India and Maldives Vacation Index:

1. Introduction
2. Overview and Statistics
3. Zurich, Switzerland
4. Dehli and Agra
5. Jaipur
6. Hyderabad
7. Aurangabad/Mumbai
8. Making Peace with the Poverty
9. Quotes
10. Top 10 Favorite Things About India
11. Maldives & 11.5 Maldives with the Meyers
12. Top 10 Favorite Things About the Maldives
13. Paris
14. What We Would Have Done Differently & What We Did Right
15. Meanwhile, Back At Home…..

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ETIHAD FLIGHT

We flew on Etihad from Male to Abu Dhabi, capital of United Arab Emirates.  It was a little concerning to me to be flying into an Arab nation, but everyone assured me it was safe.  Michael was giddy as a school girl to fly First class on the Etihad flight from Abu Dhabi to Paris.  In fact, correct me if I’m wrong Mike, I think there were more direct routes but Michael just really wanted to fly First Class Etihad for the experience.

Ben and I opted to not upgrade but Mike and Sarah were kind enough to invite us up to their first class suite for a breakfast prepared by their personal chef.  The Etihad flight was very nice, even in normal seats.  We were given a packet which had socks, eye cover, toothbrush, toothpaste, blanket, pillow, and lotion.  Mike and Sarah were given/had pajamas, personal chef, lay flat massage seats, 24 inch TV, a starry ceiling, kit with lotions and lip gloss, and a personal driver with Limo upon arrival in Paris.  It was pretty impressive, I must say.

PARIS

Paris is a place people usually go and spend weeks or months or even years.  There are so many things to see and do.  We had a six hour layover and planned to use every minute.  It’s not easy to see all of Paris in just a few hours!  About an hour delay out of Abu Dabhi made the task all the more challenging.  We met our driver and he guided us to the limo, but as Sarah put it, “It wasn’t really a limo; it only had two sun roofs.”   I’m not sure where the driver was expecting to take us.  Maybe a ride to a hotel, or a meeting place of some sort.  The deal included a one way ride to wherever we needed to go.  I think he was a little surprised when we asked to go to the Eiffel Tower.  I don’t think he expected to be a tour guide for the day, but before we arrived at the Eiffel tower he had agreed to take us to see the sights and then back to the airport (for a fee).  Once again, we were privileged to have a car and driver at our beck and call, cutting down on wasted time and energy trying to hail and pay for cabs.  It wasn’t a bad mode of transportation either.  We are told this car is worth almost $100K.

We probably should have done a little more homework for this part of the trip.  We spent so much of our focus arranging the details for India that we kind of neglected the details for the Maldives and Paris.  We drove by the Arc De Triomphe, but none of us could offer a meaningful explanation why it was significant.  It was really fun to see though!

We drove the Champs Elysees before arriving at the Eiffel Tower.  Ben and Mike were really excited to be there.  They were  really proud to have brought their wives to Paris.  Michael kept saying, “I’m such a great husband – I’ve brought my wife to Paris two years in a row.”

Sarah and I were slightly underwhelmed.  I think I made the comment, “I’m trying to get into the Parisian spirit.”  Truthfully, I just wasn’t feeling what was SO special.  It was a cloudy, gloomy day and after India and the Maldives it just didn’t feel that impressive or interesting.  Sad but true.  I’m sure if I had researched more and knew the history behind each place we visited I would have appreciated things more.

We told our driver one our priorities was to find a little creperie.  He found us a great little corner shop, with a very entertaining French woman.  She didn’t speak a word of English, and we didn’t speak a word of French.  That didn’t stop her from just jabbering away in French.   We put in our orders for one Nutella crepe, and one Banana-Nutella crepe.  Her first four attempts didn’t work out so well.  The crepe kept sticking to the pan and ripping.  She acted a little flabbergasted and spewed out some French with an annoyed smile.  Mike pulled out his camera to capture the antics, but she wasn’t too excited to have an American document her failure to produce the perfect crepe.  Michael got a good rebuke!

She fetched a fresh batch of batter, and that fixed the problem.   She pointed to Mike to take a picture as the first perfect crepe came off the pan.  She didn’t mind him documenting her success!

We sat down and enjoyed our crepes.  They were delicious!  And it was a little surreal to be sitting at a street cafe in Paris watching the bustling city life.  Funny how of all the places in Paris, this was the place we spent the most time.

On the way to our next stop, the Notre Dame, we drove by the Pont Alexandre III (bridge), Obelisk at the Place de la Concorde, and the Galerie Royale.  We snapped a few pictures at the Notre Dame before heading to our final stop, the Sacre Coeur.

Even if we didn’t stop and explore, it was fun to drive by the Louvre and the Opera House.  There are so many historic sites in Paris!  We didn’t realize how far the Sacre Coeur was from the other sites.  We were getting very low on time, and were starting to get nervous about making it back to the airport on time.  It was all very worth it, though.  The Sacre Coeur ended up being our favorite place in Paris.  The view of the city was amazing, and the Basilica itself was beautiful.  What a great way to end our day in Paris!

Our very skilled driver and powerful car got us back to the airport with just enough time.  And we did it!  We saw Paris in just a few hours!  Well, maybe not much of Paris, but we sure got to see the exteriors of a bunch of buildings in a very short amount of time.  That seemed to be the theme for this trip – pack it in and take advantage of every moment.  It’s amazing how it all worked out in the end.

Au Revoir, Paris!

HOME

After Paris we boarded another long flight from Paris to Boston.  That was the longest of all the flights for me.  The plane didn’t have personal TVs, it was the middle of the day so we weren’t tired, I wasn’t sitting next to Ben, the tablet battery was low, and there were kids in front of me which just made me think about my kids the whole 8 hour flight.  We arrived in Boston mid-day and we were pretty excited to have cell service again.  We called our families and chatted during our 2 hour layover.  Then we boarded another plane for the flight from Boston to Tampa.

HOORAY!  We arrived in Tampa late and the kids were asleep when we got home.  It was wonderful to be home and hear Natalie and Cliffie’s stories about the kids.

McKay woke up around 12AM, while we were still chatting with Cliffie and Natalie and it was like heaven to hold him and rock him back to sleep.  Once he realized we were home he wanted to sleep in our bed which was fine by us.

Natalie had an early morning flight so Ben, Cliffie, and Natalie were gone when Sadie woke up and wandered into our room. It was so sweet to have time with her before the boys woke up. She was so sweet, cuddly, and happy.  We needed to start getting ready for church so I finally woke Jax up.  He was grumpy about being woken up but when he realized we were home he perked right up.

We loved traveling but it felt great to be home again.  The trip was so long that by the time we got home we were really ready, happy, and excited to be home.