Paris! Probably one of the most popular European destinations. We have obviously always wanted to go, and the fact that it is such a quick and close destination has been so awesome. We did a short trip over a few days and honestly we got to see a lot in those few days. The food atmosphere people were all amazing. Since we are slowly coming out of Covid (hopefully!!) I think people, in general, are just so happy to see tourists again. I definitely felt welcomed as a tourist!

We drove from Düsseldorf, which was 5ish hours (with traffic) and it was not a bad drive at all. We arrived that afternoon and stayed at the Hyatt Regency Estoille which is about a 10 min train ride from the downtown parts of Paris. Paris is HUGE. It can take days to see all main parts of the city. You cannot just walk from monument to attraction easily. And I will also add that it is not easy to get onto transport easily with a stroller/pram. Definitely use your baby carrier or mini umbrella stroller in Paris!

Our first evening, we walked around the gardens and the area of the Louvre, and then saw Eiffel Tower sparkle at night! It sparkles at every 15 minutes after sunset! It was so pretty, and the atmosphere just felt magical.

The next morning we had breakfast at our hotel and we met with a photographer that took our family photos in front of the Eiffel Tower. We got extremely lucky and had perfect weather during our photo shoot. Lachlan was not excited about the pictures…

We grabbed lunch at Bistrot Poincaré, which was an easy five min walk from Eiffel Tower. We had Escargot for the first time. It was served with gorgeous toasted buttered bread and a side of champagne. We sat outside and people watched for maybe 2 hours almost. One of my favorite activities in Europe is people watching!

We thoroughly enjoyed this lunch, because after pitching a fit the entire time we got our photos, Lachlan was worn out and he ended up sleeping in the stroller for almost two hours. It felt amazing to be in Paris with the people I love most, eating delicious fresh and exotic food (in peace!). I never, ever take these moments for granted because I have wished and dreamed of things like this!

On our walk back to the hotel, we explored some neighborhoods, and got a bunch of different pastries to try! Everything was obviously delicious.

Dinner that night, was on the rooftop bar of our Hyatt. It is one of the only skyscrapers in the city area. Though it was pretty expensive to drink and eat there, the view is unbeatable and the TRUFFLE HONEY that we ordered with our appetizer was honestly life changing!

The following day, we just had a free day to just walk around and explore. I don’t like to overplan with a toddler because you never know what they will feel up for, so it’s better to not be disappointed. We went down to the fancy high end stores, and Lachy got to go to his first Disney store! Paris has SO MUCH good shopping. And of course, I had to get my first ever Chanel lipstick in Paris!

We were all pretty tired (again, so much walking! As in like, 15,000 steps a day according to my iPhone) from the shopping that morning so we slowly made our way towards our hotel for nap time, only to find Lachy already asleep in the stroller in front of me. We then panicked because we were wasting precious nap time, and needed to hurry to find somewhere to eat if we wanted to have another great lunch together! We stumbled upon this tiny ristorante on an off-street. We both had no idea what the menu said, and we were wary that it might not be good or what we were looking for. So we sat down, a bit nervous, and wouldn’t you know… it ended up being one of my favorite parts of our trip.

The owner, who was also our waiter, brought us a bottle of wine, and took our order, when the food came out my jaw dropped. And then when I took my first few bites…. Wow. Just wow.

Not only was the food great, the waiter was fantastic and soooo French. He then brought out a special plate of food for Lachlan, so as he woke up from nap he had a fresh meal. As we paid the bill, the owner gave us two shots of some sort of alcohol, I still have no idea what it was but it was a nice gesture. I love having these tiny special moments with the locals we meet in our adventures. It just makes the trip for me.

That evening, we actually found a child friendly activity which I felt relieved about, I always feel bad if we don’t do at least one 100% kid themed activity for him. This adorable (but expensive!) theme park was about a 10 minute walk from our hotel. It had tons of rides! It was Lachlan’s first time at anything close to a theme park and he was kind of overwhelmed and didn’t understand it lol! But nonetheless, we all had a great time.

Our last day, we were going to be driving back home, so we did just a few hours at the Lourve Museum. We got there right at opening hours and it was not crowded. Robbie was kind enough to let me go into a few of the wings alone so I could really enjoy it and take it all in.

Gosh, everything is just so breathtaking and stunning. The rich history and beauty was just so surreal to be there seeing these iconic pieces.

… annnddddd we got to see the Mona Lisa!

We sadly then headed home. The weekend was filled with so many memories and honestly I can’t wait to go back some day soon, hopefully before we move back to Chicago.

Hotel – Linked Here

Ristorante Pinzutu

Photoshoot – booked through Airbnb experiences