It’s been awhile since we’ve posted (busy on this end) but we thought we should start writing a bit about our travels – both for our family and for fun to share with our clients. To summarize a little bit of the gap, we had been living in Silver Plume, CO – this is in the mountains near Loveland ski resort. Carly spent some time at Arapahoe Basin as a ski instructor on the weekends (which got us passes for everything in the area). We also got married!!! The wedding was in Costa Rica, and you can check out the photos here.

As one of our wedding gifts from Carly’s family, we were scheduled for a week long bike trip along the border between France and Germany. Since Carly was going through the immigration process in the U.S. we weren’t sure if we would be able to travel by the time our trip was supposed to start. We actually ended up waiting until about 10 days prior to our flight to learn that everything was approved and we were free to travel – talk about last minute. Luckily, we found a little apartment in Leiden, Holland and plan to stay there for the time between our flight and the bike ride (we pushed the bike reservation back since we weren’t sure that the immigration approval would come in time).

This post is actualy being written while we are on the train from Paris to our new temporary homeland, The Netherlands. After a little chaos when first arriving in Paris, our trip is back on track; and no better time to do a little blogging than on a 3 hour train through the French countryside….

The craziness began last week when we reviewed our flight to Paris and realized that there was an airport change in New York. In the end, getting from one airport to the other was no big deal, although checking in and going through security again was a bit of a pain. It definitely had us a little nervous about missing the international leg of our flight. I am glad that this was all in the evening with less traffic.

Once we arrived in Paris, we called the hotel and arranged for the shuttle to pick us up. We waited and waited until finding out that we were at the wrong airport! It turns out there was another airport closer to the hotel and they were sending the shuttle there. We asked at the airport information desk about the best way to get to Orly (a suburb where our hotel was located). The attendant said that a shuttle would be 40 euros to the Orly airport and a taxi said roughly 60 euros direct to the hotel, so we opted for the taxi. In the end, they both ended up being the wrong choice – more info below.

Isaac is hungry after all that walking

Eventually we made it to our hotel and quickly crashed, but woke up early the next morning and took a train into the city center. The attendant at the ticket office was very friendly and helped explain how things worked.

Our first stop was Notre Dame, where we snapped some typical tourist photos, and grabbed a fantastic breakfast (an omelet & crepe). The omelet that Isaac got had potatoes, cheese, and mushrooms – it was awesome. We happened to leave the restaurant right when it started to rain. Initially we thought we could make it to the Louvre and hide inside there, but then it just dumped on us and we had to find cover. After trying to hide under some trees (and failing), we ducked into the police headquarters, and were greeted by some friendly French police. We hung out there for few minutes before braving the rain again in search of an umbrella. Unfortunately none of the shops were open (not sure if it was because it was Sunday or because it was still pretty early), but we eventually made it to the Louvre and found out it was free since it was the first Sunday of the month! We got there before 8am and there wasn’t any line to get in, but by the time we left there was a line of probably several hundred people (at the rate it was moving I wouldn’t be surprised if it took over an hour to get through).

The Louvre itself was incredible and probably the best part of Paris – we spent close to 5 hours exploring and saw around 2/3 of the exhibits. Carly’s favorite was the Pacific / Americas sculptures. There was one room that we got a kick out of – it was probably the fanciest room as far as how the walls and ceiling were carved and painted. Along the walls were paintings of what we assumed were the architects and painters who worked on the Louvre (including the royalty that lived there) – Carly said something like “the credits are better than the movie.”

It's funny how the room showcasing The Louvre's artists and architects is the most ornate

Lunch consisted of coffee and yummy sandwiches. Isaac is now addicted to baguettes with butter, salami, and pickles. Overall the coffee we have had in France has been really good compared to what we are used to from cafes in the U.S.

We ended up seeing Notre Dame, The Louvre, The Eiffel Tower, The Arc de Triomphe, and more – all in the first day. The next day we had this train to Holland, but spent the morning exploring the area around the main station, and reading in the garden for a nearby Cathedral until our train took off. We ate lunch at something like “Pizza from Mario” which ended up having some great food. Isaac’s cheeseburger came with some unique fries (probably what Americans would consider homestyle) – thick and crunchy on the outside, but cooked puffy on the inside. The guy next to us got a pizza which the waiter set on fire (intentionally) – hadn’t seen that before.

Speaking of pizza, Isaac’s dad claimed that he had sampled pizza throughout Europe and that French pizza was his favorite. We had pizza twice while in France – once at the hotel (overpriced) and once on a main street in central Paris (this pizza was good – but different than what we were used to). Lots of the pizza options came with egg on them, and sometimes tomato sauce on top of the cheese.

So back to our train ride, we’ll arrive in Leiden to look at our potential apartment for the next 2.5 months. We’re incredibly excited.

Our tips:
- The train / metro are a good transport option in Paris. We could have paid 9 euros to take the train instead of the 90 we paid for a taxi (to get from the airport to the station within walking distance to our hotel).
- Skip the Starbucks – French coffee reigns supreme.
- If you’re in Paris at the beginning of the month, check out the Louvre on the first Sunday (but get there early).