Tag Archives: paris

Smiths’ European Vacation!

Posted in Family, Travel by

For as long as I can remember, I have always dreamed of going to the U.K. I love British humor, accents, television shows, movies, and books. I love watching Instagram videos of quaint pubs, decor, and bookshops. In the summer of 2024 we finally made my dream of going across the pond come true.

We didn’t set out to book a trip to London initially, but when we sat down to do our annual summer vacation planning, we became frustrated with the high plane ticket costs to go to Florida and visit family. On a whim we decided to check to see how much it would cost to go to London. Surprisingly, it wasn’t much more than going to Florida. Could…we…actually…go?! With the help of our credit card points- we made it happen!

Once the initial shock of booking flights on British Airlines started to wear off, we realized we needed to start planning this big adventure! When we started looking at the time would have, we decided we would have enough days to pull off a quick trip to Paris as well. HOLY MOLY. This was beyond exciting.

We wanted to make sure that the boys were a big part of the planning as this trip was as much for them as it was for us. They both had must sees on their Euro lists. Brady wanted to see as many museums as possible (specifically for dinosaur fossils.) Nolan wanted to see Abbey Road and eat baguettes. I had dreams of having afternoon tea at Harrods, seeing Buckingham Palace, and taking a night time cruise down the Siene to see the Eiffel Tower lit up. Chris wanted to go to a Premier League match, and take in all the art, culture, architecture and food that we could. Happily, we did all that and more!

We ended up staying one night in London with a quick double decker bus trip for a little sightseeing. Then we hopped on the train to Paris where we stayed two nights in an amazing Airbnb that was right in the middle of everything! After that, we stayed 6 nights at the most beautiful flat in the Chelsea area of London. Everything about the trip was a dream come true. And I can’t wait to go back someday!

These are my favorite memories…

The train to Paris
Arch de Triumph- a quick walk from our apartment
At Carette
The Louvre
Nolan seeking out air conditioning
French Pokemon cards
At the Paleontology Museum in Paris
Taking the train back to London
Seeing the Crown Jewels
Tower Bridge
Eating all the yummy food at Borough Market
The viral chocolate covered strawberries
Mac and cheese he still dreams about
Westminster Abbey
Taking the tube to the West Ham match
Abbey Road
Banksy Art in front of London Zoo
London Zoo
Our Airbnb neighborhood
Afternoon tea at Harrods
At the British Museum of Natural History
Nolan finding the cool air again!
Pub life
Buckingham Palace

By far, our biggest, and most blessed adventure yet!