20 Questions to Paris
I set out clothes for the kids to wear as Kailey has a Paris shirt along, and I want her to wear it. Nate told the kids we ware going to drive to see the ASML factory, so Kailey asked “shouldn't I wear my ASML shirt if we are going to ASML?” I tell her we are going to do that, but since security won't let us tour the building, we won't be going inside, so no need.
While the kids are eating breakfast, Nate sneaks the bags out to the car. I had hoped to be on the road already, but the kids struggled to get up this morning.
We finally head out to the car, and Nate realizes he forgot his sunglasses in the room. Sunglasses are a must for a long road trip, so he has to go back for them. This requires walking all the way around to the front of the hotel as that's the only entrance we can go in with our key. About 10 minutes later we are finally on the way.
The ASML campus has expanded so much since I was here 14 years ago, and there's very tight security now. We drive past the buildings as Nate tells the kids where he's been for different meetings, etc. At least they can see the size of the factory, even if we can't get inside. They do have a family day once a year, which happens to be next weekend, but we'll be gone by then.
Next we head towards Brussels. We want to stop there to get some real fresh Liege waffles, and Nate thinks we should walk over to the Mannikin Pis statue too, since we'll be so close.
Nate asks if the kids have anything to write with, and Landon has his little "boogie board" writing tablet along. To help kill time on the drive we play 20 questions. We tell the kids to write down the first letter of the answer, and that will spell out the place we are heading to.
By the time the kids have B-R-U-S-S-E-L…they ask if we are heading to see brussel sprouts, and think maybe we were going to a farm. They are excited to hear we were going to Brussels instead for some fresh waffles.
Navigating the city is a pain, with very narrow streets and people constantly stepping out into the street in front of us. Parking is very difficult to find as it is a busy Saturday. The parking garage that I navigated to we can't seem to find, so we drive around and eventually find a parking garage further away. It takes us about 15-20 minutes to walk back towards the city center, heading for Mannekin Pis.
Right before we get to the statue we find a parade of people in the streets. Some are beating drums, others carrying a statue of some kind through the streets. We have no idea what it's for. We tuck in behind them as they are on the road we need to go down. Of course they stop right in front of the statue of Mannekin pis so we can't get up close, so Nate lifts the kids up to see it, then we turn around and go the other way. There are chocolate versions of the statue in some of the shops along the way that are even larger than the real one.
Manneken Pis is a little bronze statue of a boy peeing. The original statue from 1619 is now in the Brussels City Museum as it has been repeatedly stolen or damaged throughout history. A replica has been on display since 1965. 150 days of the year they have it dress in one of his 1,200 outfits. Today he has on a medieval looking outfit.
Quick picture from inside the Église Notre-Dame du Bon Secours de Bruxelles
We had hoped to make this a quick stop, but it's already lunch time, so we need to find more food than just a waffle. After looking on our phones I find a place called Manhattn's Burgers that's not far away. The big juicy burgers and fries taste amazing!
As we are eating we see several people walking around carrying a flag I don't recognize. I know it's not for Belgium so I do a google lens and find out they are for Tunisia. The kids ask me why they are carrying those flags around. I find out there is a soccer match in Belgium today, Tunisia vs Belgium (Belgium wins 5-0)
As we are walking towards a waffle place we see the city square is a few hundred yards down a street, so we quickly bring the kids to the city square where Kailey started sounding like king Midas “Gold, gold, gold everywhere!” we then grab some waffles to share and head towards our car while eating on the go.
Getting out of town is just as tricky as getting into it, with lots of weaving around on very narrow roads and crazy pedestrians.
Once we get back on the freeway we play 20 questions again. This time we decide to scramble the letters to add an extra challenge. The name we are going to scramble is Notre Dame. We did tell them it was two words and gave them each word individually. By the time they get all the letters they still have no idea.
We play another round for a second hint word to give the letters for Paris. They ask if they can do hangman instead. They guess almost the whole alphabet before they guess the letter P, so their "man" had lots of details. Landon had written the letters so small that he had a hard time figuring out what letters they were missing.
They still need to unscramble the letters, which seems too challenging for Kailey who says “I'm going to look for road signs to help figure it out” which is a great idea! Less than a minute later we pass a huge road sign saying how many miles to Paris, but she is looking back at the letters trying to unscramble them.
It takes them about 20 minutes to figure it out. We had expected a bit of excitement once they figure it out as they had been begging for us to take them to Paris on this trip. I think they were just relieved to be done with the puzzle, and we still had probably an hour and half of driving left to get there. I tell Landon how to find a new mad libs book I had bought from my backpack, and that helps kill some more time.
