In the beginning of January 2017, we reflected on our 2016 year where we visited New York (USA), Colombia, London and many other great travel locations and experiences that we did. And when I asked the kids at that time where should we go for a city trip, they mentioned immediately two locations. Those 2 cities were London or Paris. My son reasoned London as there seems to be Harry Potter museum and tourist attraction. My daughter was more in favor of Paris. After discussing the pro’s and con’s of each city, we finally settled on our final choice Paris. So I booked the tickets of the high speed train Thalys where I search for the best promotion based on the hours and day that we intended to leave. If you do a good comparison of the ticket prices, you can save easily 300 to 400 for a 4 persons family as the difference between the highest and lowest economy ticket ranged around 100 euro difference. So do your HOMEWORK when buying tickets on the Thalys website. Kids were very excited when they heard that they could travel for the first time with the high speed train !
The second action that I took after buying our train fares, was to look for a location to stay during our one week trip in Paris. As I do have great experiences in Europe with Airbnb, I started my search on the Airbnb website. The way I search, is by selecting first my Advanced Preferences or Filters (free WIFI, Max price level, nr bedrooms, heating, TV). After getting my first shortlist, I start my search by using the google map and review each location. What is important for me going forward is
- the proximity to metro or public transport. You don’t want to walk miles to get somewhere or pay a taxi each time.
- the neighbourhood and how “noisy” it is. If your flat is on 9th Avenue in New York city, forget about sleeping. This happened to me once in NY city. The same can happen in each big city…so review the neighbourhood and street where the flat or house is, if you want to sleep. Nothing so annoying than a very noisy neighbourhood.
- the reviews of other people who stayed there and who were in contact with the owners.
So then maximum 3 to 5 locations are added in My trip favorites list for a final review. I finally decided for the following location, Le Ô des toits of Genevieve and Michel. The airbnb location nr is 7573476. You can book with my reference if you want a discount and SAVE SOME MONEY on Airbnb costs . The third thing that I booked, I will explain below in the blog post. Read the text on the 1st March.
Below you find our daily Programme that you can use as idea for your own trip with your family.
25 February 2017
So saturday morning, we took the train to Antwerp with our luggage for a week and in Antwerp, everyone was excited to step on the high speed Thalys train to Paris. Also my Colombian girlfriend, who got this city trip as birthday gift, joined us on the trip. Around 2 PM we arrived in Paris Nord. In the train station we were immediately harassed by “unofficial” taxi drivers and “identity thieves” who want your name and signature for whatever cause. We took the metro to our flat location and we were welcomed by Michel and Genevieve in the beautiful trendy and modern flat. The owners were very friendly and helpful. I asked them about the location of the best bakeries close by and where we could do some regular shopping for drinks and food. All was explained very nicely on a printed map. The neighbourhood was perfect as the flat is in a street with NO traffic. So very quiet and still 2 minutes walk from the metro station.
We ended our evening with a visit to Arc-de-Triomphe and a walk at the Champs-Élysées where we visited the Swarovski, Peugeot, Disney and many other stores. We ended the day with a dinner in a typical French brasserie where kids could order chicken with fries :-))) and then off to bed.
26 February 2017
What do you do as a real Parisien? You get your baguette fresh from the bakery right? So that’s what I did. Together with my daughter we went to the closest French bakery (every morning) to buy our french baguette for breakfast. I worked out a schedule for the day as there was no rain forecasted. After breakfast we took the metro to Trocadero where you have a spectacular view on the Eiffeltower. That was the place where we did a 30 minute photoshoot, maybe more?))
OUR TIP : Let your kids make pictures ! My son did make some spectacular photos there with KISS pictures and so on. Kids have a different view on making pictures. Let them make some pictures and you will be surprised…
We then walked towards the Eiffeltower (see picture with the kids) and admired this tower from all different angles. It is no longer possible to stand under the tower without an entry ticket and thorough security check by police. There are even plans to put a glass wall around it to safeguard the location against terrorism. It was clear to us that every tourist location had strict bag and body security controls.
