I surprised my daughter with a trip to Paris for Christmas and here’s how it went
Christmastime is pretty special, especially once you have children. I didn’t fully understand how much joy it could bring until after my divorce and I had the ability to fill my home with the warmth of promoting the reasons why we celebrate Christmas alongside the playful illusion of Santa Clause.
Gift giving has definitely grown on me and I have to admit, I love it. I relish in seeing the faces of my receiver opening up a gift just because I thought of them or because I know what I got them would excite them because they mentioned it once in a conversation. The secret to gift giving is thought (not just that it counts) and this is how I approach Christmas and gift giving with my daughter.
A very wise mother once shared her system for Christmas gift giving with me that I have stuck to for the last five years. This system helps set expectations for both you and your children instead of overdoing it. It’s this:
Something to wear,
Something you need,
Something you want,
And something to read.
I usually add in a just for fun gift as well— ‘something for joy‘, and I like to create a theme and make sure to include an experience. This year the theme was all about Paris (France not Kentucky) and the surprise that I was going to take her there on Christmas Day.
My daughter has long asked to go to Paris. I’m not sure where her obsession was cultivated, but her passion was so strong that I decorated her room for her 8th birthday in a Paris themed motif complete with Parisian wall decals and an Eiffel Tower lamp.
After a rough couple of years, due to emerging from the pandemic where my life and seemly the world and our country had changed forever, I decided that she was old enough to remember Paris and that ringing in the New Year there was a spectacular idea.
On Christmas Day she began the ritual of opening something to wear - a pair of black gloves, a black long sleeve shirt and a pink knit béret. Something to read included a journal with the Eiffel Tower on it and a book for the plane, but she still didn’t know.
Then came the kicker–something you need and want—all wrapped up in the same box. She’d been needing a new backpack and within that was her passport. When she turned to look at me, a little confused, I dropped a sign that read: We are going to Paris! A few hours later we were on a plane via Air France that would land us the next afternoon in the city of love and light.
In total, we would spend seven nights in Paris.
My ideal way of traveling is not to bounce around but to stay put in one location and go from there. I feel it’s the only way to really get to know a place and feel comfortable in getting around. Also, jumping from spot to spot usually means that once I return home, I need a vacation from my vacation.
I booked us at Hotel Bellechasse, which is in a darling neighborhood of the same name that sits between the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre (both are about a 20–30 minute walk). It’s also down the street from the Museo Orsay (impressionist paintings mostly). While the location was the reason I booked it, I have to say that the best thing about this boutique hotel was the breakfast, which I took advantage of every morning.
The first time I have ever looked forward to breakfast.
Throughout our trip we ate like queens as the food in Paris is incredible. We especially indulged in all the amazing bread and pastries Pairs has to offer. From baguettes to crepes to macarons as big as your face, it was well worth the few extra pounds I came back with, which would have been several more had we not been walking everywhere.
Our favorite corner café with the best bread and treats.
Aside from eating our way through Paris, each day I’d planned a new adventure with one or two free days to do whatever we wanted, including nap, which I did a lot.
Below are the things we did and saw each day in case you ever have the urge to visit and try some of these adventures out yourself. Honestly, you can’t go wrong with just exploring and explore we did!
Sidecar Motorcycle Tour of the city
On our first official full day in Paris I booked a tour of the city through Tripadvisor on a private motorcycle and sidecar tour of the city. I’d read about this in a mom blog and she wasn’t wrong, it was totally worth it.
I mean, when is the next time your kiddo will be able to ride in a sidecar and you on the back of a motorbike zipping through the streets of Paris? Probably never. I felt like Amélie in her titular film. When people saw us they took pictures and smiled as I’m sure it was as unique for them to see a sidecar as it was for us, plus we were having the time of our lives. Joy is infectious.
Visiting the Palace of Versailles
Since the 2nd grade my kiddo has been interested in history and the fictional characters that have been created from it in some of her favorite books and movies.
Earlie last year Marie Antoinette became a fascination and for a brief moment she considered Ms. Antoinette for a Halloween costume. It didn’t last long though once we realized that between the hair, the dress and tall boots we’d be spending around $200.
I booked a hotel pick up and tour guide through Tripadvisor as well because I like to make things easy on myself. However, if I were to do it all over again, I’d probably prefer to have us take the bus or an Uber (Lyft doesn’t operate in Paris). Not only would this have been cheaper, but it would have allowed us to visit more than the palace as the town of Versailles is darling and we didn’t get to spend any time there as we were on the shuttle’s timeline, not our own.
The Louvre
As one of the most famous and most visited museums in the world, the Louvre, which used to be a palace (of course as it has over 400 rooms), is a must see in Paris even if you aren’t an art lover. The architecture alone spans seven different styles from Gothic to Modern and is home to over 500,000 artifacts and 35,000 works of art.
I suggest buying your tickets in advance that include a specific time slot and day. You will queue (wait in line) based on your time and enter by the glass Pyramid . It shouldn’t take much longer than 30 minutes (because you should arrive 30 minutes before your actual entry time). Kids under 18 are free and you can get tickets on the Louvre website or Tripadvisor.
