Paris in June… with a side of morning sickness

Next up on the ‘catch up’ list is the mother/daughter trip to Paris my mom and I took mid-June.  Only took a full month since the last post to get this one up!!

My mother and I had been planning the Paris trip for months – well before I got pregnant.  We had booked our flight to leave Munich on a Friday and spend a long weekend there, returning the next Tuesday.  So when my morning sickness and 1^st trimester exhaustion kicked in right on time at 6 weeks – it also happened to be just days before we were off to Paris. 

Of course I felt bad that I would be hindering our Parisian adventures, but I forgot that the news of a new grandchild far outweighed any ruined plans my mother had.  She instead was nothing but supportive – which meant that she didn’t quite see everything on her list (but to be fair, usually her unbelievably long sight-seeing lists can be impossible even for the healthy).

To kick off our fabulous weekend in Paris – we started with an early dinner at Chipotle!  Totally authentic France, right?  Now hear me out – I (as well as the majority of normal Americans) appreciate the deliciousness of a Chipotle (or Qdoba) burrito.  Now imagine going over a year since you have had one.  And you are pregnant.  And you are finally within a kilometer of one.  You would do it too.  And if you wouldn’t – well then you are a better person than me. 

That beautiful burrito

Next up – Sleep!  I am pretty sure we also wandered the city a bit and saw the Louvre (from the outside) and walked along the Seine that day too…. but that is the down side of writing blogs months later.  All I can remember for sure was the Chipotle.

Saturday I woke up ready to conquer the city beyond the nearest Chipotle.  On the agenda – check out the views from the roof of Sacré-Cœur.  Now in my head, I remember doing this a few years back with Noah and his mother.  And also in my head – an elevator to the top.  Sadly only one of those things was accurate.  After many pauses and letting a LOT of people pass us by, we made up the 270 steps.  What awaited us was a gorgeous clear view of the city. 

You can totally see the views behind us, right?

Next up was trying to find the specific café that I had visited with Noah and his mom that was in the Montmartre neighborhood because I remember the French onion soup was delicious.  After wandering a few blocks, we stumbled upon the exact corner café!  And the food was just as delicious as I remembered.  We enjoyed French onion soup (leaving the tomato… like mother like daughter) and a croque-monsieur sandwich and of course a baguette. 

Now I have a name in case I want to find this place again - Le Nouveau Carillon

The sandwich did look better when it arrived - we had already started eating it when we thought to photograph it

No raw tomatoes for us

Reenergized by the food, we continued wandering the Montmartre neighborhood in the direction of the Montmartre Cemetery.  By the time we made it to the cemetery, all I could do was find a bench and sit.  But Mom was able to wander the graveyard and enjoy the scenery / take some photos. 

Sufficiently worn out for the day, we returned to the hotel for an afternoon siesta.  Post nap-time we decided to wander the area around our hotel.  We ended the evening people/dog watching at the close by Tuileries Garden.

As it was our third day in Paris and we had yet to go to the Eiffel Tower, we figured it was time to remedy that.  We joined all the other tourists along with the vendors pushing selfie sticks at the base of the tower.  After the obligatory selfie (sans selfie stick – sorry vendors) and a photo of me and baby, we headed away from the tower to find some lunch.  

Post a simple ham-and-baguette lunch, we were off to the Champs-Élysées for shopping to see the Arc de Triomphe.  Again I was the party pooper and just sat on a nearby bench while Mom went to explore the Arc up close. 

We ended the night with a few repeats – dinner at Chipotle (don’t judge me) and people watching in the park. 

Paris is just gorgeous

Monday was our big adventure out to see Versailles.  After figuring out the trains and making our way to the palace with a handful of other tourists, we start trying to figure out the ticket situation.  Only after looking confusingly at the locked doors to all the ticket offices did it hit us that perhaps it was closed.  I checked Google and learned that while there were opening hours listed, I dug deeper and learned those were for the PARK only.  Monday the palace is closed.  GREAT JOB GOOGLE!   So sadly Momma didn’t get to see the inside of the palace, but we went ahead and wandered the gardens since we were there. 

The complete lack of people and the fact that this was roped off should have been a clue....

Last selfie of the trip

Back in the city after a nice siesta, we ended the evening at the park and then dinner at Chipotle a Chinese restaurant.

We woke up on our last day to rain, but that didn’t stop us from making our way to Notre Dame.  The incredibly long line was more than I could handle with my nausea and exhaustion, so we only enjoyed it from the outside.  Like everything else.  (Again – sorry Mom!!).  We instead wandered to a café and enjoyed another croque-monsieur, but this time we added crème brûlée to our menu. 

Before long it was time to head back to the hotel for our luggage and return home to Munich.  So while the pregnancy kept my mom from getting to see much of the inside of anything, this baby has her already booking 2 trips back to Munich for 2016.  One of which will include a trip to Paris with her friends – who hopefully allow her to actually see inside a few things.