The Business of Baby: Spring Break

Spring break this year was a a trip to Paris and London!!. It was also a celebration for S's 12th birthday the week prior.

I have wanted to take her abroad for years, but it was always expensive and due to her tree nut allergy I was anxious about travelling, especially the many hours flying over the ocean. Having completed OIT (oral immunotherapy) for her allergy, we are as worried about cross contamination. As such, I felt this was the year to do it.

I purchased the tickets in November, and got a really good deal on Comfort seats with more legroom. My Mom came with us.

We had a lovely time. We left on Wed Apr 3rd and flew non-stop to Paris. We stayed in Paris for 3 days, then took the EuroStar train to London on Apr 6th. We stayed in London for 3 nights and flew back from Heathrow on the 9th.

The weather was amazing throughout the trip. We had no delays on the flights or the train, nobody fell sick, before or during the trip, so overall it was a success!!

Day 1: Apr 2-3 - Paris
- Left for CDG (Paris) at 10:00pm, landed in Paris at 12:30pm (Apr 3). The flight was good. I carried food for S so she would not consume anything on the journey. All was well, until we were landing, and I noticed the look on S's face. I asked her ifs he was fine, and she said the turbulence was bothering her. Just as I was searching desperately for the air sick bag, she threw up. But I have to hand it to her she held in in her hand, long enough for me to get the bag to her. So while she did throw up, it did not get anywhere other than her hand which we wiped.

That was a bit of a damper. Thankfully since she had eaten home food I knew it was not any allergic reaction. My Mom's wheelchair took forever at CDG, but finally it was sorted. I had ordered a car service to pick us up, so by the time we were done, he was waiting for us. The car was 30 euros more expensive than Uber, but given it was a new airport, I was unsure on the location of Uber pick up and how far my Mom would need to walk. It was well worth the convenience.

The car ride was long. Traffic in Paris is horrible and we got to our hotel by about 2pm. The hotel was a bit of a disappointment. Definitely not a 4star as it had stated on Expedia, but the room was large for all our stuff, it was clean and the location was great. It had a strange set up where the potty was in one side of the room with a door, but the sink and shower were on the other side. Strange!!

After we dumped our bags we went across the road to the train station and ate at McDonalds. S was still a bit queasy, and I was a bit worried about her throw up. She did not sleep on the plane ride so seemed tired. I was hoping she was not getting sick!

We went back to our room, showered, which perked us all up and rested a bit. Later, we ventured out searching for a restaurant I had seen on FB which was close to our hotel. After a lot of back and forth, we landed up at Printemps store and then Galleries Lafyette which was getting ready to close at 8:30pm. We finally spotted the restaurant down a small street, and had a lovely meal!! S had perked up by then so it ended up being a lovely first evening in Paris.

Day 2 - Apr 4 - Paris
- We had breakfast in the hotel. It was modest but yummy with croissants, pain du chocolate, scrambled eggs, sausage etc. We then set out to find the stop for the Hop On Hop Off tour. We had better luck with directions since we had walked that area the previous evening. We got the bus, and did the city tour.

We got off at the Louvre to take pics. S was not interested in going inside plus there was a very long line, so I figured we can do that on another visit. We then walked back to the bus stop and on the way we bough a lock and put it on the Ponce des Arts bridge. That was such a fun thing to do and w lovely memory for S. We continued on the tour to the next stop which was the Notre Dame Cathedral. We got a bit side tracked with souvenir shops, but finally made it to the cathedral. There was a long line, but we were able to get in with my Mom though the Handicap line. The cathedral was gorgeous and S lit a candle there and we also wrote notes and put them in a box. After that we stopped by a Parisian cafe to have lunch. S tried the Croque Monsieur, and my Mom and I had beef bourguignon. We sat a bit indoors since everyone was smoking on the outside seating which was bothering S.

After lunch, we did our souvenir shopping and got back on the bus. Next stop was the Arc de Triomphe where we took pics and walked around. We stayed on the bus for the next several stops and finally got to the Eiffel Tower. We went through a security line to go into the complex. The line to go up the tower was too long, so we just walked around and took pictures.

After that we went across the street to take a Paris Seine Cruise. It was a one-hour cruise, and very relaxing with beautiful views of the buildings and the Eiffel Tower. It was 5:30pm by then and we had missed the last bus, so we took an Uber back to the hotel. After a quick cup of tea, S and I headed out to Galleries Lafayette. My Mom stayed back to relax in the room.

S had spotted a Paris FAO Schwartz, so of course she wanted to go there and shop. I bought her a small horse for her collection, and we played on the step piano, just as we did last year in NYC. We also bought some macrons from a very fancy store as S called it. There was also a huge Lindt choco store in the plaza so we bought different flavors of chocolate from there.

That night we ate at an Italian restaurant. I liked my pasta dish (spaghetti Bolognese), but my Mom did not quite like her chicken dish.

Day 3 - Apr 5 - Paris

We took an Uber to Montmartre to see the Sacre Coeur church. While waiting in line we bough another lock and affixed it to the fence. Another lovely memory. My Mom sat on a bench, people watching, while S and I stood in line to go inside. The church is beautiful and they were having service, so it was really intense with the nuns singing and the priest chanting prayers. We lit another candle there. Then S and I took a little train ride around Montmartre which was super fun. They were having a Saturday market so the streets were lined with vendors.

We had lunch at a quaint pizza place just steps from the Sacre Coeur. After that we got an Uber to the Grand Canal St Martin. I had never been there and it was a lovely part of Paris. Since it was Saturday and a really nice warm day, the canal was busy with locals hanging out. We walked to a boulangerie and got fresh croissant and ate them by the water and just relaxed and imbibed the culture. Around 5pm we called an Uber to head back to the hotel, but the traffic was horrible so it took nearly an hour to get back.

