Bonjour, Hamish!

(Hamish in Paris: Friday and Saturday) 

While the rest of America was enjoying family and stuffing themselves with turkey on Thanksgiving, we were enjoying passport control and stuffing ourselves--the three of us--into 2 trans-Atlantic economy seats.

We flew to Paris on Thanksgiving to spend 4 days before a work trip required my presence in Portugal. The trip wasn't confirmed for a while, and when it finally was--and Kyle agreed to come too--I had dreamed up an alternative itinerary (Southern Portugal, Southern Spain, and Morocco). But when we sat down to buy flights, we had layovers at Charles de Gaulle any way we sliced it. Kyle has always wanted to go to Paris and I haven't been since 2001, so we decided on Paris and Lisbon for 4 days each.

On Thanksgiving morning, as we were double checking our luggage and hauling it to the car, Hamish realized something was up and started collecting her various toy purses and bags and depositing them by the back door too. It was adorable.

Flying on Thanksgiving day was very laid back, and Hamish again proved herself to be a traveler extraordinaire. We again had an Air France-supplied bassinet at the bulkhead (like we had on her first flight) and she slept and cuddled and was generally laid back and delightful.

We have no tips to share. No wisdom. We are simply the recipients of uncommon grace. Clearly God is saving our sanity for another battle another day.

We flew overnight on the way there, and although Hamish rested, we didn't as well as we could have. So although we were at our apartment in Montmartre by 11 on Friday morning, we were all a bit exhausted.

We laid low that day, sleeping, getting up in the late afternoon to wander around Montmartre and eat dinner. We were thrilled to introduce Hamish to her first "piccola". Yay for the joys of French bread.

Paris weather in late November is not the best, but Friday was the worst day in terms of drizzle and the rest of the time we were fine in coats and hats as we walked around. We had booked tickets for both a hop on/hop off bus tour and a Seine river cruise on Saturday. Since Kyle wanted to see everything, we thought this would be a great way to get an overview, while saving our feet.

We got on our bus Saturday morning, thus kicking off Hamish's love affairs with BUS! BUS! The bus had english tour narration and gave us a nice overview of the city's highlights. Hamish was enthralled, clearly.



We got off the bus at the Eiffel Tour (when Hamish was done with her nap) and joined a Seine river cruise.

The sun finally broke through the clouds and the river cruise was the prettiest part of Saturday. Still cold, but it was nice to have the sun on our faces.

After hopping back on our bus, we circled back to the Opera where we'd started. We thought about going back to Notre Dame, but the Parisian traffic got the better of us. So we headed back to Montmartre. Sacré Coeur, the church on the hill of Butte Montmartre, is beautifully lit at night and we walked through during an evening mass.



Then we visited the fromagerie (cheese shop) and boulangerie (bread shop) recommended by our landlord for a French dinner spread. Nothing like wine, bread, good stinky cheese, and a sippy cup. Hamish, of course, ate everything with gusto. As she does. Yay French picnic dinners.