Our Trip to France: Getting There! (Part One)

We have always wanted our kids to see the world and when this opportunity to meet my parents in Europe presented itself, we jumped at it.  In retrospect, I'm not so sure the timing was the best, but when does the "perfect" time ever present itself?  If it's not one thing, it's another.  The only draw back to doing it right after we moved was having all my energy going into the house instead of prepping for the trip.  But we survived to tell the tale and I know my kids enjoyed it - most of it.

The most daunting thing about a vacation this big and this far away to me is the getting there.  Moving that many little people can be challenging but I must say the kids were troopers and did AWESOME with the travel.  Thank you individual movie screens on transatlantic flights!!!!

All smiles at the beginning of the adventure!

The obligatory air picture.

We had a 7am flight from our home base to Philadelphia, PA.  Once there we had an 8 hour layover!!!!    We made it more bearable by finding a place inside the airport that rented rooms for the day that had a day bed and TV.  It saved us really.  The older 3 kidlets could watch TV while one parent slept and the other walked the concourses with kidlet #4.  

Our 8 hour home away from home.

The real fun began around 5pm when we boarded our flight for another 8 hour adventure.  We did not buy a ticket for kidlet #4 and so she "sat" on one of us. Anyone with a 22 month old knows that "sitting" really isn't in their vocabulary.  The real key to survival is to just roll with it.  If you get worked  up as the parent its going to be complete torture.  On the scale of 1-10 of cranky babies I've seen on planes she was about a 2, so we were lucky.  Of course she was awake almost the whole flight which meant we were too.  The sleep deprivation was real folks!

We rolled into Paris around 7:45am and then the real fun began - customs, luggage pickup, car rental pick up.  None of them super speedy but not ridiculously long either.  I asked each kidlet to show me what they thought of arriving in France.  Their personalities come through perfectly in each of these photos.

 Always Pleasant!

 Always Up For ANYTHING!

Always Realistic!

Always Wondering How to Get Out of the Stroller!

We rented a 9 passenger van that ended up being a stick!  So glad I learned to drive one when I was younger!!  I swear all my kids will learn as well.  Such a great skill to have and it will make driving in Europe a lot easier.  Almost all the cars are stick - FYI.

Now the real fun began!  Driving in France is not like driving in the US, but it is also not as bad as many other places in the world.  You have to drive defensively but also be gutsy.  You will run into trouble if you are too timid.  I got the opportunity to drive us out of Paris which luckily wasn't real downtown Paris cause I'm not sure I could have handled it after being awake for almost 36 hours.  

Our first stop on our journey was the Normandy Region of France in the Northwest corner of the country.  It ended up being my most favorite place the whole 3 weeks.  The rolling hills covered in forest and fields with the ocean always never too far away was just breath taking.  It is a place I definitely would recommend if you go.

Once we reached the tiny tiny town of Bazenville, we were greeted by the cutest stone house and yard all within a gate so the kids could play freely and I didn't have to worry about them running in the street - not that there would have been any traffic anyway.  

We met my parents at the train station that night and then by 7/8pm Greg and I could hold our eyes open no longer and so we turned the kids over to the grandparents and headed to bed until 11am the next day.  It was enough to recharge us for the coming adventures.  A bed never was so welcoming!

Part Two: All about Normandy - tomorrow!