Anna checking out the bassinet on the 777, it was longer than we were told it would be, but it was just too narrow for Anna to get truly comfy. Photo by Anita.
Anita & Anna reading in the apartment shortly after we arrived.
Notre Dame. Photo by Anita.
At the Moulin Rouge. Photo by Craig.
Our flight to Paris left at 6:40 PM Monday and I was interested/anxious to see how Anna did on the nine-hour flight and just reminded myself that it was "just" nine hours, and it couldn't last forever no matter how bad it got.
Lucky for us, the flight was pretty empty so Anita, Anna, & I had the bulkhead row to ourselves. Anna just fit in the bassinet but probably only slept for about 1.5 hours total in it, the rest of the time I held her and I don't think I got much sleep at all. Anna finally fell asleep around 9:40 PM (two hours later than her normal bedtime) and slept pretty well until about 12 AM when she had a pretty major freak-out that lasted about forty minutes (not non-stop crying, but she was definitely unsettled). We gave her some Mylicon and that seemed to help calm her down.
It was great to have the row to ourselves though and Anna was able to sit in the middle seat when she was awake and eat her breakfast & other meals on her own very comfortably with the tray right there for her. This flight actually seemed like a lot less work than the flights to and from San Francisco last month.
Anna woke up for the day when the flight attendants turned on the lights in the cabin for "breakfast" and she was actually in a pretty good mood for the rest of the flight. She got a compliment from a fellow passenger which was really nice to hear that other people were impressed with her traveling skills.
The highlight of this part of our trip was when the French customs officer said "Anna" ("Ah-nah") and got a big smile on his face as he peeked over the window at her.
Since we used Craig's miles to book our tickets we had elite priority on our bags so they were among the first to come off of the plane (thanks, Craig!) and our driver was waiting for us outside customs. Getting the van instead of taking the subway was really the way to go for us with all of our assorted luggage so I'm happy we did that.
Our driver pointed out buildings of interest on our drive into Paris and Anna slept in her carseat to the apartment. The driver carried all of our things up to the apartment and showed us a few features of the apartment. It was small, but we knew that ahead of time and after a few days I got used to the size and since the location was so fabulous and we didn't actually spend that much time inside the apartment, it was just perfect! I am so happy that we stayed there!
Anita, Anna, & I unpacked a bit and set up Anna's "baby cot" (a long, skinny version of our pack n' play), then went down to find a Tabac to purchase a phone card and then we took a (short) walk to the Notre Dame Cathedral while we waited for Craig to get back from his class.
Anita & Craig had dinner and watched the show at the Moulin Rouge while I stayed at the apartment with Anna the first night. Anna went to sleep right away at 7:20 PM (she was exhausted!) but woke about 40 minutes after and was upset and needed Mylicon & Tylenol before she calmed down and slept again.
At about midnight (and about the time Craig & Anita came back), Anna started acting restless and like she was trying to get comfortable and sleep but just couldn't get there. This lasted about 1.5 to 2 hours. (I'm not sure because we didn't have a clock with a light in our room.) Other than that, she slept great and actually slept until 9 AM Wednesday morning.
