The Eiffel Tower {Paris Day 3}

What a day.

Shortly after waking up, we decided we’d get ready and head out to the Eiffel Tower nice and early before the crowds made it there.  We still hadn’t decided whether or not we’d go up, but we thought we’d play it by ear and decide once there.  {When planning the trip, I knew I wanted to take Miss G to see the the tower, but going up didn’t seem that 3 year old friendly given the long queues and general crowdedness.  That being said, after talking with a friend, I was wavering based on the fact that it may be a once in a lifetime for Miss G. Brad, on the other hand, wasn’t interested in the least.  We went up during our trip in 2008, and though it is truly breathtaking up there, he figured it wouldn’t be as exciting for Grae.  That and he figured that this was fairly certainly not going to be the only time she visits Paris in her lifetime.}

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Anyways, we arrived in the area around 9:30 a.m. and made our way from the École Militaire, through the Champs de Mars, where we were surprised to find several lovely playgrounds for little ones to enjoy along the way.

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We made our way up to the tower {stopping to play and take photos along the way} to find a whole slew of tourist buses already out front.  We surveyed the situation and although it was not nearly as busy as we’ve seen it, we decided that exploring the area, grabbing baguette sandwiches for lunch, and picnicking in the gardens would be just as fun.

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We wandering around, stopping at little tourist boutiques along the way, for quite a while before settling on a grassy area to stop for some lunch.  As Brad went off in search of sandwiches, Grae began telling me how cold she was despite the fact that she still had several layers on and I was warm having already taken all of mine off. I bundled her up in our jackets, but as soon as she told me that her head hurt, I knew something wasn’t right. She wasn’t at all interested in eating lunch, and before long she was super sleepy.  Having left the stroller back at the flat due to the very stroller-unfriendly metro, we made a little bed for her right there on the grass in front of the Eiffel Tower, and within 10 minutes, she was fast asleep.

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Now while this may not seem that out of the norm for many children, Gracen has never been one of those kids who just falls asleep on the go – not even when she was just a baby.  Never.  From the get-go, we very much got her used to the fact that you sleep in a dark, quiet room at home, which has worked both for and against us ever since. So having her sleep on a grassy knoll while out and about was very strange.

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When she woke up, she seemed to feel okay, but felt warm, so we headed back towards our flat.

That’s when it happened.  Puke.  On the {extremely crowded} metro.  Brad had found a seat a couple of rows back, and G was sitting on my lap,  so catching the vomit with nothing but her vest as a receptacle while trying to calm her and not fully traumatize those around us wasn’t super easy.

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We managed to get her home, cleaned up, and into bed for some downtime (a.k.a. The Lion King on the iPad – it’s the first movie she’s ever shown any real interest in and she’s obsessed), and then kept the rest of our day very low-key with some sensory play and card games.  We did manage to get a little bit of fresh air by the end of the day and she did eat a tiny bit of dinner, so here’s hoping for an overnight recovery.  {*fingers crossed*}

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