Bonjour! (Need I say more?)

photo-12 — Oldest working pot still in Ireland

Friday at Trinity was quiet…the kids and I were home all day while Reed toured Kilbeggan Distillery, where one can find the oldest working pot still on the planet and enjoy a guided tasting of four distinct Irish whiskeys (or so I hear). While there, he enjoyed a guided tasting of four of their whiskey’s (check in with him if you want to know what he was able to try). Jackson rested up for the next leg of our journey, and it seems to have paid off as he’s feeling pretty good today.

We said goodbye to Trinity bright and early today as we caught a 4:00am bus to the airport. It was raining pretty good as we walked and waited, so we were a bit soggy by the time we got on the bus. This was the first real rain our whole time in Ireland, so I’m glad I finally had a use for my rain jacket that I brought all this way. 🙂

Anyway, as Paris is Reed’s and my favorite city in the world, we wanted to share it with the kids since we were relatively close. We took a cheap Ryanair flight from Dublin into Beauvais Airport, which is about an hour outside of Paris. The tiny airport reminded me of one in Waterloo, Iowa, though Beauvais does have passport control. We hopped on a bus and enjoyed the French countryside for awhile (& did some napping).

We took two metro trains to our favorite stop (Ecole Militaire), dropped our luggage at our hotel, and set out for some coffee and snacks. Jackson really liked his cafe creme with four sugars…so much so he even let me get a picture of the moment! We had croissants, eggs, and coffees…very Parisienne. Then we headed to the Eiffel Tower, something we all we looking forward to. We had built it up pretty big to the kids so I was a bit worried they might be let down, but it completely lived up to expectations. It truly is a marvelous structure…blows me away every time I am near it!

We spontaneously decided to do a Seine River cruise, and it was a great way to show the kids some of the big sites in an easy fashion. Seeing the Musee d’Orsay, the Louvre, Notre Dame, and all the wonderful bridges and architecture was just awesome. I think the kids are starting to understand why we love this city so much!

We got checked into our hotel, which is just a few minutes from the Eiffel Tower (the kids even have a view of it from their window!). It will be a great home base for the next thee days while we explore the city together. We got some crepes right next door and we have some wine for later. I feel very happy in this city of light…j’adore Paris!