Multi-Generational Trip to Paris: Expect the Unexpected
The only thing better than a trip to Paris is a trip to Paris on someone else’s dime! Seriously and sweetly, my in-laws wanted to take my children and my niece and nephew on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to France. Born in Paris, my father-in-law lived in France until his teens. He still has family there, and he and my mother-in-law have traveled extensively through France. They talked for years about taking the grandkids there, and finally put the trip together for July 2015. My sister-in-law tagged along to help with logistical issues. (Translation: free trip to Paris? Sure, I’ll chaperone!)
I gave my mother-in-law suggestions for the itinerary, but otherwise had little involvement in trip preparation. With a free week to ourselves, Dan and I planned our own getaway vacation. After some heated spousal debates (DRIVE to Alaska??? Uh, no thank you, honey), we planned a trip to Western Ireland.
They arrived without a problem, and enjoyed their first day taking it easy and recovering from jet lag. Then, on Day 2, my father-in-law, sister-in-law, and the 4 kids took a Segway tour in the afternoon. Some necessary background: my father-in-law — called “Pop Pop” by the kids, was 78 on this trip, is incredibly fit, and looks and acts like one of those wild grandparents from a Mountain Dew commercial. He has Segwayed (is that a verb?) at least twice before, and was looking forrward to this. Cue ominous music.
All went well until the route took them along the Seine, where pedestrian congestion was overwhelming. The guide left them far behind, and my father-in-law faced a choice between running over a toddler or attempting to swerve out of the way. He chose poorly (or well, if you’re the toddler). He chose to swerve, and caught his leg between the segway and a French barrier (those movable street barriers that look like bicycle racks) and broke it in two places. Being the bad ass grandpa that he is, he calmly remarked, “I think I hurt my leg.” You think?
The four kids and my sister-in-law were not so calm. As described to me, it was total mayhem. There was screaming and crying — mostly by the hapless tour guide, who finally realized he had misplaced six of his party, stumbled upon the disaster, but couldn’t call for an ambulance, because HE COULDN’T SPEAK FRENCH!!! Luckily, my niece saved the day, screaming at the top of her lungs for someone to help them (all while cradling Pop Pop’s head in her lap). Thankfully, a very kind and bilingual motorcycle driver stopped, pulled his bike onto the curb, and sorted them out.
Dan and I received the news that evening in Ireland that his father was hospitalized and would remain so for at least 5 days (i.e., the remainder of the trip). My mother-in-law understandably wanted to stay with him as much as possible, which left my sister-in-law in charge of salvaging the trip for the kids (her free vacation no longer looking like such a bargain). After a very short conversation (maybe 11 seconds), Dan and I booked tickets from Dublin to Paris for the next morning. Our decision had nothing to do with the torrential rain in Ireland and the warm, sunny forecast in Paris. Absolutely nothing.
And so we found ourselves unexpectedly on our kids’ Parisian vacation. As you can imagine, it became a make-the-best-of-it experience. Importantly, the hotel my in-laws had booked (Hotel Nicolo in the 16th arr.) was amazingly accommodating and so helpful throughout. Dan’s a physician, so he concentrated on overseeing his dad’s medical care and joined us on outings when he could.
The moral of our story? Behind every disaster, is a great vacation. Or maybe, behind every vacation is a great disaster? We’re working on it! We’re able to make light of the situation now, because bad ass grandpa fully recovered and is back in action. And my in-laws were happy that the kids were happy with how the trip turned out.
Our itinerary has links to the sights we saw and to our other blog posts about this trip.
Trip Date: July 2015
Kids’ Ages: Jonny – 15; Emma – 13 (plus cousins ages 16 & 14)