We decided to take it easy this morning. Cole walks to the boulangerie to get a late breakfast and brings it home. So delicious! We get ready and plan to have a nice relaxing day at Luxembourg Gardens and head home early to get the kids to bed at a decent hour. We take the train to Luxembourg Gardens, and it is a sunny and hot day! We walk into the gardens past the palace and stop and see the beautiful fountain! We walk to the octagon shaped pond with toy sailboats and we check how much to rent a boat for the kids to play. We pay 6 euros for a toy boat for 30 mins. The man renting boats hands me one and tells me “Portugal for you” – our boat is red and green with letters PT on the sail for Portugal. We bring the boat and stick back for the kids and they are so excited! They chase the boat and push it with the stick all over the pond with the other children. It is so fun watching the kids and a memory I will never forget. Definitely worth the 6 euros! The gardens are gorgeous and after returning the boat we walk and find a bench in the shade of the trees. We have a snack and some water, then we walk to the playground. We pay a few euros for tickets for the playground and the kids play and V and C sit on the bench and plan the rest of the day. After playing a while, we get the kids ready to leave, and on our way out we see the Statue of Liberty – a small replica on the way out of the park. We walk out of the gardens and find a nice restaurant. We enjoy a delicious lunch at the French restaurant watching people on the street. We take a nice long relaxing lunch then we are back on our feet walking to Notre Dame! So many beautiful buildings and charming Parisian streets along the way. Notre Dame is still under construction from the fire, but we could see the bell towers. We sit and enjoy the view, the kids chase pigeons, then we walk across the bridge and see the Conciergerie near the river Seine. It is beautiful! We walk to our bus stop and ride bus all the way back home to the 11th arrondissement. Back at our Airbnb, we sit on the patio and eat Magnum and ice cream Mars bars in the evening sunshine and breeze. It is such a lovely evening!
Things to Know:
*Luxembourg Gardens is FREE to the public
*Rent vintage toy sailboats at Grand Bassin du Luxembourg, the octagonal pond opposite the palace. The tradition is over 90 years old beginning in 1927.
*Ludo Jardin is the children’s playground at Luxembourg Gardens. Small admission fee applies to children (3y to 12y) and adults. Children under 3 is FREE.