Day 146: Malaga to Paris — Blue School Reunion in Luxembourg Gardens — Dinner and drinks with Nathalie, Dominique, Monica and Frankie
We were up uncomfortably early. After our late nights and sleeping in, the 5:45am wake up was painful.
The Voorhees fam was up and out before we even got up and we didn’t see the Peun’s who had a midday flight.
It was sad to end this fun and relaxing week. But each of the three families had something to look forward to: Claire and Harlow were going back to see their little Teddy who they missed dearly. The Peuns were headed back to London, only 1 week into their 2 week vacation. And we were off to Paris!
I typically ride shotgun in Ubers / Taxis but since Margaret speaks French, I was in back with the kids. That didn’t stop them from doing their usual routine on 30+ minute car rides.
Margaret adores Paris — she lived in France from 2001-2004, with Paris being 2003-2004 — so it’s especially fun to experience this city together as a family.
We’re staying in a tiny little 1 BR apartment on Ile St. Louis that Margaret found on Airbnb. Margaret was having renters remorse over the last few weeks, thinking it was going to be too small, too hot (no AC) and too uncomfortable. But it actually isn’t that bad. The kids are both sleeping on a pullout couch, the windows are shaded from the sun so it isn’t that warm, and we’re only here for three nights.
Also, a little place called Aux Petit Cakes is downstairs from the apartment. I would stay anywhere if this was two flights down…
Making this leg of the trip even more exciting is the rendezvous with Willa’s NYC / Blue School friends Frankie and Dominque and their moms Monica and Nathalie.
We dropped our bags at the apartment, grabbed lunch at Auberge de la Reine next door, then went to meet the NYC friends at Luxembourg Garden.
It was really special to see the giddy reuniting of Willa, Frankie and Dominique.
It was a fun afternoon of carousels, swings, cotton candy, freeze tag and wrestling in the grass. We hit a pizza and pasta place for dinner plus a couple bottles of rose for the grownups.
Everyone was pretty beat but we had just enough energy of ice cream. It seemed like every human in this city was eating ice cream today so may as well join the fun. Glad we did — I had some of the best coconut ice cream I’ve ever had.
A few additional notes on travel frustrations and a *hint* of exhaustion:
It was a 2.5 hour direct flight, memorable only because of a bunch of out of control kids on the plane. We’ve been on 35+ flights this year and this one had by far the most annoying, undisciplined kids — yelling, playing, crying. I have no problem with crying babies or squirmy, whiny infants. Needless to say, I’ve been there and I sympathize.
But this was several kids of various ages from 4 – 9. It seemed like the parents didn’t realize there were another 100 people on the plane. Evidence of the ignorance: seconds after touching down in Paris two different moms jumped up and started walking their kids to the bathroom. We weren’t only taxing we were still moving fast. They were rightfully scolded by the flight attendant and sent back to their seats. First time on an airplane people?!?
One other thought on air travel while I’m venting: when you buy a flight you should be told if it will require a bus to get you from the gate to the plane. We’ve had a ton of those this year and sometimes it can add 30+ minutes to the boarding process. Crazy that it has come to this but everything else being equal, I’d pay a premium for a jetbridge!
I mentioned this to Margaret and I should note this here: while packing last night and loading up this morning I had one of my first twinges of travel exhaustion.
Not sure why exactly I felt that way but I suppose it is a combination of the following:
- A full week in a big house so shit was spread everywhere making packing more work than usual
- Family / friends heading home to DC / New York… maybe I was subconsciously a little jealous?
- I’ve been SLAMMED with spring / summer allergies since arriving in Madrid and have not felt close to 100% for two weeks.
- We packed the kids up before their bedtime then went to have drinks with all the grownups before packing our own bags. So exhaustion set in, with a super early wake up looming, and I still had to pack my shit… in a warm and stuffy room with a semi-functioning AC. (I’m learning there is an optimal time to pack up… it’s the night before an early morning departure. Never the morning of but also not right before going to bed. Better to pack, chill for a bit, then hit the rack.)
That hint of exhaustion was gone by the time our taxi got into Paris.
The electricity and beauty of an early summer Friday afternoon in this city can energize the most weary traveler.