Paris is also a nightmare to drive around. Following directions on our phone we can't find our hotel. So we pull over to try figure it out. After about 5 minutes and looking at some pictures online we realize it is just around the corner (It's not well marked, only smaller sign on the door, not a huge sign like we are used to in the US). We go into the parking garage which has a very, very steep driveway. There are two gates, so you drive in, wait for the first gate to shut before the next will open, as you're sitting on a very steep hill with not much spare room on either side of the car. The first level is full, so we have to go down a level which thankfully is wide open. We drive down and park close to the door that will bring us back up to the hotel.
We get our suitcase out and we walk to to door labeled for our hotel, we pushed the elevator button and it lights up, then shuts off. We did it again, and then again. Eventually the elevator finally comes after about 5 minutes and we make it upstairs to check-in.
We are in room 219, which is called a quad room. I didn't think to take pictures of it but the bathroom is split into two with a water closet as you walk in to the left, a small table and two twin mattress then a curtain you can close between that and the queen bed with a door off of that with a shower and separate full tub.
We have limited time so we ask at the front desk how to get to the metro station. We need to make sure we can buy the tickets at the station. First the guy tells us one way, then the next, so we don't have full confidence in him. Our Google directions tell us a 16 min walk to the right.
When we get to the metro there isn't a ticket counter but there is a kiosk at least and after several minutes we figure out what kind of ticket we need, and we're on our way.
The metro is going to take us several stops before we need to switch to a different line. The first train is pretty open when we get on, but very noisy, as the windows are open and it's an older style train. A few stops down many more people get on to where there is standing room only. The second train we switch to is nicer and newer, but very full. We have to stand for several stops before some people get off and we are able to sit down. The train ride into town takes us around 50 minutes.
This train drops us near the Notre Dame Cathedral. I forgot to make a (free) reservation as you can only do it a couple hours in advance and I had been helping navigate. The line is long and I'm wondering if we'll be able to get in, as we only have around an hour before they stop letting people inside.
We walk across the bridge and stop to sit on some concrete blocks. While Nate and I look for someplace to eat dinner, the kids enjoyed watching some guys roller blading and skating while doing tricks.
We end up eating at a place called Café Panis, which written in cursive it almost looked like Café Paris, however the menu confirmed the name. I get roasted chicken with potatoes, Nate gets similar but beef. Landon orders a burger on a croissant bun and Kailey gets a hotdog on baguette. I order a bottle of water for the table only to find we could have asked for tap water and they would bring that for free. We paid 8 euros for the bottle.. at least it was good water.
The kids really want to check out a souvenir store, so we head there when we finish up dinner. Landon saw a light up Eiffel tower lamp, but decides he doesn't really want to pay 33 euros for it.
We walk to the nearby metro that will bring us over to the Eiffel tower, only a couple stops away.
When we walk out we can't see the tower, so we cross the road and then there it is. It had been hidden by a building. We are only a few hundred yards away from the base of it. We cross the street to walk along the Seine River which will also give a better view of the tower and spot for pictures.
We see a guy selling the same light-up Eiffel towers. He offers it to Landon for 10 euros and throws in 5 keychains of the Eiffel tower for free with it. He can't pass that deal up! Kailey also gets a smaller light-up one for 5 euros and he still gives her 5 keychains too. Further down the way lots of people are also selling them, but none for as good of a deal.
There are tons of people crowding around waiting to watch the lights turn on and twinkle, which is what we were there to do also.
Nate told the kids he would get them fresh crepes, so we find a little stand and he stands in line. Three people cut right in front of him to order, which really frustrates him. Eventually he gets the crepes and we sit on some concrete blocks to eat.
Eating crepes under the Eifel Tower sounds great, but there are tons of people including hustlers trying to sell you pictures or flowers or other things. Along the sidewalk every 10 feet or so there are people trying to sell things that they have laid out on a blanket. The true feeling of a tourist trap.
We sit in some grass by the Palais de Chaillot, which offers a great view of the tower, to wait for it to light up. Around 9:45 PM the lights came on, and then at 10 PM there are additional lights that come on and twinkle for about 5 minutes.
So we go back down to the front desk. Unfortunately there is a group of 6 ladies being helped at the front desk, and even though there are two people working the front desk, the one guy says he can't help us and we have to stand in line.…not sure why as he didn't seem to be doing much.
After about 15 minutes we finally get new room cards and head to the room.
The shower has lights that turn on at different intervals to let you know how much water you are using to encourage water conservation, but since I often have my eyes closed in the shower, I didn't even remember to look at the lights.
After getting ready for bed, and turning the lights out, we all fall asleep pretty quickly. Even though the bed is firm, it must have been more comfortable then our bed in Eindhoven as I sleep until our alarm goes off next morning.
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