{"id":11073,"date":"2019-04-01T05:47:56","date_gmt":"2019-04-01T12:47:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/?p=11073"},"modified":"2020-12-30T02:32:21","modified_gmt":"2020-12-30T10:32:21","slug":"spending-time-with-our-us-friends-in-paris-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/malimish.com\/blog\/2019\/04\/01\/spending-time-with-our-us-friends-in-paris-france\/","title":{"rendered":"Spending time with our US friends in Paris, France."},"content":{"rendered":"

Ditched the van for a couple weeks to go hang out in Paris, France. We are meeting our college friends there while they are on their spring break.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

Athens > Rome > Paris.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

Arrived super late in Paris and had trouble finding a taxi. Once we did, he drove us to our AirBnB and rushed us and our sleepy kids out of the van. Seemed weird. Luka ended up leaving his satchel in the van during the rush which had his phone in it. Not a happy start to the trip. We had a tracker on the phone and saw where it was. Sent his phone a message and then whoever had it, deactivated it after seeing our message to get our phone back. Grr.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

How about some chocolate croissants to get us smiling again?!? Yes please!<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

Off to meet our first set of college friends at the Eiffel Tower.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

So pretty at night.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

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Beers on the lawn with Sal and Cynthia. So nice to see familiar smiling faces again.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

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Still upset about his phone. He lost all his little journals on there. I’m sad about it too, buddy.<\/p>\n

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Day two with Sal and Cynthia. A subway straight to…<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

.. Chipotle! Haha. Yes, we did. We really miss food from home. And while it’s a little different than the ones in US, it’s close enough and hit the spot.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

And when we Paris, we do all the Paris things.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

Feeding pigeons in front of Notre Dame (just weeks before the fire that destroyed it).<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

Get ready, Luka!<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

Oh, Luka!<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

Well, this is something.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

Met up with our friends again at cafe down the street from Notre Dame.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

That’s no Chipotle. Lol.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

Where to next?<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

Frizzy hair, don’t care. We’re in Paris!<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

Swans in the Seine River.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

Posing with the Louvre pyramid.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

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Still thinking about his phone.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

So much walking so we decided to take a break at a park. Playground for the kids and drinks for the adults.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

Us ladies chose champagne, of course. No cups? No problem! We’ll drink out of Pringle cans. Hahahahah.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

We were so amused by our brilliant idea.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

Springtime blooms.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

Sal making an appearance in Dan’s vlog.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

Love lock bridge.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

When our next set of college friends arrived, we moved to a 2-unit AirBnB with them and starting exploring the city once again.They had tickets to take a ride up the Eiffel Tower but we decided to pass. It’s a lot of money for us and we are not on vacation. We are living on the road full-time and can’t spend money on every single thing we see. We have to pick and choose and we didn’t choose this today.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

So we waited for them at the base of the tower and made friends with the ducklings.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

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Tulips in Paris.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

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Found a lucky coin.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

Another day complete. Time to rest at the rental and do this again tomorrow.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

The boulangerie down the street from us was delicious.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

Today the kids rode the double decker ferris wheel near the Eiffel Tower.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

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Another try at a family selfie.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

One of King Louie’s palaces that were too small so he had to move to Versailles.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

What?!?!<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

We also met up with my French cousins during one of our nights here.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

Silly Luka.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

It was a great night chatting at a cool cafe.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

Glad that we could meet and hang out \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

The next day’s adventure will be a little spookier than the rest.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

Let’s go…<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

… underground!<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

The Catacombs of Paris! The remains of six million people were removed from Parisian cemeteries in the 18th century and placed in mine shafts under the city to make room for more people above. That\u2019s strange for sure but what\u2019s stranger is the city somehow forgot this place existed until the 19th century. How?!? Anyways, look at the faces of these kids. It explains how they felt about the tour.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

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Phew. Back above ground again.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

Hello, Lady Liberty.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

Hello, tulips!<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

All the kids got to pick out a souvenir from our trip with friends. Mila chose a hat.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

Mila and Cole.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

Pros at this subway thing now.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

A day exploring the Louvre.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

It’s true. You can’t see it all in one day.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

Mona Lisa time!<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

Luka is done.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

It’s beautiful here at every angle.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

Dan and me.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

Paris never disappoints. It’s actually our second time here. We were here for a week in 2010 when we came to spend a summer in Croatia with the girls.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

Waving at people in boats on the Seine River.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

I was thinking of breaking this post up into multiple ones or cutting photos ouy, but why? This is two weeks and almost 50 miles of walking. Let’s keep going.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

Our second set of friends haven’t seen the tower light up close so here we are again. We don’t mind one bit.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

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We also spent one of our days at the flea market. Also got to eat a cafe we visited back in 2010.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

This is Mila from her last visit here. Oh my heart.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

Still delicious even though the sold out of the melted cheese platter I was really looking forward to.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

Let’s keep going.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

Not sure what is happening here. One of the kids must have wanted me to have a photo too.<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

During our last visit, we ended up skipping The Sacred Heart Basilica of Montmartre because we were traveling with two teeny kids and stroller and were worn out… but not this time. We made it!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

And I didn’t have to carry anyone! Woohoo for bigger kids!<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

\"Paris<\/p>\n

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And that concludes our side trip to Paris. Now we fly back to Greece and continue our exploration of Europe with our van. Here are a few Instagram stories from our time here. I will add Dan’s official vlogs here later when he is done with them.<\/p>\n