Peapod on Purpose

In mid-December, we traveled to a bustling city in the northern part of a country on the western side of Europe. The people there like to stay out late, and one of the most famous man-made sites in the world is there. Can you guess where it is? Paris, France! Before we went here, I had always wanted to see the city and I was so excited to visit!

While there, we were planning to: 

• Watch a shortened kids version of The Nutcracker 
• Visit Hôtel de la Marine 
• See the Notre Dame Cathedral 
• Take a boat ride to see the Eiffel Tower glowing at night 
• Go to the top of the Eiffel Tower
• See the Louvre Museum 

On the first day that we arrived, we got to see the Nutcracker! It was a shortened, one hour, kid’s version of the ballet. Marie’s Godfather walked up and down the aisles during the blackouts. He was interactive and asked the kids questions (in French!). Even though it was shorter than the original, it still had ballet. They had the scenes with the party, and also a few of the scenes where Marie and the prince see the other places around the world. If you’re reading this Aunt Christine and Uncle Tim, thank you for the tickets!

The next day, me and LP took a one to one and a half hour walk to see Hôtel de la Marine. Hôtel de la Marine is a very large restored house that is like the mini Versailles. It was built for a high official of King Louis XV, and was very lavish. We walked through the Mistress’s quarters and saw that she had a whole room for reading and writing, a changing room, a receiving room, a room to have tea in, and a room with her bed. Her husband’s rooms were the same. There were many more rooms, but my favorite of all was a gold decorated ballroom! It had very fancy chandeliers and mirrors on all sides. There is a lot of history behind the Museum, and if you are interested you should look into it! 

That night before dinner, we headed to Notre Dame Cathedral. When we got off the metro, we immediately saw the Cathedral. It was a giant structure, and it seemed like there were a million little points on the roofs and spires. We headed towards the seemingly never ending line to get inside, and we were in the middle of groaning at the sight of it, when we spotted some of our long time friends from back home! Mom and Dad had kept it a surprise, and we were so happy. We ran to meet them, and there was a lot of hugging and greeting. The line seemed a lot shorter with friends, and we were soon inside the Cathedral. The inside was very beautiful, with the Gothic arches and the altars. There were intricate marble statues and paintings in the altars, and there were also multiple very elaborate nativity scenes. They depicted a host of angels, maybe twenty or thirty peasants, the shepherds, and Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. 

After we looked around, we headed back outside and toward the dock. The boat was already there, and we scanned our tickets and went to the outdoor deck. There was a guide on the boat with us, and he pointed out some of the cool landmarks and told us—and everyone else on the boat—about them. In fifteen-twenty minutes, we were in sight of the Eiffel Tower! It was glowing, and it was so tall! This wasn’t my first time seeing it, for we had taken a walk the first day we got here, and we had passed by the park in which it is located. Back to the boat. We were slowly moving forward, waiting in anticipation for the tower to glitter to mark the hour. In five minutes (which felt like forever!) it started glittering! I had wanted to see this for almost my entire life, and I finally got to! After it stopped glittering, we headed back to the dock.

The next morning, we headed out after breakfast to meet our friends at the Eiffel Tower! Just me, Daddy Pea and our friends went up. Once we checked our tickets, we decided that we would take the lift to get up instead of the stairs. The walls of the lift were clear, so we could see the city on our way up. We were headed for the top, and I was starting to get a little nervous as we rose higher and higher. By the time we got to the top, we were in a cloud, and the view of the city we had hoped for was gone. The good thing about the clouds was that we couldn’t see the ground to tell how high we were. It was very breezy and cold on the top, so we didn’t stay long. We rode the lift down to the  middle level and then took the stairs to the main level. The main level was where all the restaurants and shops were, and we hopped onto the lift there. When we got down, after me and Daddy Pea told the rest of the family about the top, we all headed back to the Airbnb. 

The next day we had to leave early in order to get to the Louvre and meet our friends at 9:30. Unfortunately, our train got delayed and we had to get onto another few trains to get where we were going. We arrived late, but they were still letting people who had 9:30 tickets to go in. The Louvre is a gigantic museum, and we all decided to visit just six or seven large rooms. The first few rooms we went in were full of old artifacts from Mesopotamia and the surrounding areas. After that, we went to the Egyptian room (one of my favorites) and we got to see all of the five layers for the coffin of a Pharaoh! We also got to see some of the things for everyday use (such as headrests that the ancient Egyptians used when they slept), and the jars that they put their organs in once an important person died. The next room (my favorite room of all!) was full of the old jewelry and dishes of kings and queens of France! There was a diamond that is called the Regent Diamond and it was cool because we had recently read a book called Julieta and the Diamond Enigma. It is about a diamond that was stolen from the Louvre and Julieta, her father, a few friends, and the Police have to figure out who did it and retrieve the diamond. I definitely recommend this book to kids ages nine to eleven! 

After that, we headed for the rooms with paintings and the Mona Lisa! We saw a lot of paintings, but while we were in these rooms, I mostly hung out with my friend. When we got to the room with the Mona Lisa, it was packed with people in “line” to see the painting. A lot of people were pushing, and we finally made it to the front. When you see the Mona Lisa, it isn’t as exciting as you would think, and it really is just a small painting hanging on the wall. Still, the experience was cool and it was fun to have that experience with our friends. After seeing the Mona Lisa, we went to see a bunch of other paintings and then left to eat lunch at a park. We also visited a Christmas fun fair and went on some rides together.

Our trip to Paris was a wonderful experience, with all the beautiful architecture and artifacts. It was fun to have this extraordinary time with our friends from home. I hope that I will always remember this!