Why go to Paris??
One day in February of 2013 Chris and I decided we might want to take our family of 6 to France and in July we arrived in Paris.   It was sort of a surprise but not really- Chris and I  and I have always planned on going overseas and want to give our children the opportunity to experience and appreciate new cultures.  We both come from multi-cultural families.  We are both bilingual- Chris speaks French and I speak Spanish. Both sets of grandparents speak several languages and we want our children to grasp a better understanding of our global community.  We decided on Paris because Chris has family in France.  We thought our children can meet their 14 cousins all while learning about this beautiful city and a new language.  It was a lot of work to get everything done within 4 months but we did it and are very excited about this adventure.  My friend Mona recommended I write a blog to update friends with stories and photos.  At first, I didn't think much of it but after arriving yesterday- I think it is a great idea to preserve our memories as well as share some ideas on travelling to Europe with four kids under the age of 10!  It also gives me a great way to share my thoughts and preserve my sanity as we go on this exciting journey!

July 11, 2103:  Day 2.
We just arrived in Paris yesterday. As we landed, Luciana says loudly "Are we in French?"  The kids did great on the plane.  All but Emilia managed to sleep a few hours.  We knew the jet lag would be tough so we stayed awake as long as we could.  We arrived at a furnished apartment in the 16th arrondissement.  We are staying here for 10 days until we get our home situated.  Everyone fell asleep around 6pm for about an hour and half.  Then all went to bed between 11 and 1 am.  This actually worked out quite well.  We had to wake everyone up @10 am but I think we are good to go with the time zone difference.  We had breakfast- croissants and hot chocolate.  The hot chocolate is delicious!  It is real pure melted chocolate in a mug served with a pitcher of warm milk and sugar cubes.  The kids all enjoyed it as we headed to the Eiffel Tower- a quick 15 minute walk.  Chris and the kids took the 674 stairs up the tower- it was actually quite an easy climb for the kids.  I highly recommend taking the stairs anyway as the lines for the elevator are quite long.  I asked the kids as we headed back after hours of walking what they noticed that was different from home.  Alex said- "everyone smokes".  Chris asked him why he thought that.  He replied, " I think they smoke for entertainment." Olivia's response was that "a lot of people litter". Emilia said "they have the Eiffel Tower and carpets on all the stairs" and Luciana said " I love french!"- speaking of which I really need to learn french!!