FRANCE - Paris In A Day and A Half with Kids

Flash back to late October when we were in France. We spent one and a half days exploring Paris, so it was a bit of a whirlwind adventure - similar to our day exploring Rome. We had made an event out of watching the Paris Olympic Opening Ceremony earlier in the year, so it was quite special for the girls to see some of the sights we saw while watching it. 

We initially planned to minimise our time in Paris due to the high cost of accommodation; we stayed in Reims for a three nights which is north east of Paris the region known for Champagne . We stayed in Paris for two nights before we flew out of Paris Charles De Gaulle airport.

 Reims was a lovely town but very quiet in terms of touristy things to do, so one of the days we dedicated to travelling into Paris to go to the Louvre. 

The Lourve

THE LOUVRE

The girls were very excited to see the Mona Lisa in Louvre after learning back Leonardo Da Vinci in Florence and also having seen references to the Mona Lisa in one of their favourite book series, Investigators. Did you know, the Mona Lisa was a relatively unknown Da Vinci painting until is it was stolen from the Louvre 1911. It’s theft and subsequent return is what has made it an attraction of the Louvre

I’m glad we dedicated the whole afternoon to the Louvre as it’s so big and very crowded. The amount of people swarming to see the Mona Lisa was unreal. And the girls were also surprised to see how small the painting is in real life. We saw some of the other highlights of the Louvre - the Venus De Milo, the Winged Nike of Samothrace, but it’s so huge! You could really spend a full day or more exploring all the galleries. The Louvre was once the royal palace before the royal family moved to the Palace of Versailles so the building is an opulent work of art in itself.

The Mona Lisa

The Winged Victory of Samothrace

Liberty Leading the People - Eugene Delacroix

NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL

On our full day in Paris, we started with a stop off at Notre Dame Cathedral which has been closed to the public since it was damaged by fire in 2019 (it re opened just recently,  this month in December) We had to change trains at Notre Dame so it was worthwhile popping up and having a look at the facade. In Reims there is another Notre Dame Cathedral that is bigger and more historically significant; we were able to go inside that one for no cost at all, so that worked out well for us.

Notre Dame Cathedral

EIFFEL TOWER

After Notre Dame we caught the train to Pont De Almas and walked around to the Eiffel Tower. We decided to not go the Eiffel Tower, many due to the cost and wait times involved. Plus I had read that you can go up to the top of the Arc De Triumph and get a view over Paris that includes the Eiffel Tower. It’s quicker and cheaper and you get arguable a better view of Paris, so we decided to prioritise that. We walked across to the Esplanade Du Trocadero and admired the Eiffel Tower from there as well

BOAT CRUISE ON THE SEINE

From here it was short walk along the Seine River to the Bateaux Mouches River Cruise Terminal, where we boarded our open top cruise boat. The cruise was a great way to see some of the iconic sites along the Seine River and it tied back into when we were watching the Olympic Opening Ceremony, seeing the boats with all the olympic athletes travelling down the river and that masked figure on the horse-boat-thing that never seemed to stop riding. 

ARC DU TRIUMPH

After the cruise we walked up to the Champs Élysées and headed to the Arc Du Triumph, where we climbed up the spiral staircases. The Champs Élysées and around the Arc was very busy but the crowds were much less hectic at the top and the views were really amazing. The Arc Du Triumph is a war memorial and inside is a small museum and exhibition. 

Arc Du Triumph

The View from the Arc Du Triumph

MONTMARTRE

The last stop of the day was the Montmartre area, where we got a late lunch and visited the Bascilia du Sacre Coeur. This are area in known for its art history, it is said that artist such as Claude Monet, Piet Mondrian, Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh and even Salvador Dali had studios and worked in and around here. But, I’ll have to admit, I felt very underwhelmed. The main street, Rue de Steinkerque, that leads from the Anvers train station to the park at the base of Sacre Coeur was fill with the souvenirs shops selling the same tacky trinkets and the steps that lead up to Sacre Coeur were so crowded with people. Maybe if we had spent some more time wandering around the streets, but we were all a little tired and worn out by this point. (We didn’t vneture far enough to see the Moulin Rouge which is also in this area) However, any disappointment was salvaged by the delicious macarons that we ate in the park below Sacre Coeur. What an iconic way to eat macarons! It was actually the first time the girls had tried them. 

