like this, like throughout the years, to to bring them, make them current, to just to keep them up to date. But I think this is one of the ones that probably like we are most aware of in our lifetime. but that's how these churches have survived.
for so long. But the amount of craftsmanship that goes into restoring these, I mean, it's just incredible. And it just makes you realize how much care and attention it takes to bring something like this back and to keep these things up. And so even though the grandkids are younger, I believe that they appreciated the beauty and splendor. I mean it's just such a massive church. And you see like so many people
Right, who were there to visit that and appreciate that. But we definitely did talk to them about the fire, and how it had almost destroyed that church and kind of gave them a little context of what we were seeing. another thing I wanted to mention is that you hear people give tips about churches in Italy, churches in Europe, for example, making sure that your knees and your shoulders are covered and things like that. And some of the churches you go in, they may not
be necessarily picky. We hit we went in a few where they are very picky and one of the ones in Siena, I think they had these paper things that women could wear if they had on tank tops. Well, at Notre Dame, they do not give you anything, but They do require that you have your shoulders covered and they point you to some of the street vendors selling scarves.
not very far away and then they let you come back. But I will say I don't think that they were super picky about shorts and things like that. And I don't know if it was because of the heat. but they did we saw several people who had to go and buy a scarf and then come back. So just keep that in mind for your visit.
Well, we had one more stop planned that evening. And this was something that Melissa and I and our daughter Carey have experienced before, but we really wanted the family to see it too. and that was watching the Eiffel Tower sparkle after sunset.
So we had a lot of discussion about where would be the best place. And I know this is probably everybody, if you like looked, like Googled something or looked at reels Online and said, Where's the best place to watch the Eiffel Tower? I think everybody's gonna have a different opinion.
We ended up deciding that we would go to the Jardins de Trocadero, which was a great decision. So that's now probably our favorite place to watch it. you have that classic postcard view of the Eiffel Tower, and we ended up having plenty of room to spread out and enjoy the evening.
One thing I noticed was how many families were there. You had kids playing in the grass, couples sitting together, friends talking. And after another incredibly hot day, it seemed like everyone had come back outside once the temperatures became comfortable again.
It really just reminded what we had seen the evening before along the Seine River. because during the summer, people don't just disappear when it's hot. They still come outside and want to be outside, probably because their apartments are ten times hotter, but they simply just like shift what they are doing. Later dinners, later walks, later times in the parks, more of our time outside in the evening, because I have to say the sun didn't set till like nine forty five that night.
So it's really fun to just be a part of that and experience that instead of just, seeing it on a blog and seeing it on a reel, for example. Well, we had stopped on our way there and purchased some stuff for a charcuterie bought a bottle of wine, we found a nice spot on the grass, and we enjoyed a small picnic that we brought with us. And then once the lights started sparkling, I remember looking over at our grandkids.
And they both had these big wow expressions on their face. But they were just sitting there and watching this. Yeah, it's one of those moments that you like think about for a long time because it's one of those things that you definitely want to experience when you are in Paris. And you can't really recreate that in a photograph or in a video. The picture will remind you of where you were, but it doesn't capture what it actually felt like.
being there together and watching them do something that you had talked about, they had talked about or she had talked about going to Paris for years. So I realized in that moment that we spent years visiting places like Paris because we wanted to experience them for ourselves. And now we were just as excited watching them experience that for the first time. And so I think that's one of the things I've enjoyed most.
about traveling with our grandkids, all the places that we've been able to go with them is just watching them have these experiences. And so when I think back on Paris, I don't immediately think about the Eiffel Tower. I think about sitting there together while we were waiting for it to sparkle because you want to get there early. and then once it does, just hearing everybody's reaction to that, the conversations that we had.
what it felt like just walking together and being together and being on the metro and on the Batobus together and hearing their stories and their memories from Spain, the memories that we made together at Disneyland Paris as well. And that's what's gonna stay with me, I think, about Paris the most. And then somehow after three full days, we still had one more adventure waiting for us.
