En vacances!

Since our wonderful children came along holidays in our family have generally been spent camping, visiting family, going on day trips from home or staying in a self-catering cottage in the UK. This year, however, was different. DH and I really wanted to show the kids another culture so for the past few years we have been squirrelling away money every month in a sacrosanct "holiday fund". Not being beachy people we opted for a week in Paris! We found a good deal on a family friendly hotel (which included a huge breakfast), bought supplies from the numerous supermarkets, travelled on the very efficient metro and ate out at cheap local eateries.

DH was the official photographer...I claim no credit!

I cannot believe how child friendly Paris is! This pond is in the Jardin du Luxembourg where children push around model yachts with wooden sticks. DD and DS loved it so much they had two turns, although I think DH had most fun.

 

It is a very pretty park with a fantastic playground. You can buy scrumptious ice cream and watch the locals playing "petanque". The building in the background houses the French senate. Can you imagine the same thing happening outside the House of Lords?!!

Of course we had to go up the Eiffel Tower. It really does dominate the skyline.

We took the lift up, but managed to walk part of the way down. Gravity helps!

The view from the top is quite impressive!

The engineering appealed to DH.

We visited the Louvre, which, as well as being an art gallery, houses a large collection of Egyptian artefacts. DS was particularly pleased as he has just studied ancient Egypt at school. His knowledge outstripped ours!

The spectacular entrance.

The Venus de Milo.

Are they waiting for a bus?

We also visited the "Jardin des Plantes" which houses a small zoo. We hardly saw any other tourists here at all. In fact, apart from the obvious tourist traps, Paris was remarkably quiet as most Parisians were on their annual holidays. It was a good time to go!

It was a very hot day!

Loved these pink "ballerinas"!

We had a wonderful week. The children were just old enough to appreciate the more cultural parts, Paris itself is beautiful and, contrary to the stereotype, the Parisians were very friendly and patient with my schoolgirl French.

The view from the hotel roof.

I will be reopening the holiday fund, so hopefully in a few years we will be able to explore somewhere else!