Our Mother-Daughter Trip to Paris

June 29 - July 1, 2003

A couple of months ago, when Ellen and I learned that Kevin and Will would be away for a week at Boy Scout Summer Camp in England, we began plotting an adventure of our own. Ellen's big goal for her time here in Europe was to see the Eifel Tower at night. We managed to put together a trip with Ellen's friend Bridget and her mom, Dana, for three days in Paris. (To learn more about Kevin and Will's trip to Camp, click here!)

Sunday morning we caught the high-speed train from Brussels to Paris. Less than 90 minutes later, we were making our way to our hotel. We stayed at the Minerve Hotel, located in the Latin Quarter. It was only a couple of blocks from a Metro station, and close to many ethnic restaurants. It was perfect.

After dropping off our bags at the hotel, we headed straight for the Musee d'Orsay. Set in a turn-of-the-century train station, this museum houses art from the period of Paris' role as the world's arts capital, 1848 to 1914. Ellen and I brought along a book (Off the Wall, Museum Guides for Kids, Impressionist Art), that helped us understand what we were looking at. We especially loved Dega's Little Dancer, shown to the left, because we had read a children's book about her earlier this year. And, of course, Ellen loved seeing the Monet paintings from his gardens (below on the left.) It was such a thrill to see so much Impressionist work in one place. While the crowds weren't too bad, the Museum seemed to be packed with American tourists.

From the Musee d'Orsay, we headed for the home of Paris' best ice cream, Berthillon's, on the Isle Saint. Louis. On the way we passed Notre Dame and stopped for this photo. The ice cream was the best I've ever had, and very expensive, but we later learned that even bad ice cream is expensive in Paris! After a quick rest in our rooms and a great Morrocan dinner near our hotel, we fulfilled Ellen's dream of seeing the Eifel Tower at night. It was quite beautiful, and no more crowded than it's been the other times we have been there. Below is a photo of our little group at the top of the Eifel Tower.

As we were leaving the tower, we wanted to look at the tower from directly below (our friend, Jim, had taken a great photo from this location, so we wanted to see it for ourselves.) Ellen spotted the center marker right away, and she can be seen below looking directly up through the center of the tower. What she saw is the photo below and to the left.

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