From the Eiffeltower you can walk along the river the Seine and cross the bridge to the Museum of Modern Art. There you have a restaurant which serves fresh affordable daily hot meals. You can sit inside or outside on the terrace with a nice view.
From the Museum of Modern Art, we decided to make a city walk along the river until the place de la Concorde. At the place de la Concorde, you can buy fresh made pancakes “Crepes de Paris”
We ended the day with a walk in the beautiful Jardin de Tuileries where kids played with the seagulls feeding them some bread. From there you can walk until the museum the Louvre where we did an additional photoshoot. Everyone was tired after such an extensive walk and we relaxed in our flat for our next day. See some pictures of the day and continue to read on below the pictures.
Relaxing with the birds
27 Februray 2017
Rainy day today….and the forecast is all day rain. So we decide for a late breakfast and visit the Louvre. You can easily avoid the queue for buying tickets when you go to the shopping centre and buy your tickets in the souvenir shop there (also underground). This saves you a lot of time!
You can visit the Louvre all day long if you want but we were only interested in some galleries (decided by the kids). First of all the kids were eager to see the famous painting the Mona Lisa. That was our FIRST objective. 
Once we arrived there, we did see the madness of tourism combined with selfies. Not a lot of people were admiring the painting but were standing with their back to the painting in order to take a selfie with the painting))) More than hundred people for sure were waiting to get closer to the painting and do so… this is winter time…what a madness this must be in the heavy summer season I was wondering. My girlfriend was amazed by all this picture perfect madness…
So after visiting the Mona Lisa, we also went to see Venus of Milo, and other famous attractions from the different galleries. My son has a mobile and my daughter has a plastic camera and both kids were taking a lot of pictures to remember. Especially the Egypt and Greek galleries are amazing as they contain very ancient artifacts.
Admire here some more pictures. After the visit of the Louvre, we went relaxing in the flat.
Massive and beautiful paintings
Window view from the Louvre museum
Learning about a Greek godess
Admiring and learning about Egyptian culture
28 February 2017
Last day of february. Today will be a cloudy day with heavy rainshowers. That is the forecast. We decide to visit the Notre 
Dame cathedral and then explore that part of the city. Although the entrance to the cathredral is free, there was a queue due to the bag security control before entering the church.
The cathedral has amazing glass windows and other artifacts. You can learn about how this cathedral was built during the medieval timeframe.
After our lunch (escape from a heavy rain shower !!), we walked to Centre Pompidou and explored this whole neighbourhood Marais. On Tuesday in Paris, many museums are closed, so is the Centre de Pompidou. Be aware to check that first ! We walked around this neighbourhood which has many clothing, art, jewelry design, and other trendy stores.
OUR TIP : Step in a local bakery and order something you haven’t eaten before. Do you ever try this? If you discover another culture, you need to taste the different foodies. This is a must ! Teach also your kids that tasting food is part of learning about another country’s culture. Kids need to be made aware ! My son is better in trying out things than my daughter who first looks at the shape or smell of foodies. :-))
While discovering the neighbourhood, we did visit two interesting museums. You can click on the links.
Find below more pictures of our day. Another interesting day it was!
1 March 2017 – A SPECIAL DAY !!
Why a special day you may wonder…continue to read ! After our daily fresh French breakfast, we want to visit the Centre de Pompidou. Another rainy day is predicted and there is very heavy wind. This is no weather to walk outside and get sick.
We visited all galleries. There were two expositions about Russian Art that we visited and there’s also the Modern Art level. Important art to see are paintings of Piet Mondrian, Andy Warhol (Ten Lizes) and art from Henri Matisse. below you find some pictures from our visit.
Checking out Russian art
Seven girls
You also have a great view on Paris. Unfortunately the weather was terrible. You could not even see clearly the cathdral Sacre Coeur on the hill of Montmartre. The dark rainy clouds had covered completely Paris. Impressive view !
