10 Days in France

I know I just started this blog but I aready have the most definitive advice on traveling with a baby: bring a grandparent with you!! Let me back up a minute. In October, my dad sent the family an email coordinating Thanksgiving and Christmas plans, saying the my step-mom’s family was having an extended family reunion in France and they would be attending. Craig immediately responded with a (half) joking email that he and Benton had been learning French and would love the chance to practice in country. Before we knew it, we had been invited along to a family reunion that we were only peripherally connected to. I was coming off of a 26 hour shift to close out our busiest time of year for my business, just in time to pack up my family for 10 days on our first international trip with our baby. Needless to say were all a little haggard on our overnight flight to Paris. We collected our bags, met up with the other 5 members of our family, ate our first of countless croissants, packed up our two rental cars and headed South West towards our home for the next few days. On our way we stopped for lunch and to tour Chartres Cathedral, just your casual neighborhood church HA! 

This trip was the perfect mix of family, new friends and alone time, staying in one place and moving around, city and country side. We were very nervous about our first big trip with baby Benton and with the unfounded stereotype that the French disdain children. What we found was the exact opposite. It was so wonderful to travel in a country that fully supports families and new mother. Museums and cafes offered to heat up bottles for us. Hostesses found us tables faster when they saw I was holding a baby. Almost every single bathroom had clean padded changing tables. We were moved to the head of almost every line at the airport leaving France. It truly was the best way to reignite our family travel bug!