Kids in Paris--Day Five

To be honest, we went back and forth about the itinerary for our last day in Paris. We seriously considered heading out to Disneyland Paris, but in the end we decided to hold off for another year so Aurelia can truly enjoy it a bit more. Instead, we went to the Cite des Sciences et de l'Industrie--otherwise known as the science museum.

Now, we did our research and everything said to make a reservation. However, the entire site was in French (which wasn't a problem, since Rory speaks decent French) and was kind of confusing because you had to make separate reservations for different exhibits and we did not know what was what. We decided to take our chances and got on the Metro.

The museum is not close to the city. It was a solid 30-40 minutes on various trains to arrive at the Parc de la Villette, where the museum is located. Once there we immediately realized we should have tried harder to make reservations. The museum only had one opening for one exhibit, so we purchased tickets and went to the light and shadow exhibit.

This exhibit was superb and we spent nearly an hour inside, but our ticket would have allowed for entrance to other exhibits had we made a reservation, so going to one exhibit was a little costly. I would highly recommend this museum for all ages--just make reservations before you go! The exhibit we saw was so well done and I was really impressed. I wish we would have been able to explore the other areas, but now we know what to do for our next visit.

 After the museum we asked Eston what he wanted to do. You guessed it--he wanted to do the sailboats again! So, we walked over to Luxembourg and rented another boat.

 We explored the entire park and gardens a bit more after we returned the sailboat. It was warm and sunny and it felt great to be outdoors.

 We discovered the sandboxes and I wish we would have found them earlier in the week. These were so much fun for the kids. They are inside a little gated garden and kids can take off their shoes and socks and play in the very pristine sand. Our kids loved it. There was also a small grassy area for picnics, which is rare in Paris. Our kids did not have any sand toys, but they built all sorts of stuff with their hands and just had a ball.

We enjoyed our vacation and feel thankful our children had the opportunity to see and do so much in this great city. I know Aurelia won't remember this trip, but Eston will have some wonderful memories. Paris is a great city for families, truly.

We have returned to Girona and the kids are back in school. I love vacation time, but it does feel good to be home and back on routine.