The next morning we headed out to Versailles, and thanks to one suggestion that our daughter Carey had found on Instagram, it turned into one of the best days of the entire trip. None of us had ever visited Versailles before, so we really didn't know what to expect other than what you see in photographs and stories on the internet.
So the tips that you will see on social media and blogs is to be there at nine o'clock or before nine o'clock, get the nine o'clock entry time, go into that hall of mirrors and be there like one of the first people. The problem with that with kids is that it's a little trickier when you have a group of people trying to get somewhere that early. And then that just makes your day completely rushed. So instead, I did an afternoon.
Time slot after lunch. That would give us time to get there at our leisure, enjoy the gardens, have some lunch, and then go into the palace in the afternoon, hoping that it might be a little less crowded. but here is what we did in the gardens that like changed the entire day for us. And I think made it one of the most, besides Eiffel Tower, maybe, right? And a few of the moments at Disney.
one of the best things and the best memories for Versailles. So our daughter Carey actually deserves the credit for this. She had seen a video on Instagram that you could rent golf carts to explore the gardens. so we decided to try to look into that and see if that's something that we could do.
Yeah, I remember thinking to myself,
That sounds like fun, but I betcha it's gonna be pretty expensive to rent a golf cart at Versailles and ride around in those gardens. So what we had seen, I think that our daughter had assumed that it was the price per person. So we just decide to wait and see.
like how long the lawn was and stuff like that. Because one of the things I found out was that you could not make reservations. So this was a first come, first serve. They have two locations, I think, where you can pick them up, one in one near the palace and one on the back part of the gardens, which is another entry point. But we found out that it was the price per hour per golf cart. and so we would need two because we had six people. The max is four. You can have five if one of them is a
very small child. and the line was not long. when we got there, I think we ended up waiting maybe twenty minutes. And so we said, We're absolutely doing this, especially when it was as hot as it was.
I don't think any of us really appreciated just how enormous the gardens are until we started driving through them. the palace itself is spectacular. it is very large, but once you get outside, the grounds of the garden just keep going and going and going. Yeah. And so I think the golf carts are like forty to fifty euros per hour. And but you don't have to
like after you do the first hour or whatever, like it charges like incrementally by every quarter hour after that. So instead of worrying about how far we had to walk, we could just explore. the cool thing about it is that they have an audio guide that plays like automatically depending on, where you are. So if you're familiar with golf carts and certain golf courses, they like
They know where you are, if you're out of bounds, things like that. It it works the same way. And so if something caught our attention, we stopped. So it really gave us the time and the freedom to experience the gardens. because in that heat with small children, like we would not have gotten very far. and so the other thing that I thankfully had downloaded the day before was
There's a Versailles app. They have done a phenomenal job. So yes, you can use it to listen to the audio guide when you're in the palace. definitely recommend that you bring along your own headphones. So they have some really cool uses of AI and some really cool features. And so the kids absolutely loved it.
And so one of the features is that it uses AI to bring many of the statues and the fountain to life with stories and interactive experiences, just like it would be like talking to a chat, like Chat GBT or Claude or something like that. And so instead of the kids like, how much farther do we have to walk? When are we gonna be done? when can I have a drink? Something like that.
They were asking, where's the next statue? And so it was honestly a treasure hunt. So the way that it worked is you pull that up. you're looking at that particular statue and it has the AI feature and it basically starts playing, tells you a little bit about it. And then a child or an adult, anybody, but especially it's geared toward kids, they can basically ask it questions. because a lot of these are historical things, they're
From Greek mythology and things like that. And so, so because of the other story I told you about using it in Sacre-Coeuer, like she just loves that kind of thing. And then this one is already set up for voice. And so she could ask, where are you from? How old are you? just all kinds of different things. And then it would give, just interesting answers.
