Thursday, June 9, 2011

Happy 4th Birthday Alyssa (Paris Day 1)

Jonathan's brother Nathan bought a stay at an apartment in Paris at a charity auction so he invited us to come with him.The kids had a five day weekend at the end of May so we decided to head to Paris! It ended up that it was on Alyssa's birthday, but we just celebrated a little early. She didn't seem to mind (except that we didn't bring any of her toys or movies with us).

Our first day we took a train out to Versailles. When we arrived the night before, it was very warm. We decided to go sans jackets. Not a good idea! We were freezing. It was nice that we were able to spend quite a bit of time indoors. We toured the Palace first.


We sneaked a little picture in front of the gates while we were waiting in line to get in.


The inside, as would be expected, was amazing, albeit ostentatious.


Lots and lots of gold, and chandeliers in The Hall of Mirrors.


I don't remember the name of this room, but it had paintings of battles dating back to about 700 AD. 


That is a bed, if you can't tell, and the walls of the entire room were covered in the same ornate tapestry. 


I was surprised by how vast the grounds were. We were worn out after walking around.


Alyssa was enjoying herself frolicking around the flowers. We tried to get a few photos of her alone since it was her big day. I still can't believe she's four already!


Alyssa loved this fountain. It's difficult to tell from the angle, but around the bottom there are different animals. She loved the turtles.


Here is a picture looking across the grounds with the palace in the background. Jonathan and I were exhausted by the end of the day. We had forgotten the stroller and Alyssa refused to walk. She would just sit on the ground. Stubborn girl. I wonder where she picked up that trait?


In one section of the grounds, there was almost a little village with small houses, a stream, and even a farm with animals.


Kobe's taking a little break to check out the map. What is it with kids and maps? My kids are obsessed with them.

After we left Versailles. We went home for a little dinner then went to see if we could find a boat cruise for the evening. 


Here is the best picture in front of the Eiffel Tower. It's really difficult to get everyone in, and the whole tower, without making them look teeny. Oh well.


The boat cruise on the Seine was nice, but really cold. It was light when we started off, but by the end it was pretty dark.


The Eiffel Tower was really beautiful at night all lit up. I have three more days to post, so hopefully I'll get the rest up this week. I've been such a slacker! We went to London in February, and I still haven't posted those. Once I finish Paris, I'll do a little back tracking.

7 comments:

Elder and Sister Mickelsen said...

The map love might come from their Grandpa Mickelsen, who has a giant collection. Logan also collects and pours over the maps. This isn't a bad thing since we always seem to get where we are going! Paris looks amazing and from what we have heard from you, Jonathan and Nathan, it was a great trip!

jenn said...

Logan does have a map collection! In fact, when we were at Disneyland with Stephanie he was SO excited to find a puzzle of the Disneyland map! His two loves combined!

Kristi said...

Sandy--I didn't realize Arlo was into maps. That must be where they get it. Every place we went they each had to have them. By the end of the day we had 30 maps in our bag.

Jenn--That puzzle sounds fantastic. Alyssa would love that. I bet Logan enjoys putting it together. He probably has that map memorized with how many times he's been to Disneyland.

Stephanie said...

I must say I am a bit jealous of all the places you guys are visiting! Hard to believe that Alyssa is four- time is flying. We are excited for your visit next month.

Mike and Pam said...

What a fabulous day you had, I can't wait to see the pics of all the other days. Does Devon have a new hairstyle..he looks quite handsome. Maps...I think they are a guy thing. Thank you for sharing all the pictures (especially of the kids). It is nice to share your adventure with you. I can't wait to hear all about it next month. OH...booked my ticket today.WOO HOO...CA here I come.
Love you.

Kristi said...

Stephanie--We're just really fortunate to live here, which makes traveling so easy. If we still lived in the States, there's no way we could manage it. We can't wait to see everyone soon.

Kristi said...

Mom--Devon does have a new hairstyle it's like Christiano Ronaldo on one of the football teams in Spain. That little boy cracks me up. I can't wait to see you and I saw the email with your flight info. Woohoo!