You would exhaust yourself trying to see it all, let alone understanding the backstory behind each piece. So unless you have a few days to spend wandering each wing I suggest planning what you want to see ahead of time and then enjoy what you can in whatever time is left over.
I say this because I didn’t heed my own advice to figure out what we would really enjoy seeing and instead I took a more linear approach. Thus, after about an hour viewing works from the Napoleonic and Mesopotamia eras we booked it to the highly anticipated, very crowded room that housed Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.
It still baffles me how this one 2.5 foot tall painting has such an aura about it that there is consistently a mob of visitors pushing against one another trying to get a glimpse of that ironic smile. We got our pictures and the excitement of it all was surreal. I just wish other pieces of art in the Louvre captured as much attention as the Mona Lisa so that I could have convinced my daughter to stay a bit longer, but she was exhausted. We soon left for our hotel, but on the way stopped to purchase a fresh baguette and some of the most delicious cheese from a local fromagerie—the perfect french snack.
Notre Dame Cathedral
We decided that Monday would be our day to visit the newly restored Notre Dame and attend a 9 am mass, which was in french (plus it meant we got to skip the long tourist line).
If you didn’t know, the structure was severely damaged due to a fire in 2019. It recently reopened after several years and $700M put toward its restoration. I have to say the this newly renovated French Gothic cathedral is absolutely stunning; cementing itself forever as a city symbol of love, art, history, heritage and devotion.
Even if you’re not Catholic, attending one of the several masses they have each day, where all denominations are welcome, is a delightful and enchanting experience.
The Eiffel Tower on New Year’s Eve
I don’t know if any other city has as popular of a world wide symbol like the Eiffel Tower. It would make sense no where else and captures both the country and culture in all 984 ft of her.
Since it was New Years Eve, I booked us a lunch on the 2nd floor of the tower at Madame Brasserie thinking that we would skip the lines and have splendid views of the city while enjoying a fine french meal. While the massive iron lattice structure, nicknamed the Iron Lady, was impressive, unfortunately the meal and views (from the restaurant) were not.
I say this as a word to the wise, because at the end of the day it was still a lot of fun. However, we did not get to pick our table so they sat us overlooking the interior of the tower. Our only view was of the people walking around the 2nd floor just below us.
The food was a set menu and not any better than a bad cruise ship dinner, but the dessert was edible so not all was lost. I didn’t realize you could walk around the 2nd floor and in fact, there were some shops and cafés where one can get a coffee or hot chocolate then walk the perimeter of the tower, taking in any view of the city one would like. Notes for next time.
The walk was about 30 minutes back to our hotel along the Seine, which was amusing as so many people were out enjoying the afternoon.
After a brief nap (well, I napped) we headed back out to catch the fireworks from a nearby bridge. Each year there is a big event on the Champs Elysées in front of the Arc de Triomphe. We saw them setting up for this on our walk back. The city deployed 10,000 police officers and several streets were shut down.
Photo from Rueters
Happy New Year!
On New Years day not much was open so we decided to have a late lunch in St. Germain square and play cards for a few hours since it was raining and overcast. I do love that French restaurants don’t make you feel like you need to eat and run since they’re not banking on tips to pay their rent.
We had a pleasant afternoon then returned to the hotel to watch the Hunger Games, a not so french film, but you’ll find that Netflix doesn’t let you watch on your account in other countries so Amélie and Coco avant Chanel were out.
I highly recommend this eatery next time you are in Paris:
Learning to make French macarons (with Italian meringue)
For our final full day in Paris I booked us a macaron baking class that I found on Tripadvisor earlier that week. There are several to choose from, but I have to say, our chef was incredibly kind and knowledgeable and the class was intimate, probably because it was just the three of us. :)
Last year my daughter became very interested in baking and in fact, her favorite thing to make are coconut macaroons (note the spelling), which are extremely simple to make. Thus, I figured learning to make French macarons would be a good way to say “au revoir” to Paris.
We spent the first hour learning about emulsification and the differences between French, Swiss and Italian meringue. Then we watched our petite blue cookies rise in a convection oven. The last 15 minutes were spent piping delicious passion fruit and ganache into their tender middles. And of course, over the next two days we ate them…all.
Saying farewell
We had the best time in Paris and definitely made a ton of memories. For me, there’s no greater joy than being able to give the gift of experience through travel with my daughter. I believe there is no better education as it helps her trust that the world is an open place filled with kind people and beautiful things to see and do.
We were sad to say goodbye as there was still so much left for us to try, but we agreed on the plane ride home that just means we need to go back.
~ Nous t'aimons, Paris (we love you, Paris)
P.S. Below are a few other tips that made our vacation that much easier
Buy tickets in advance for museums as often you will get in faster than waiting in a line with non-ticket holders.
Walk as much as you can, but taxis and Uber drivers are a dime a dozen and will get you where you need to go.
Bring a small umbrella as walking in the rain is lovely, getting wet is not.
When entering a restaurant or café always ask: Parlez-vous anglais? (do you speak english ). This is polite because it doesn’t assume everyone speaks English. I find people are more helpful with this as an opening as many Parisians do speak English or will ask one of their peers who does to help you.
I also suggest learning and using these French phrases:
Bonjour (hello)
Merci (thank you)
