Farewell Tauck Ms. Sapphire, A Bientôt ma Famille
When we awaken, we are in Paris. I didn’t know we would be gathering for breakfast, but breakfast was one of our favorite meals and we did. AdventureMan wanted one last fresh squeezed orange juice and croissant, and N wanted one more cinnamon waffle with whipped cream. I had, I am not kidding, French Toast, also with whipped cream, a luxury I never allow myself in “real life.”
And while we ate really well this entire trip, when I get home, I find I have been so busy that I didn’t gain weight, I lost weight. I need to spend more time in France.
We gather in the lounge after our bags are packed and left in the hallway to be picked up. The good thing is that we can see the bags in the desk area, so we know they are tagged and will be safely delivered to our transportation.
We are tied up on the outside, next to another boat. To get to our rides we will go out the door, up the stairs, across the deck, down the stairs and down the gangplank. You can see the lights of other ship through the windows.
Our transportation comes, and we say farewell and head our separate ways, sadly, because this has been a great trip and we hate for it to end.
Our son and his family head to the airport for their flight. AdventureMan and I head back to the Napoleon Hotel, to catch up with ourselves and to have a combination 51st wedding anniversary and trip celebration dinner at a restaurant my husband found online and fell in love with.
Tauck Tours Family Seine Trip: Not a Single Glitch (!)
By now, you know me. I don’t scare easily. This trip scared me.
We’ve traveled before as a family – you’ve gone with us, to New Orleans, to Seattle, to the beach and family Thanksgivings. We get along. We have fun together.
Taking a family to a foreign country, with a foreign language, different customs, different foods, and different modes of transportation is not for the faint-hearted. When it comes to trying to figure out all the moving pieces, I anguished. And then, bless his wonderful heart, AdventureMan said “what if we throw money at the problem?” As soon as he said that, I knew what to do.
We called Tauck Tours.
We’ve only traveled with Tauck once before, to visit the Christmas Markets On the Rhine, in 2018. It was a truly great trip. They took care of every little detail. We don’t always need that kind of hand-holding, but this time, I did.
Here is a truth about me that has just never come up in this blog before – I am not that great with entertaining children. I am great at rocking a baby, or soothing a toddler, or talking over problems with pre-teens. Thank God for AdventureMan; he can make babies laugh, can speak toddler to a toddler and organizes game days our teen grandchildren love. AdventureMan is wonderful with youth. He volunteers with local schools. I volunteer behind the scenes, creating rosters, working financial matters, raising money for worthy causes. Yes. I don’t look it, but I am shy. And mostly quiet.
Tauck Tours Family Seine Trip to the rescue! As soon as the dates for this trip came out, we booked. We took care of air travel, and when we landed, Tauck took over. This is our ride to the Hotel.
I had never ridden in a Tesla before. I loved it.
Teachers waiting to get their children across to the Park.
Tauck had put us at the Napoleon Hotel; coincidentally, Napoleon is one of AdventureMan’s historical favorite generals. It felt like a good omen, and upon arrival, we loved it. First, we loved the location, with a view of both the Arch of Triumph and the Eifel Tower. We loved that just steps away was an entry to one of the best Metro interchanges in Paris. We loved that it was surrounded by sweet restaurants, something for everybody. I loved that it had great air conditioning. I was delighted that it was a 7-minute walk to my favorite shoe store, Arche. At first, I was not a fan of our room, with a view of a courtyard, but I do like to sleep, and we slept wonderfully in this quiet, peaceful room.
Paris was hot and sticky. We were hot and sticky. We showered. We took a quick nap and then we were eager to get out and enjoy a little Paris.
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