On a whim, we decided to drive to Paris for Christmas. It took us about 5.5 hours to get there. Upon arriving, the children were intrigued by everything they saw.We checked into a small boutique hotel and slept peacefully and in the morning, our first stop was a French bakery.Then a French Cafe.As we sat down at the cafe, I noticed that, oh my, the Eiffel Tower was just across the street. We drank our coffees and hot chocolates and people watched. The kids were quite intrigued with the sugar cubes. We practiced our Merci and threw in a Ciao (a word we use frequently here in Germany and will certainly use when we get travel to Italy.We realized once we crossed the street, that in order to reach the Eiffel Tower, I mean to actually stand under it, we’d need to walk through a park and cross streets and so on. What a pleasant surprise as we came upon the Aquarium of Paris on our way. We popped in and decided to spend a couple of hours there. The sharks and petting tank were especially great.My oldest practiced his shark identification skills .We stopped for a carousel ride in the parkThen we arrived at the Eiffel Tower. We want to take a ride up, but the lines were way too long.

Next, we took a stroll down the Champs Elysee….… and on to the Arc de Triumph. Along the way, we had wonderful views of the Sienne.Then for lunch, we stopped in a bistro.Then we explored further…