We spent our final days in Paris, exploring iconic sites like the Eiffel Tower and Louvre, walking over 19 km daily,
and enjoying delicious pastries and crêpes

Like London, Paris was not in our original itinerary. However, we found a good deal on a flight back to Victoria from there so once booked, our plan was to spend just our last few days there before heading home for a wedding. We didn’t want to be in the City of Light during the Olympics (too pricey, too many crowds); it worked out perfectly to arrive the day after the Closing Ceremonies and have three days to explore before our flight.

(Side note re: the Olympics… even though we arrived the day after the Closing Ceremonies, there were still a lot of bridges and roads cordoned off, lots of temporary infrastructure in the first stages of being taken down, and lots of police officers on foot. We committed to doing one squat for every officer we saw, and racked up to over 150 in one day!).

We stepped off the Eurostar at Gare du Nord in a sweltering heat wave and found our way via metro to the Yooma Urban Lodge Eiffel (we’d previously stayed in the Brussels Yooma). It was all we could do to unpack, drink a lot of water, and search for a VERY nearby restaurant for a bite of dinner. Luckily, we found the cute L’abreuvoir bistro and sweated through a salad dinner before turning in and attempting a restless, oppressively hot sleep (thinking back to all the scorching places we’ve travelled this year, would you believe that the most uncomfortably warm sleeps I can remember are from our time in Paris?!).

We did a LOT of walking in Paris. Two back-to-back days tracked at 19 km and 17 km, respectively – and I don’t even remember the kids complaining! They’ve come a loooong way from the start of the trip. We criss-crossed our way down the Seine, stopping to admire the gorgeously curated book and antique stalls on the Quai Voltaire, dreamily browsing through Shakespeare and Company, and taking the requisite photos across L’île de la Cité (hot tip: we found the much quieter Île aux Cygnes to be a perfect spot to get excellent shots of the Eiffel Tower). We strolled down the Rue de Rivoli, past the Hôtel de Ville, up to Les Halles and along the Rue Montorgueil which was packed with bakeries, bistros, cafés, and shops. We ogled the buildings from within the Louvre courtyard and battled the crowds taking pictures of the Pyramid, went up the Eiffel Tower at dusk, and lost ourselves in the sandcastle-like gypsum and limestone crags of the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont. The park was a personal favourite; it felt like a bit of a secret find and has a very interesting history.

To offset all that walking, we of course had to sample many delicious pastries, baguettes, cheeses, and wines. A food blogger I follow said Stohrer makes the top lemon tart in all of Paris, and though it was the only one I tried there, I can imagine it would be amongst the very best. I was told I had to try Pierre Hermé’s Ispahan macaron (raspberry, lychee, and sweet rose cream) which did not disappoint. A vegetarian dinner at Polichinelle was light and wonderful. Crêpes from a cart in the Jardin des Tuileries were scrumptious (and cool to watch being made). Ice cream and champagne in Montmartre hit the spot after a very long walk.

And then, just like that, nearly eight months of our year-long trip were over, and we were boarding a plane to head back home to Canada. It felt very, very strange to be heading home after being away for so long, being out of our normal routines, and having formed brand new ones. We were all excited but also a little anxious for this huge adjustment.