"I feel so small," said Dylan, as he gazed up through the centre of the Eiffel Tower. Day one in Paris, and we had already covered a lot of ground in Montmarte, taken two metros, eaten lunch in a brasserie and walked up the Champs de Mars (where Dylan took a go-kart for a spin). But seeing the Eiffel Tower up close was definitely his highlight to date. We followed that up with a ride on a carousel and a boat trip down the Seine, before we collapsed in an exhausted heap in our Montmarte apartment.
Seeing Paris through Dylan's eyes was a rewarding experience. Suddenly we had the perfect excuse to get excited over the tourist haunts, eat endless pain au chocolat and crepes, and buy souvenirs of that famous tower. And, despite the cold winter weather and our lack of french language (I resorted to buying as many croissants as the french number that popped into my head), it was a reasonably child-friendly city. The many parks were filled with adventure playgrounds and unique kids activities - our favourite was pushing a toy sailboat around a fountain in the Tuilerries - and the Pompidou musuem offered a chance to run amuck surrounded by modern art.
The kids loved the food - apart from getting to eat chocolate for breakfast, the cafes and brasseries always offered a variety of frites, poulet, croque monsieur and of course crepes. And of course the metro, bendy buses and overground trains were the biggest hit of all with our two trainspotting boys.
"Look at that tiny village," exclaimed Dylan as our bus passed over the top of the famous Montmartre Cemetary. Definitely a fresh perspective on the mausoleums!
The only thing we would do differently is avoid Euro-Disneyland during French school holidays - the lasseiz-faire attitude to queue maintenance meant at least an hours wait for most rides, and most of them were not suitable for Sam in any case. But they got to see Mickey and friends, ride "it's a small world", a space rocket and the carousel, and see the princess parade through Sleeping Beauty's castle. Dylan, of course, loved it all - especially the Buzz Lightyear gift shop.
We were so lucky to stay with our friends Anais and Graham - although we worry we may have put them off having kids of their own. They treated us to a fantastic raclette feast with their friends ("don't drink any water or you may die!") and also a night out at a delicious local bistro while they babysat. We also had a lovely brunch with Pim, Victoria and their two gorgeous girls -baby Charlotte just 3 weeks old - which was a rare chance for Dylan and Sam to play with someone their own age.
Dylan's first "really foreign" country, and he loved it - I suspect the travelling gene may have been well and truly inherited!
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