In the evening I had reserved tickets for a visit to the TOP of the Eiffel Tower. I had purchased those tickets two months in advance. SMART MO
VE ! A colleague who was also with his family in Paris was not able to buy tickets.
OUR TIP : Book your tickets well in advance (2 months before) on the following OFFICIAL website of Tour Eiffel
This was the first time for all of us. When I was 18, I did visit the tower on the first level but never I was at the top of the Eiffel tower. My son had a little height fever as he believed the tower could fall with this heavy wind. The rain was gone but the wind was still blowing heavily!
With our tickets we embarked on the elevator to one level higher, changed there to another elevator that took us to the top level of the Eiffel tower. Exciting ride for all of us as this elevator is really ancient.
At the top level, we had a spectacular view on Paris and the city lights. The wind was blowing us almost from our socks, especially my little daughter. But strange enough the wind was only blowing on one side of the top. While enjoying our view, I had one important mission to complete.
I proposed to marry to my girlfriend on my knees while all tourists around us took pictures of me proposing))) It was like in the movies….I don’t think there’s a more romantic place than the top of the Eiffel tower. My girlfriend said YES! She will be Ms DividendCake going forward))
So we are getting married !! So after putting on her engagement ring, I ordered two glasses of Champagne at the Bar de Champagne to celebrate. The kids were also very surprised when they saw their dad propose for marriage. But they were very happy. Kids get along very well with my girlfriend, sorry…future wife.
End of a SPECIAL DAY !
2 March 2017
This is our last day. Today is sunny and it looks to be a wonderful day. Time for sunglasses again !
We decide to visit another important area, the Quarter Montmartre. This day was elected for doing our tourist shopping in the numerous shops around the hill of Montmartre.
We visited the art market with all the painters and artists who make portrets of tourists. We had French pancakes in the restaurant CHEZ EUGENE which is one of the oldest restaurants here. Look at the special ceiling !!
To finish our day we decided to go back to the Arc de Triomphe, where we started our city break week. We bought tickets to visit the top of the Arc and here you can take a view on Paris from another perspective. Here you have a view on the Champs-Élysées and one of the Eiffel tower.
At the top of the Arc-de-Triomphe one security officer asked me at certain moment if we were the owners of a little blue bag. I look at my daughter and noticed she didn’t carry it anymore. The security guard asks to follow and pick up the bag. He tells me afterwards that if this bag was not reclaimed within 5 minutes, the whole top floor with all tourists would have been cleared and evacuated and military police would check the little blue bag. And I would have to pay for the whole operation, he said !! My little daughter was suddenly a terrorist. The blue bag was more than 5 minutes alone in a corner and the red alert went off…
It was amazing how quickly this security guy was upstairs and kept an eye on everything that was going on. They are very attentive for terrorism in Paris. It’s all for our safety which we can applaud. Great French security! We never felt unsecure.
We ended the vacation with a dinner in the special Japanese bar and restaurant Moki. Also the first time for the kids and my girlfriend in a Japanese restaurant.
Facebook URL : https://www.facebook.com/Moki-Bar-824643577620149/?rf=148559228518785
The restaurant is clearly a popular place for sushi and japanese food. The food was delicious. My daughter was the only one who was not a fan due to the spicy sauce on her meat.
During our visit we did notice many Syrian families living on the streets. In certain parcs there were tents where families with kids tried to survive. On the Champs-Élysées you could encounter every 30 meters a Syrian family begging for food or money. So in the restaurant we asked to put all the left overs from our plates in a plastic box and we gave it to the first family with little kids that we noticed.
It’s an important life lesson for the kids that they should NEVER forget about the people who need HELP! They just had a great week of vacation with all the food and goodies that they could imagine…while other kids need to live on the streets from gifts from others to survive in this world…
Thanks for reading until the end ! We love your comments and support. Have a great day !
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