Right from the start, our trip to France was hectic. We stayed with my wife's sister and her 2 kids (8 and 5 year-olds), plus her boyfriend in a small 2 bedroom apartment in witch the kids each had their own bedrooms and the adults slept in the living room. Luckily, the kids shared a bedroom and let us have one while we were there - this did not stop them from running in the room and climbing all over us at any moment. My wife had never met her niece and nephew and they really loved hanging out with their new baby cousin. Our son was much happier being around other kids and it was nice to not have to watch him every single moment.
This trip is unlike any other I've been on, not just traveling with a baby, but staying with people almost the entire time is not something I'm used too when I'm on a big trip. You're not really free, you're locked into whatever situation your hosts are living in when you stay with them. Sometimes it's a private 2 story guesthouse in the remote hills of Athens, sometimes it's a really small apartment in a ghetto neighborhood (Clichy) in Paris.
My sister-in-law was a great host and she and her boyfriend (a super cool Algerian who's 10 years younger than her) treated every day as if it was a party. Over the top breakfasts of croissants, coffee, brioche with jam - tons of cheese. Dinner parties with whatever random friends of their might stop buy meant cranking up the music and downing a ton of wine all while also dealing with their kids schoolwork and still managing to get them up at 7 the next morning. Needless to stay the only rest was when we slept.
It was quite cold, the coldest of anyplace we've been so far. It is slightly easier to deal with the metro system (with baby/stroller in tow) here than in London, though it still means a lot of transfers in stations that only have stairs.
Of course I forgot to mention that I don't speak much French. Maybe I have 15 words/ phrases. Luckily my wife speaks some. Her sister speaks English and her boyfriend speaks some, but her kids don't speak any. I'd found this to be a bit of a problem when I visited in the summer 10 years go - a lot of the French gave me shit about it, but I think because I had a baby with me they let it slide. I'm not talking about my wife's family, I mean the people I had contact with on the street/ bars/ restaurants/ museums/etc.
Paris was with liveliest spot we've visited so far. It was nice to stay with family and have our son have fun with other kids. Staying in Athens was nice, but out host did not have kids, nor did she really get what it meant to have kids - naps, going to bed at 9pm, sudden tantrums, your child not wanting to be in a car any longer...etc.
Up next - small town southwest Ireland...
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