Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Jet Setters ...

Back again …
Paris was awesome! Our trip was off to a rocky start and full of some drama but it was awesome none the less. Tuesday night we took the 8 hour night train from Frankfurt to Paris. We were in a 6 passenger room with couchettes (bunk beds). Makayla was freaked out in the little room with the stacked beds and Mom decided she would rather just sit up in a seat because she was feeling claustrophobic. So, we found an empty cabin with seats and slept there for the night. Mom got to sit up and Makayla was happy with plenty of room for the two of us to lie across the seats. We arrived in Paris at 7am and went to a Taxi to direct them to our hotel, we had booked on hotels.com the day before, and the driver said this hotel did not exist in Paris. Fabulous. We went back into the train station and after an hour we figured out our hotel was in a suburb of Paris. Another train ride and 30 euro taxi later, we made it to our hotel. We stayed at a Marriot Resort in the Parisian countryside and we had a 2 bedroom villa, it was beautiful! The Marriot was about 40 minutes from Paris and right next to Disneyland Paris. The four of us got two day public transportation passes and mastered how to use those quickly so the distance to the hotel ended up not being a problem. After we all cleaned up we headed to the city.
On our first day we ate at a café and then toured the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Louvre. For dinner we went to the Disney Village by our hotel; it was just like Downtown Disney. On our second and last day we went to the Tour de Eiffel, Arc de Triumph, and walked the Champs de Elysse (I probably didn’t spell that right) before catching our train back. Then more drama ensued. At the train station I wanted to clean up Makayla to get her ready for the long night (wash her face, hands, and feet, change her diaper, put on her jammies) … well, the bathroom attendant wouldn’t let us past the toilet to the sink. She asked why we needed the sink and when we told her she looked disgusted and said, “No! We do not “wash” the baby in here”. She wouldn’t let us change her clothes or diaper or anything! Bitch! It was so funny too because Mom and I both had to go to the bathroom so bad but we held it until we boarded the train because we didn’t want to give that lady any of our money or service (FYI, in Europe you have to pay to use the bathroom sometimes). We showed her ;) Anyway, that was just the beginning. Sorry this is such a long post … I’m venting.
Now it was time to board the train. Dad went to the couchette and fell asleep while mom and I found an empty cabin again. Two men joined us after a few minutes and began to explain how they oversold the train and the couchettes they paid for were non existent. We got the Train Manager and arranged to give the two men our couchettes we weren’t going to use if they Train Manager would allow us to have the cabin to ourselves for the night … everything worked out fine. At about 3am the train stopped at the border and the French crew got off while the German crew took over. A German man stormed into our cabin yelling at us to wake up and get out. Apparently the cabin we were in was for the Train manager only. We explained our arrangement and after the German man screamed at the French man he came back and said he didn’t care and that the three of us couldn’t sit in his cabin. To make this long story short, Mom, Makayla, and I ended up laying the rest of the 4 hour ride on the floor of the bike storage compartment of the train while the German Train Manager came and went from his empty cabin. What an ass! People were very mad the next morning when they realized he made us ride like stowaways. We were just happy to be home. Drama aside though, Paris was awesome. I’ve enjoyed Paris and Rome much more the second time around. I have a picture of us laying on the floor but mom and I only had her phone and had to use that so it will be a while before I can post that picture. Here are some others from our trip though …

Friday we relaxed, Saturday we went to the game … and WON … woo hoo, and Sunday Mom and Dad went home L Steve, Makayla and I are just relaxing now and catching up on some much needed sleep.

Makayla says thanks Aunty Bape for the clothes but they got sent home cause they were waaaaaaay too big! So sorry no pix in those outfits!

Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure ....

She even mastered the public transportation ...


One lucky baby ... no wonder she's so happy!

Makayla in Louis Vuitton, "Grandpa I want this one"

Self explanatory ...

Hi Everyone!

So excited to be at the Eiffel Tower

Can you see her mohawk? Too cute!

The princess with Grandma and Grandpa in the backyard ...

Backyard of our villa

Aquarium at Rainforest Cafe


Damn Paparazzi ...

The fam in Heidelberg

We lost her ...
"

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice Post Heidi, glad to be home, but miss you guys already. Don't remind me about the train.... UUGGHHH! Thanks for sharing Germany with us. Anyway talk to you soon give Makayla a kiss.
Love, Mom & Dad

Anonymous said...

Good work Rabbit! Love the pics of my Mak Deezy. Give her lots of hugs & kisses for me, tell her I love her, & don't forget to punch brother Steve in the gut when he least expects it & tell him that was from me!!

Lara said...

that pic of her in the backyard is beautiful. glad to see you all are having so much fun. :)

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness I can't believe all the drama with the train! Crazy! Makayla is becoming quite the world traveler! Anyway, you guys take care. We miss you!

Anonymous said...

oh so cute so cute! oh i wish those bitches tried to put me on the floor. i woulda busted sum french n german they aint never heard of. she is gettin so big. looooooooove her lil mohawk!

Anonymous said...

Brother Steve,

Me & Smelly made a late night run to McDonald's at like 1:30 in the morning & were thinking of you because you were probably in practice at that time.

We miss you...good thing it's already the end of May...only a few more weeks before you guys come home.

Love you