That evening was our last night in Paris. We decided to get wine and sit outside, and went back to the same restaurant we had gone the previous night. The waiter recognized us and came over to thank us for the hefty tip we left him. In Europe and UK, they include a 13.5% service charge on all bills, but paid an additional 15% so he was so pleased. The manager came over as well and greeted us. They all spoke good English, in fact everyone we encountered spoke English.

We had our wine, and S had a mango sorbet. We then decided to move indoors and eat at the same place. S got fish n chips, my Mom had Croque Monsieur and I had steak with frites. It was really good food this time. We got back to the hotel around 10pm and packed up to leave the next morning. I had ordered an Uber for 7am. Our train was at 10:30 but given the traffic we were not taking any chances.

Day 4 - Apr 6 - London

We woke early to get ready and were headed down for breakfast at 6:30am with our bags. We ate and then got organized for our Uber which was right on time. The Gare Du Nord station was about 15 min drive and there was no traffic being Sunday morning. We went to check in but were were too early so we sat in the station and around 8:30am headed to the EuroStar boarding section. I requested a wheelchair for my Mom and we sat in the office area. It was comfortable, but by 10 am I was getting really nervous since no one had come to get us. Finally the guy came and we whizzed past security, border control and to the train.

The train ride was fun. It was mostly above ground with only 20 minutes beneath the Channel. I took S to the snack car to get some food since we had eaten very early in the morning.

We reached London St Pancras station at 12:30pm - there was a one hour time change. My Mom's wheelchair was ready for her on arrival, and we went to the outside and took a London cab to our hotel, near the Tower of London.

The hotel was fabulous. Much better than I had expected, it was rated a 4 star, but I think it was closer to 5. It had bathrobes and slippers in the bathroom, complimentary water and soft drinks, and room service, Our room with the view we wanted was not ready, so we waited. I have a cousin in London, so she had planned to meet us with her family. They took us out to lunch where we had our 1st Fish n chips of our visit.

We visited with them until about 4pm, then S and I walked with them to the Tube station. S was getting tired since we had woken up at 5a, that day. We returned to the room and relaxed. Later we went down to the hotel restaurant for dinner, which was lovely.

Day 5 - Apr 7 - London

We woke early and went down for breakfast in the hotel. They had a full breakfast buffet for £22 per person. The place was super crowded, and while they had a huge variety of food, it was totally overwhelming. S only ate pancakes, and while my Mom and I did the full English breakfast, it was too busy and noisy to enjoy.

We then headed out for our first full day in London. We started with a tour of the Tower of London and saw the Crown jewels. We then caught the hop on/hop off bus. We spent the day getting off at iconic places such as the Big Ben and Buckingham Palace. We broke journey in Victoria and ate a very British lunch in a small pub. Then back on the bus to make stops at Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus. The last stop on the tour was the Horse Guards. S was very keen to see the horses, but unfortunately we reached there at 4:10pm, and the place closes at 4pm.

S was VERY disappointed, and in tears. I felt very bad because I had no idea they closed at 4pm, and we did not have time to come see them the next day since we had plans to meet a friend of mine outside the city. The Horse Guards only seem to be on guard from 11am-4pm!

We got back on the bus and back to the hotel. We got some rest and then headed back down to the restaurant for dinner again. The food was good so was the ambience and we did not see a need to go looking for food elsewhere.

Day 6 - Apr 8 - London

We woke up at about 7an and decided we did not want to eat at the hotel breakfast buffet, so I found a breakfast place about 5 min walk. The only problem was that it opened at 9am. We waited and then walked over to the place which ironically was a French bistro. S and my Mom has French Toast with berries, while I had Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon. The food was delicious, the tea steaming and the restaurant was quiet. We really enjoyed it. After breakfast, I called an Uber to tale us to the tube station. I knew there was one close by, but I did not have the exact location and did not want my Mom walking needlessly.

We got to the station and bought tickets to Richmond. The journey was fun, partially underground and partially above ground. We were meeting my friend at 2pm but we reached there at about noon. We walked on the high street looking at stores and headed to a tea shop where we had a cream tea. It was fabulous! We initially ordered one cream tea that came with 3 scones, simply because we were going to be having lunch in an hour. But the scones were so good, I bought another one "to go". We then walked over to the Italian restaurant where we were meeting my friend whom I had not seen in 30 years. It was fabulous catching up.....and the food was delicious.

We left Richmond at about 5pm, and headed back to the hotel via the tube. I still had a few souvenirs to buy, so we stopped by a shop and finished up last minute shopping.

It was our last night and we decided to not eat in the hotel, but get fish and chips someplace else. we walked to a restaurant but the were out of fish n chips (!), so we came right back to the hotel and ate for the 3rd night at the same place. This time fish n chips which were yummy!

Day 7 - Apr 9 - London

We were flying back home today. Our flight was at 3pm, but I had heard that getting to Heathrow airport from the city can be 1:30 to 1:45 hrs! I hate being stressed about flights so we decided to leave after breakfast. We went back to the French bistro for breakfast, this time enjoying a full English breakfast. S repeated the French toast which she had raved over the day before.

After breakfast we headed back to the hotel, checked out and I called an Uber. It took us 1:45min to get to the airport!! We got there at 12pm, giving us ample time to get checked in and through security which was practically empty. Our flight was on time and we got back stateside at 7:30 pm!

It was a wonderful trip and I am so glad I could do this for S!! My Mom and I have been to Paris once before, and to London numerous times, but it had been over 2 decades, so it was lovely being back and doing it with S!

Hope to post some pics soon.