Sacre Coeur

Macarons in Montmartre

I’ve been to Paris twice now and both times have been on cold cloudy grey days, so I feel like I haven’t experienced the full essence of the Parisian experience. Paris is really beautiful, I love the architecture. But I haven’t felt any sort of magic that I’ve always associated with Paris It feels like a city you really need to spend a substantial amount of time in, just hanging out and soaking in the vibes, rather than racing around, fighting the crowds to see all the sights. But in saying that, I’m glad we saw Paris, it was a real experience for the girls. It would feel wrong to come all this way and not visit Paris, although I wish I looked a little more fashionable, haha! 

FRANCE - Pont du Gard, An Ancient Roman Aqueduct

After our stay in Carcassone, we started to make our way across to Italy, where we are planning to spend a large chunk of time. We had planned to break up the long drive with an overnight stay in a town called Brignoles. It’s essentially just a small town along the the highway. We chose it because the hotel was very cheap and we knew we didn’t have a lot of time or the budget to spend a more fancy city like Nice or Cannes on the coast. 

But on the way to Brignoles, we made a stop at another UNESCO World Heritage site - Pont du Gard, an ancient Roman aqueduct that was built in the first century AD to carry water to the Roman settlement of Nemausus (what’s now known as Nimes). 

Roman Aqueducts are such an incredible feat of architectural engineering. Pont du Gard has been somewhat restored and reinforced but it’s amazing to think that this structure as been standing for over 2000 years. 

If we had more time, I would have also liked to have visited the town of Nimes. There are some fantastic roman ruins there too - including a well preserved colosseum. 

Visiting Pont du Gard is free although we did pay around 9 euros to park in the carpark of the museum. Entry to the museum was another additional cost, and we skipped this, but there are toilets, a gift shop and a cafe alongside the the museum. 

It was about a 5 - 10 minute walk to the aqueduct from the museum and carpark and you can walk across the lower level of the aqueduct and across the banks of the river below. There were a much of people swimming from the little beach area and large group of kayakers paddled past in what looked like a guided tour. 

Even though the skies were blue and the sun was shining, it was a little windy and chilly, but it did look like a great place for a swim, hike and a picnic. 

FRANCE - Cite de Carcassonne, A Fortified Medieval City

We were having so much fun relaxing in Salou that we considering cancelling our time in Carcassone, France and extending our time at La Siesta Salou Camping Resort. However, we realised that a) the accommodation in Carcassone was no longer refundable and b) there wasn’t any availability at the resort park. But I’m glad we continued on to Carcassone! I had only seen a few photos prior to deciding to add it to our itinerary, so I was surprised to realise how extensive the ancient citadel is. We had a fantastic time exploring the walled medieval city.

The fortress has over 2,500 years of history and was occupied by Romans, Visigoth and Crusaders before it fell into ruins and was nearly demolished in the mid 19th century. Thankfully it was restored and serves as one of the best examples of a medieval fortified city in France.

Inside the fortified walls are the Basilica of Saint Nazaire and the Chateau comtal de Carcassonne and many restaurants, crafts shops including leather work, soaps, perfume, jewellery and souvenirs. There is even a haunted house attraction where actors in costumes chase you for the thrill of it - we did not do it, although the girls were intrigued, if not a little confused. by the whole concept.

Carcassone was also has a Museum of the Inquisition, which details some of the gruesome torture that was inflicted during the inquisitions that took place in Carcassone against the Cathars in the 12th Century. We did not go into this either - entirely not appropriate for kids.

We did walk around the ramparts of the Chateau and took in the surrounding views. And were awe struck by the stain glass windows and vaulted ceilings of the Basilica. I thought that the Chateau could of had more historical information and displays, it had a lot in the way of architectural information.

It’s free to enter the fortified city, there’s a few hotels and even a few residents that live within the walls. But we did pay 11 Euro per adult to enter the Chateau area. It was well worth it to see the view over the medieval city and the newer part of Carcassonne from the ramparts. ( Kids are FREE )

We stayed in the newer part of Carcassonne ( pronounced Car-Ca-Son if you were wondering ) in a lovely two bedroom apartment. It was quite charming in itself and we were able to walk across to the medieval fortress quite easily. One full day was definitely enough to explore both the new and old areas of Carcassone, but the whole area surrounding it looked like it would be worth exploring - lots of vineyards, quaint towns and ancient sites.