Above All Else, BE FLEXIBLE.

Plane travel with a toddler and car travel with a toddler?  TWO DIFFERENT THINGS.  In summary:

Thursday.  We left the house around 10:15, stopping in Tarbes so I could order my new (red!) glasses, because the frames had been on hold since Monday.  The shop was super busy so Pascal drove around while I finalized the paperwork and Sophie took an unprecedented morning nap.  The initial plan was to eat in Toulouse at Asia Village, a new-to-us restaurant.  However, we had bad directions and decided to just continue on to the next rest stop for a sandwich.  We got back on the road, stopping next in Limoges for Pascal to say hello to a work acquaintance.  Back on the road during rush hour and finally arrived at our hotel at 10 pm. 

Friday.  Up and out the door at 9, headed into Paris (we were staying a little east of Paris, due to Pascal's work commitment (the whole purpose of the trip) being in that direction).  HOWEVER.  Commuters bogged down our drive and we arrived at the parking garage at 10.  We jumped on the metro and revamped our itinerary (since Pascal had a work thing at 3), deciding to head to the Eiffel Tower first.  It was a bit drizzly and gray, not terrible for walking around but not great for taking photos.  Oh well.  Sophie frolicked beneath the ET, chasing pigeons, and I scurried to the gift shop, looking for postcards and a charm for her bracelet.  We walked down the Champ de Mars to get to another metro that would take us to the Hard Rock Cafe.
We arrived at the HRC early enough to beat the lunch crowd, which meant that Sophie didn't annoy too many fellow diners with her antics :)  I enjoyed their veggie burger (with fries!) and Pascal enjoyed a cheeseburger.  Sophie ate a bite (kids!) of her chicken strips but gulped down the milkshake.  OF COURSE.  Sophie got a souvenir t-shirt and we headed back to the metro in order to get back on the road.  Pascal dropped us back at the hotel and left for his appointment.  We played in the room, ran up and down the halls, walked up and down the stairs, and even made it outside for a walk in the wind.  Pascal returned and we headed back into Paris, because the Louvre is open late on Friday nights.  By the time we turned onto the Rue de Rivoli, Sophie had fallen asleep and Pascal took one look at the how big the Louvre really is and decided that he wanted to visit another time.  So we drove around instead, taking in the lights and the sights of Paris.

Saturday.   We woke up to rain and I decided that I was too tired to take the 45 minute train into Paris and wrangle Sophie alone just to look at a shop or two.  Pascal took us to the grocery to get lunch food and we hung out in the hotel room again, doing much of what we did on Friday (fortunately, Sophie is easy to please!), while Pascal was at his work commitment.  He returned around 3:30 and I wanted to visit an outlet mall that I found advertised.  We arrived there around 5, thinking it would be fairly quiet with the stores closing at 7.  WRONG.  In the rain, we circled the parking lot three times and could.not.find a parking spot.  I finally told Pascal to take us to Ikea to shop and eat and we would try again in the morning when the mall opened at 10.  I bought a few things at Ikea but the restaurant had closed by the time we made our way there.  We decided to stop for something on our way back into Paris (we'd noticed the roue de Paris the night before and thought that Sophie would enjoy it) and Pascal found a Pizza Hut along the way.  We found parking, walked up and found that it was TAKE-AWAY only.  At this point, we were starving and there was no way that Sophie would last through a restaurant meal.  So, we ordered and waited and took the pizza and chicken strips back to the car.  Where I discovered that the pizza was NOT cut . . . merci, Pizza Hut.  Thank goodness Pascal had his Leatherman with him so I was able to clean it off and cut away and we dined dans la voiture.  We continued into Paris, with me keeping Sophie awake until we found parking and walked to the Place de la Concorde, where the Ferris wheel was.  It was raining AGAIN but the cabins were enclosed so we were warm.  We went around three times, and at the stroke of 10, we were stopped at the top, just as the Eiffel Tower was glittering with twinkle lights!  I snapped a few blurry pics of the Champs-Elysées and we all enjoyed the view!  Sophie fell asleep on the way back to the hotel of course so she spent another night in her clothes :)

Sunday.  We woke up to blue skies with a few clouds (a good shopping sign for sure!) and we got out the door at 9:45.  Minimal traffic, tons of parking and we walked into the first shop shortly before 10.  I ditched Pascal and Sophie at the play area and wandered and was thrilled to find a familiar store.  Vanilla latté in hand and post-Christmas sale mugs in bag, I soldiered on, and enjoyed just being in the presence of so many stores.  If you looked at the list that I linked to above, I'm sure it's clear that I didn't buy anything!  As we headed back to the car, Pascal and I agreed that Jimmy Choo boots are PERFECT for working in the garden :)  Back on the road, Sophie was a superstar, and we got back to Orincles around 8:30, looking forward to sleeping in our own beds.

THE END.  (Pics to be posted separately.)