France 2019: Thursday 07/04 - The Never Ending Day

After getting about 3.5 hours of sleep, we got packed, said goodbye to our new friends, and took a cab from our hotel to one of the train stations in Lyon. This was interesting as the platform for any given train is not announced until about 15-20 minutes before departure so there is significant clamor for the more popular routes, including ours. Cargo space is somewhat limited and is first come first serve. We were a little early, but made it on to our train back to Paris. There were a noticeable number of Americans headed home. The train has a stop at CDG which was nice because getting through the security/customs lines took over an hour. We made it to our gate about 15 minutes before boarding. Once again the Air Canada staff and Economy Comfort  seats made the 7 hour flight go by pretty quickly. We did immigration/customs into the US in Toronto. This was a very straightforward as we only had carry on luggage. We had a four hour layover before our departure to Orlando. We all started to really drag at this point as we had been up for 19 hours. Caleb, who had been a trooper the entire time, tapped out right before boarding. He was a sack of potatoes for the remainder of the trip home. The two hour flight back to Orlando was uneventful and we rolled out of our cab and back into our house after 1:00AM EST the morning of Friday July 5th. 

The Cliffs notes version was that the trip was amazing. I'm so glad we decided to do it. I had some reservations about taking the kids but as stated previously, they both were fantastic and seemed to really enjoy it. I was also somewhat concerned about booking a trip with a travel group but this was definitely the right decision. I would use ProActive again and we will be keeping in touch with many of the people who were in our group. In addition, we found that the French people were very friendly and gracious. I would like to go back and spend some more time at the Louvre as well as more time in rural France. 

France 2019: Wednesday 07/03 - French Alps + Sweden vs Netherlands

We were all still buzzing from the night before but after ingesting the required bread/cheese/baguette breakfast we piled back into the bus and headed east to Annecy. The bus ride was only about 2 hours and driving into the mountains, the scenery was great. The town is seated at the foot of the mountains on a lake fed from snow runoff. The views were spectacular. Our tour guides hosted a "farewell lunch" as roughly half the group was departing for home the next morning. After lunch Carmen went on a paddle boat ride while Amy, Caleb, and I explored the city. We left Annecy at about 4:00 and headed directly back to the Parc Olympique Lyonnais stadium for the third and final match of our trip. The Sweden vs Netherlands match was not nearly as exciting as the first two, but was still fun to attend. It did go into overtime which meant we didn't get back to the hotel until 1:00AM.

France 2019: Tuesday 07/02 - We're Famous + England vs USA

We decided to head out on our own to visit the FIFA Fan zone and do some local shopping. We navigated our way downtown via a cable car and the local metro. We learned that the hosts of women's soccer youtube channel were having a pickup game at a local park. There was a chance of former USWNT team players making an appearance, so we decided to attend. Eighty+ women of all ages showed up to play pickup, and of course Carmen jumped at the chance to play. Allie Long (on the USWNT) showed up and Carmen had a chance to take a selfie with her. 

We decided to head back to the hotel where we ran into Daniel (one of the tour guides) who had an opportunity  for us. ProActive Travel partnered with journalists from the Equalizer (a media website dedicated to Women's Soccer) for the World Cup. One of the Equalizer journalists had connections to the BBC. In turn, the BBC was looking for families from the US who were going to be attending the match for a live interview. Were we interested? Is the Pope Catholic? After agreeing, I received a phone call from a BBC producer who wanted to confirm who we were and the details of meeting her crew at the stadium. 

Parc Olympique Lyonnais stadium is on the outskirts of Lyon so we took a Taxi from the hotel. The cameraman and I exchanged texts as to his location as we were going to be cutting it very close. Upon arrival we hopped out of the cab and after some wandering around, connected with the two person crew. We made quick introductions and they briefed us on what to expect. Below are the results.

For some additional context Ellen White was considered one of England's star players during the tournament. In 2018 he England Women's National Team played in the She Believes Cup tournament that had matches in Orlando where Carmen had an opportunity to walk out the players. Ellen White was one of them. She has the letter 'B' on her shirt in this video.

