The Goodales Take Paris: Arc de Triomphe to Salt Lake City

The next day was mine, Justin's, Vivian's, and Christopher's last day of vacation.  We again rode the train into Paris, and immediately started the morning off with a visit to the Arc de Triomphe.  Did you know that you can go up a staircase inside it to the platform on top?  Neither did we, but you can!  We had just cleared the security check line when a woman pulled me, holding Vivian, and Grandma off to the side.  She ignored Grandma's protests about separating us from the group, ushered us into a tiny elevator, and gave us garbled instructions to a short little staircase in broken English.  The rest of the group joined us up top some time later, looking sweaty and brutalized, with tales of a crazy never-ending spiral staircase.  

The traffic around the arch is crazy, it's just one big traffic jam.  There are no lane designations.

From on top, with the Eiffel Tower in the background

Sacre Coeur, the cathedral on top of the hill.  We visited that later in the day.

From the top of the staircase

Back down on the ground again.

For the trip back down I pawned Vivian off on Brooke to take down in the elevator, so that I could check out that staircase in person.  They weren't kidding.  It's not a staircase for the undetermined.  

Next we were going to walk straight down the Champs d'Elysses to the Louvre.  Only, that's three miles, and not everyone was wishing to walk that distance, particularly after the staircase of death.   For me and mine though, above ground versus an underground metro will always win.  So some of us walked, some of us rode the metro, and some of us walked and shopped, and eventually we all regrouped in front of the Louvre.  

We decided to first get lunch, and the quickest option appeared to be one of those dreadful McDonald's with the touchscreen ordering system.  In the interest of time we went that route.  We then headed back to the Louvre for what I can only describe as a drive-by look at some of the most famous and amazing art in the world.  We hit some highlights like the Venus de Milo in a room full of statues that were, in my opinion, more beautiful, and the Mona Lisa at the end of a hallway filled with paintings more captivating.  All the same, the size of the museum is astounding, and thankfully there is a lot of seating to take a break, which is where a napping Vivian and I eventually found ourselves.  

Inside the Louvre, there's just no good way to see everything, or even most of it.

The Mona Lisa

Our visit to the Louvre was short and we next set off to find a chocolate mousse bar a shortish walk away.  The mousse was delicious, but the shop wasn't at all what we had hoped.  It was small, with no seating.  On the bright side that kept us moving as we got caught in another downpour on our way to the metro that was to deposit us near a tram that goes to the church Sacre Couer on a hill overlooking Paris. 

We arrived in the neighborhood, and Justin and I left the group standing there trying to sort out directions while Vivian at long last got to ride a French carousel (they're everywhere in Paris, we only got a video though, no still pictures).  When we rejoined them it seemed like a plan had been formulated, and we struck off in search of the tram.  We rounded a corner expectantly, only to find a huge, steep staircase.  Some of us raced to the top to be greeted by yet another set of stairs, while others of us slowly ascended each flight, one step at a time.  However, nobody looked less thrilled than Grandma at the top of the second set when we turned a corner and found ourselves 3/4ths the way up a staircase that ran parallel to the tram.  Grandma said nothing, just flashed her daughter a look that said "why are you doing this to me?" and continued up the stairs with the rest of us following her lead.

The church itself was much younger than the others, still beautiful, but the architecture was quite different.

Sacre Couer

Mass was just about to start.

Vivian and I hanging out in front waiting for everyone to get ready to go.  She was trying to sit just like me.

We took the tram back down the hillside, and then caught the metro to another part of town where we walked for a mile or so to fulfill a family tradition of eating in a Hardrock Cafe.

The people seated around our two tables that night looked exhausted.  Happy, but exhausted.  Presumably other people stayed awake for the trip back to the farmhouse, but Vivian and I slept most of the train ride, and a good portion of the car ride too.

The next morning Christopher, Justin, Vivian, and I got dropped off at the airport to begin our travels back to Salt Lake.  The rest of the family spent their last day at Disneyland Paris.  Our flight to Charlotte, North Carolina was half empty, and because my husband loves me, he stayed up with Vivian the entire flight, while I slept on empty seats.  Christopher had to get to drill the next morning in Boise, so he did the same.  In Charlotte we went straight to the USO where we were welcomed into a room equipped with huge comfy leather lazy boys, and enough free food to keep us there for the entirety of our 8 hour layover.  Christopher had to devote part of his time digging through all of his luggage (we were forbidden to bring anything but carry-on luggage, another Goodale family tradition) looking for his car keys, which were eventually found by the car rental company back in France.  

We landed in Salt Lake at 1030pm and Christopher came back with us to Logan to borrow a car to drive back to Boise.  Justin and I had been excused from our drill (just not in time for us to commit to the last day in France), and I am so glad.  I walked in, set Vivian on the bed and went into the bathroom to start throwing up.  Somehow Christopher managed to make the four hour drive home and survive the subsequent drill weekend.  I slept until noon the next day, and felt much better.

This vacation was fun, amazing, and in many ways too good to be true. It was hard too, but I am so grateful to my in-laws for putting it all together, bringing us along, and grateful to my husband who picked me to get to be his addition to the family, because I love being a Goodale!