Long Weekend in Paris

Paris was must-do for the kids during our year away and so with the May long-weekend we finished school a few days early and had an extra long weekend in Paris. An early 4 am start on Thursday morning for the 6 am flight from Manchester to Paris but it meant we were at the hotel in Montparnasse, Paris, by 11 am and could drop our bags and explore Paris on our first day. We'd booked tickets to visit and walk up the Eiffel Tower so we set off on foot to discover Paris and the Eiffel Tower... It was amazing!!!

Friday was Disney Day and so we enjoyed a fabulous early breakfast at the hotel before catching the metro and double decker train out to Disneyland. It was BUSY but we enjoyed some quick rides on the Railroad (to get our bearings), the Pirates of Caribbean (twice) and the Mad Hatter Teacups before we made the mistake of joining the line-up for Peter Pan. 1hr 30m later and we never even got on the ride!! It broke down at the hour mark and closed but we stayed in the queue and 15 mins later it re-started but broke down a second time and they closed it for good. Candy floss and the Carrousel lifted our spirits before we hit Discoveryland and went on Buzz Lightyear and Star Tours (twice). It was then time for the famous Disney Parade before we hit up a few more rides, ending at Autopia.

Saturday was our chill-out day, a late start after a late night at Disney, and a quieter itinerary. We booked a river cruise on the Seine and enjoyed a trip on the water from the Eiffel Tower to the Notre Dame and a walk around the area, including around the Louvre.

Sunday was another day for the kids with a trip to the Science Museum. I remembered visiting the Science Museum when i visited Paris on a school trip some 30 years ago and it's fair to say the kids had as much fun now as I did then. It's a very interactive hands-on museum space and we enjoyed so many of the spaces, but the kids favourite was the film studio where the kids could be on "top of the pops", be a weather reporter, be on a movie set, etc. In the evening we headed out to a local French Creperie for sweet and savoury crepes and finished the night off on the 56th floor of Montparnasse Tower to enjoy a night time view of the Eiffel Tower and Paris.

The final day in Paris was Ben's birthday and so it was croissants and cards in bed, followed by football in the Park and then a flight home, where Ben enjoyed a visit with the Captain in the cockpit - thank you Air France... A fantastic weekend, Merci Beaucoup Paris.