And I definitely don't think we would have covered nearly as much ground or enjoyed it nearly as much if we had tried to do all of that on foot. so if you're visiting Versailles with kids or anybody that maybe has mobility issues or anything like that, grandparents, I'd absolutely recommend looking into the golf carts. It's one of those little decisions that made a big difference in that part of the trip.
So I So
one of the last things I wanted to mention about Versailles is that it's so easy to go by taking the train from where we were. If you're from Paris, definitely do that. The palace is a short walk from the train station. And the ticket on that train counts as a normal metro rate. So it's a super affordable thing. And the other fun thing about taking the metro to Versailles, if you're coming from central Paris.
or where we were, which took us through central Paris, is that you want to want to pay attention out the window as you pass where the Eiffel Tower is because it has an amazing view of the Eiffel Tower from the train. And I got a really cool video of the kids like watching it out the window. So that's just a neat little little bonus. And then also it's just neat to get out. The town of Versailles again, like you feel like,
you're a world away and you're like in a little village. So we ended up having lunch in the gardens, but there's lots of other places right in the town.
It's it's kinda funny how quickly four days can go by when you're exploring a destination like Paris.
Yeah, and looking back, it ended up being so much more than we visited Paris, we explored Paris, we did these things. yes, we saw some incredible places. some of the highlights. We did not do any of the museums with the kids. we tried to do things that were, quicker and, maybe when they get older. But we spent the day at Disneyland, we wandered through Versailles, took the golf cart through the gardens. But when I think back on those four days.
I don't immediately think about the places. I think about the conversations that we had, them telling stories about their time in Spain and the other things that they had done and their shopping adventures and having meals together and enjoying the places that we did.
using the AI and like learning things together about those places. using some of the technology that was available to us and, watching the places go by on the on the bus. And those are the memories I think that stand out for me the most. I think that's what I enjoyed the most about this trip is we've been fortunate enough to visit Paris before. So this time we had a little bit of freedom to experience it differently.
And traveling with three generations changes the questions that you might ask. It changes the pace that you travel at. It changes the decisions that you're gonna make. And in our case, I think it made the trip even better.
And I think it's reinforced a couple of things that we've talked about before. number one, you don't have to have a week-long or a month-long family vacation to create great memories. we had four days. That is a great amount of time to be able to do a lot of things. And then
And because we were very intentional about spending time together, and yes, seeing a lot of the sites, but it felt so much bigger than four days. It it has these memories that we have forever. And then I think number two, going back to what Scott said, is that even if you haven't been to a place before, even if you don't know, I mean you always hope, okay, I might be able to come back to these places and see them again. But
cramming in everything that there would be due to do in Paris in four days, you're not gonna have these same memories. And that's true whether you're doing it as a couple, you're doing it as a family with your own kids, you're doing it with grandkids, you're doing it with extended family, trying to do all those things is not what you're gonna remember. So just keep that in mind as you plan your next trip.
So when our granddaughter asked, Will you meet us in Paris before we fly home? Neither of us knew exactly what those four days would become. We knew we'd see the Eiffel Tower, we knew we'd probably visit a few famous landmarks. What we didn't know was that we'd spend so much of the trip simply enjoying being together. If you're thinking about planning a trip to Paris, hopefully this episode gave you a few ideas. Maybe it's considering a neighborhood like Montreuil instead of
staying in the middle of the city. Maybe it's taking the Batobus to see Paris from the Seine. Or maybe it's sitting aside a day going to Disneyland if you're traveling with the kids. Or maybe it's renting a golf cart at Versailles. But more than anything, we hope this episode encourages you to think about who you're traveling with, not just where you're traveling.
For us, Paris wasn't memorable because we saw more. It was memorable because we shared it with people we love. Thanks for joining us for another episode of the Sunshine Travelers podcast. Next time we'll head north to Normandy and we're gonna share one of the most moving experiences we've ever had as we explore the D-Day beaches and learn more about one of history's defining moments. Until then, happy travels.
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