A quick trip to Paris reminded us the difference between our slow travel and the standard vacation. We took 5 days, 4 nights for the trip. That really leaves 3 days to explore (a fact I did not fully comprehend until the second day 😲). Even with the short time we were able to see many of the highlights of Paris.
The trip started, as every trip does, with travel. We had a late morning flight out of Lisbon, which was great for Theo’s nap schedule. Getting to the airport was a bit of a stress though. From where we are at in Cascais there are lots of options, but all have difficulties. If we drive we either have to pay for parking (while maintaining a rental car), or return the car and lug Theo’s car seat around Paris. If we taxi (or Uber) we have the same difficulty with the car seat. If we use public transportation, we have a 25 minute walk to the train station, a ~45 minute train ride, and 2 subway rides to get to the airport. Total it is over 2 hours with all of our stuff (an amazing amount when you have a baby). After searching the web for a few days, I finally came up with an elegant solution.
We went with Uber. It turns out the airport has storage available. When we got to the airport I simply ran the car seat over to the Baggage Deposit (before security next to car park P2). It took me less than 10 minutes. On the return trip we picked up the car seat and proceeded to our rental car.
There is merit to a short timeline. I think we saw more of the Paris attractions than we have seen of the Lisbon attractions 🤔. Here is a quick summary in pictures:
Notre Dame
A (The) beautiful cathedral. Incredible architecture and details. A must stop, even on a quick trip. I particularly enjoy the gardens on the southeast side where you can see the iconic exterior.
On a side note, we passed another cathedral that may rival Notre Dame, but without the fame. Next time we are in Paris I hope to investigate Eglise Saint-Eustache (sorry somehow I did not take a picture of this one).
The Louvre
Worth going just to see the shear size. It is impressive (and confusing). I tend to be quite good with maps and 2D representation of our 3D world (e.g. the multi-floor map). But I was totally lost! The map is rubbish. And, the signs in the Louvre don’t help much… unless you want to see the Mona Lisa. Probably 50% of the signs in the museum point to the overrated painting. It feels like the place exists purely for this one, small painting.
The rest of the museum is for people to get lost. I don’t mean this in a particularly negative way; getting lost in one hall after another is really the magic of the place (and my favorite part). It is enormous. And we only saw part of it (some was closed and Theo was running out of time).
Eiffel Tower
This was a bit of a surprise to me. I have seen it a couple times before, but with all of the terrorist activities, it is now behind a wall. It is an ugly, metal wall now, but a permanent wall is under construction. You can still see the tower up close, but have to go through security (open you bag, etc.). The increased security measures change the feel of this iconic attraction, and the city as a whole.
Musée d’Orsay
My favorite museum in Paris. The impressionist exhibits are unparalleled. Leslie snapped a couple pictures of her favorite paintings. As you can see she loves Degas dancers.
Everywhere in between
We walked most places, some with the stroller, some with the pack. If you don’t mind walking 5+ miles a day, Paris is a great city to walk. Every new road we picked we found a treasure.
Leaving Notre Dame and wanting to see the Eiffel Tower, Leslie flagged down a Pedicab. Aside from being nervous about getting run over a couple times, it was a great way to cross the city. Theo loved it!
Dance
Leslie took an advanced ballet class and loved it. Definitely what inspired Degas!
Eating
Of course, you can’t talk about Paris without food, wine, and café.
Like most short trips, we needed a vacation from our vacation when we returned. With Theo in his own room again (giving us real sleep), we are now back to our slow travel style. The trip did remind us to seek out the sights around us (e.g. in Lisbon) while we have the chance. More posts to come. Cheers!