After the interview we had plenty of time to grab some dinner, explore the stadium, and pick up some souvenirs. There was very large US crowd and almost equal number of England supporters. This was another fantastic match that had us on our toes until the end. We were definitely spent and ready to get back to the hotel.

France 2019: Monday 07/01 - Lyon

We packed up our bags and said goodby to Paris. We took a high speed train (200mph - yes mph) from Paris to Lyon. This was a quick (just over 2 hours) ride. We checked into our hotel and then piled back into a bus to explore Vieux Lyon (old Lyon). I have to say, Lyon was amazing. While Paris has countless historic and cultural sites, it also has all of the traits of other big cities (noisy, polluted, crowded). We started at the Basilica Notre Dame de Fouviere that sits up on a hill overlooking the city. Then we went down and explored the old town center. This is one of the areas I would go back to. We had a great dinner and some fantastic wine.

France 2019: Sunday 06/30 - Normandy

Early Sunday morning, we piled into a bus and headed to the coast. In terms of travel while on our trip, this was probably the worst of it due to the time spent on the bus. That being said, there are lots of worse things to do with your time than watching the French countryside. After about 3 hours we unloaded in the city of Bayeux which is about 14 miles south east of Omaha Beach. This was a beautiful French village that is one fo the few that was not completely destroyed during the war. The weather was overcast but significantly cooler than Paris which was a nice break. 

From Bayeux we went to Pointe du Hoc Ranger Monument. From there we drove through Omaha Beach and then headed on to the Normandy American Cemetery. While certainly the children (at least Caleb) did not appreciate this, I found it beautiful, haunting, and horrifying all at once. I am glad we had a chance to go. We were stuck in some pretty dense traffic on the way back for Paris which made for a long (5 hour) bus ride. 

France 2019: Saturday 06/29 The Louvre + Paris at Night

Breakfast was more cheese and more baguettes. We took the metro to the Louvre. I couldn't get over how absolutely massive it is. Caleb and I fought our way to see the Mona Lisa up close. The museum could use take some tips from Disney in terms of moving lots of people in through/out, but the art is magnificent. We didn't have enough time and the kids were restless. After having lunch in the museum, we decided to head back to he hotel as the travel was taking a toll on our sleep and we had a night excursion planned that we didn't want to miss.

While the kids and I took a nap, Amy conquered a French laundry mat. We then cleaned up and headed back towards the Eiffel Tower for an evening boat tour on the Seine river. This was a highlight for me. Seeing the city from the river at night (sunset was around 9:30 and the boat left the dock at 10) was fantastic.

France 2019: Friday 06/28 The Eiffel Tower + France vs USA

I should note that France was going through a record breaking heat wave while we were there. Coming from Florida this really wasn't too bad with the exception that many places in France are not equipped with AC! After breakfast at the hotel (baguettes, cheese, chocolate-chip croissants), we piled into a bus and headed to the Palais de Chaillot. 

This provided an excellent view of the Eiffel Tower. Walking up to it, really gives you the sense of how massive it is. Two elevator rides and we were at the top where the views of the city were mesmerizing. We actually took the steps down from about the halfway point! 

From the Eiffel Tower we took the metro to the Arc de Triomphe. This is the famous monument built by Napoleon. Amy and the kids went to the top while I took the opportunity to watch the French being French. After grabbing lunch we headed back to the hotel for a much needed nap before the first match of our trip. 

As as side note the group we were with consisted of ~40 people made up of families, friends, and a handful of individual travelers from all ages and walks of life. The entire group got along extremely well and we all quickly befriend the three ProActive guides.

For those that weren't paying attention we were heading to the highly anticipated quarter final showdown between the U.S. and French national teams. We gathered in the lobby and then took a bus to the match. 

The stadium, Parc des Princes, is home to Paris St Germain (PSG) the largest French professional soccer team. The French fans were out in force. Attendance was reported as 45,595 with roughly 2/3 being French supporters. Our seats were close to one of the corners of the stadium and we were surrounded by French fans. To say the atmosphere was electric, is an understatement. After the match the French fans were very gracious. The group re-convened outside of the match. We piled into the bus and headed back to the hotel for the night.