Not all days are created equal when you are traveling, especially when you are traveling with your kids. Some days are sunny, warm and bright, other days are cold, grey and pouring sheets of rain down on you. You can either be miserable, or you can accept that this is just part of life (rain does bring spring flowers) and roll with whatever Mother Nature throws your way. We chose the latter on our first day in Paris. We were scheduled to do the Day Bike Tour with Fat Tire Tours Paris and we were going to do it no matter how wet we got. And we did get very wet.
Our first day in Paris couldn’t decide how it was going to be. We started out with grey, but dry skies as our plane landed at Charles Du Galles. The boys had slept on the plane and were in good spirits. We strolled the neighborhood around our rental apartment, had a late breakfast and got to know the town.
Before we knew it we needed to get ready for our day bike tour. As we walked out the door my youngest Ty fell asleep in his daddy’s arms. He would stay that way as we walked to meet our group and until we tried to gently place him in the carriage my husband would pull behind his bike.
Ty was none too happy when he woke up wet, cold and in a strange bike carriage. His brother Dek wasn’t too thrilled to have to sit next to him either. I bribed them both with granola bars and we were on our way.
To say our bike ride was smooth would be a joke. This bike ride would be a comedy of errors for our family, and looking back we probably should have rescheduled, but we were determined to experience a bit of Paris every day in whatever way possible.
Our guide Patty didn’t skip a beat anytime the boys cried. He just kept telling us facts and fun antidotes about the kings of France and the planning of the city. He had a great attitude despite the rain and understood that the kids were tired, wet and jet lagged.
Although we were all getting wet, we still had a great time on our tour. The office had told us it would give us a good overview of the city that would set us up for the rest of our stay. They were so right. Even with water dripping down my face I got the lay of the land. It was easy to find the different sights again the rest of the week, and we were one step ahead of other patrons on the rest of our tours that week since we had heard a few of the stories already.
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After our stop at the crepe, waffle and coffee stand, the boys did begin to perk up. I handed Ty my phone so he could play a few games. It was not the time for the boys to experience the city and soak up the culture and architecture. Their first day in Paris was all about settling in and acclimating. There would be plenty of time for them to enjoy the view later.
Yes, the tour would have been a bit more enjoyable if it had been warm and dry. The boys probably would have ridden a tandem and a baby seat behind my bike. However, you can’t always control the weather. Sometimes you just have to make the best of things and enjoy the ride, which is exactly what we did.
Many thanks to Fat Tire Tours for the fun, yet wet ride during our stay in Paris. We were guests of Fat Tire Tour for one week as the winners of their Fat Tire Tours Paris trip giveaway. As always, my opinions are my own; when they aren’t you will be the first to know.
What a fun visit to Paris. The bike tour sounds like an awesome way to see the city. Congrats on winning the trip! Great photos.
I’d like to add that a great way to be prepared for lots of walking and riding in the rain is to also purchase rain pants for adults and children. By the time you arrived in Scotland to join us, we had received these from LLBean and brought them along for all of us. They were indispensable as we hiked in the Highlands and tramped through Edinburgh.
I’m also impressed that Fat Tire Tours was prepared for children with a bike carriage, a tandem adult and child bike, and a baby seat that I saw on your Facebook posting.