It Begins!

On September 7, 2022 we left Toronto to start our year-long journey. For days prior, we had packed and unpacked, trying to fill every last crevice of our backpacks. They said it couldn’t be done, they said ‘you are a family of four, how will you manage packing carry-on luggage only for a whole year’. Well my friends and family, we did it (at least for the France portion of our journey). 

We arrived at Pearson International Airport (Toronto) with plenty of time to spare in the event that check in and security would be the dreaded nightmare we had been reading about. Things went surprisingly smoothly! No issues, kids got their required snacks and we boarded our flight for Paris without delay. It was a pretty decent overnight flight (minus Addy barfing when we landed and two travelers in the seats in front of us who quite literally chatted the whole night); we arrived in Paris around 10 in the morning tired and ready to check into our hostel.

Bonjour from Paris!

Paris, France, also known as The City of Lights and other names that I (Addy) am not aware of, is one of the most beautiful cities that could ever stand on this planet. Our days in the streets of Paris were beautiful! Here’s how our days went. 

Sightseeing in Paris while struggling through jet lag was a bit of a whirlwind, but with a commitment to explore as much as we could in two days we visited as many sites as we could manage, while at the same time trying to just be in the city, walk and play and eat. Of note were the Louvre, where, of course, the kids wanted to see the Mona Lisa (along with a thousand others), but she was not the only inspiring piece, everything was spectacular (including the floors, walls and ceilings). When we took a moment to reflect on the beauty the kids quickly took out their sketch pads and crafted their own works of  art – their inspiration drawn from the skylights and archways. 

We also visited L’Orangerie – an intimate meditational space near the Seine. The kids sat still for, say, 10 minutes…unheard of…to observe Monet’s lily pads.  Afterwards we found a delightful french restaurant for lunch and walked and got lost for the rest of the afternoon; and that night we saw the Tour Eiffel at night, completely aglow!

At the Pompidou (modern art museum), the kids enjoyed playing in the children’s area that had great interactive and creative opportunities – they even got to hang their artwork for others to see!  

Day 3 we saved for the great climb. The kids were determined to ascend the stairs to the top of the Eiffel Tower, however we were only allowed to the 2nd level due to high demand. Everyone did fantastic, the views were incredible.  On the walk down we counted the stairs 629,630,631…

Our final day in Paris we saved to do a little shopping and to just wander and enjoy the streets and neighborhoods of the city. We took the Metro to Jardin Luxembourg. The kids played in the gardens, we walked the streets and rounded out the day, content and tired back at our favourite little bistro in our hood. 

The next morning we grabbed coffee and pastry from our favourite bakery and made our way back to the airport for our flight to Bastia, Corsica. The travel day was great and we have now arrived at the ancient Tour Pianesca where we will spend the next 2 weeks of our adventure. 

Paris gallery! Images are out of order – Sorry we will do better next time!