I’ve been to Paris many times, some for work and some for pleasure but I wasn’t quite ready for this trip to Paris.  This trip to Paris came with a whole new perspective on travel that didn’t quite hit home to me when we went to Mexico or Fire Island.  Those vacations go something like this “should we go to the beach or the pool?”, no real stress or continuous movement involved there.  Pleasurable to the kids either way, a win-win situation.  The Euro vacation (in a big city anyway) is a whole other can of worms.  There’s subways involved, museums, fancy restaurants and SHOPPING to be done.  And keeping your daily check list down to  one thing with a small digression is hard.  And jet lagged kids with jet lagged parents with jet lagged parenting skills is definitely a recipe for trouble.  I’m not saying it sucked (yes, I’m saying sucked) but I am saying that I learned a valuable lesson (besides BRING A STROLLER).  I learned that you have to really, truly be in vacation mode when you travel to a city that you want to see every inch of.  To temper your expectations and remember that your kids will want to eat at the wrong time, sleep at the wrong time and have a really short attention span. If you can go to a city you love ( and I do love Paris) and just be in the moment, be happy with whatever you can get to that day and be able to let go of your own agenda- chocked full of things you will not be able to get to and let go of your regret, you can enjoy this kind of travel with a small (almost 4) child.  Having said all that, Imogen was a great traveler, her mother on the other hand, needed a minor mental adjustment.

Day 1, fresh off the plane.  This was the most peaceful part of my trip, sleeping at Notre’ Dame.  I’m not totally lame, I did wake her up so she could see it…..

Imogen and Finn at the Tuileries. For some reason this picture reminds me of that movie “The Blair Witch Project”.  Enough said.

Les jardins du Luxembourg ( so beautiful and a great kids play ground that you have to pay to get into but hey)

and the marionette theatre there.  A nice break and although it was in french, the kids did enjoy the show and the energy of the other kids.

I am not a fan of heights but since Imogen’s dad was unable to come on this trip with us (yes, this may account for some of my difficulties) I did the ferris wheel with her. 

And thanks to my new iphone 4, I could even take my own picture to document my triumph…..