Bonjour Paris

C's school was closed for 'half-term' this week so we decided to embark on another Eurostar journey...this time to Paris.

I had visited once before, over 15 years ago (wow, how quickly that time went by!), and have the fondest memories. J had never been before so I was excited to show him all my favorite places.

We decided to rent an apartment in the Marais district, in the 3rd Arrondissement north east of the Louvre. It was a great home base and very convenient having a place to cook and wash clothes. Here is a view from the doorway of the apartment building on Rue de Turenne:

Once we managed our way up the narrow spiral staircase,

dropped our bags and checked to see if the bed was any good for jumping,

we headed out to explore the neighborhood. Our first stop was Place des Vosges which is the oldest planned square in Paris. It is surrounded by beautiful buildings and archways.

To our pleasant surprise, there was also a playground tucked away in the corner.

After playing at the park for a bit, we walked around the neighborhood, stopping to check out all the fabulous delicacies.

On our journey we walked down Rue de Rosiers, the main thoroughfare of the jewish district in Paris and stopped at L'as Du Falafel for falafels (supposedly the best in the world) and shawarma which we decided to bring back to the apartment for dinner.

Unfortunately that night both kids threw up. As my friend Jan puts it, "it's not a family vacation until someone gets sick!". How right she is. Luckily previously mentioned washing machine came in very handy. Ok...a bit of a rocky start to the trip.