Lavenham, England and Paris, France (18 months, 28 days old – 19 months, 12 days old)

We are back from our summer vacation in Europe and Graham is now officially a world traveler with several stamps in his passport to prove it!

We had a great start to our trip with a perfect flight to London.  We made the decision to buy Graham his own seat for the flights and it was some of the best money we have ever spent.  Graham was really happy in his car seat and enjoyed looking out the windows in the planes, having story time with Daddy, eating the yummy airplane food, going on adventures down the aisles, and doing lots and lots of sleeping (including once we landed and his crib was set up):

He even loved the airport restaurant during our layover.  He felt like such a big boy sitting next to Daddy and sharing a basket of chips:

When we arrived in England, Graham bonded with Grandma Millington while he checked out all the funny looking cars from the shuttle bus window:

When we got to the car rental spot, a customer service representative gave Graham his first popsicle (and better yet, it was dipped in chocolate).  He loved it:

Our home base for our week in England was Lavenham (a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England).  The village was as cute and quaint as could be with cottages, charming store fronts, and a large community church and cemetery:

The village had a community farmers market where we bought a porcupine postcard painted by a local man named Graham:

The village was surrounded by a variety of grain fields.  We enjoyed walks through the fields with the treat of an occasional gate to cross through.  English footpaths always have elaborate gate systems to keep animals in but let people through:

At one point we walked along a set of overgrown railroad tracks:

but my favorite photo was the first of many shots of the 3 generations of Millington men:

In Lavenham, Graham ate his first fish and chips, steak pie, fancy English green beans, Yorkshire pudding, and sticky toffee pudding.  YUM!

In addition to quality time with Grandma and Granddaddy Millington, Graham also got to hang with Nick’s aunt Jan and cousin Niki.  They wanted to make sure Graham left with a proper English souvenir, so they introduced Graham to Paddington Bear and sent him home with his own stuffed Paddington and tin Paddington coin box:

We did manage to venture out of Lavenham for some memorable day-trips. 
We headed to Long Melford.  I loved the church with the decorative slate walls, stained glass windows (including the piece that inspired the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland), and the imposing view it gave from a distance:

Graham loved all the animals in the surrounding fields:

And Granddaddy Millington loved the adventure as he posed in front of the bulls:

Our next adventure took us to Orford Castle by the seaside.  We had such a fun day there!  Graham is obsessed with “big boats” so it was such a treat to see the boats as we walked with the coast on one side, a castle on the other, and lush green fields ahead:

Granddaddy Millington even found an exciting sea creature for Graham to enjoy:

After our walk, we headed to lunch and then off to explore the castle!  I’ve visited quite a few castles over my lifetime and what I loved most about this one was that the structure was so well maintained, you could really envision how the building functioned and where everyone spent their time:

Before leaving, we had to swing by Aldeburgh to enjoy fish and chips from the famous fish and chip shop, appropriately named, The Fish and Chip Shop.  Part of the tradition is to take the fish and chips to go and eat them along the sea wall.  We got a special treat when we happened to time it such that we saw a lifeboat team doing a safety training.  I think Graham liked the tractor pulling the boat to the ocean, more than the actual boat:

Our next adventure was unplanned but absolutely essential.  Little Graham Millington flew to England with his newly un-casted leg and spent the week getting worse and worse.  Graham was not himself.  He had tantrums left and right, was fearful to stand on his leg but angry when he wasn’t allowed the opportunity, and limped around in apparent pain.  After communicating with some doctors in the US we decided that Graham needed to have his leg examined while in England, so off we went to Ipswich (Granddaddy’s birthplace) to visit the local emergency room. 
Graham had fun playing with books in the all-children’s waiting room and then hung on tight to Daddy, when it was time to see the doctor:

After some x-rays, we got the good news that the bone was healing perfectly, but also the anticipated news that Graham should go back in a cast. 
Graham was patient as could be as the cast went on:

But when we learned that it needed to be sawed off because the nurse forgot a necessary layer, he was pretty bummed.  I put the camera away until the finished product was in place (if you are counting, this is now his third cast – original, mess-up, final):

Graham was instantly happier.  It was like he breathed a sigh of relief because we had finally figured out what he had been trying to tell us he needed all week.  After a driving tour of Ipswich (including the home where Granddaddy Millington grew up) we headed home and Graham was ready to play with Cousin Niki:

That night, Nick and I snuck away for a quick dinner alone to celebrate our third anniversary while Granddaddy Millington stayed home to play with Graham.  We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to go to a restaurant named “The Cock” and the relaxed atmosphere hit the spot for our night out.  When we got back to the US, Nick surprised me with some extra bling to complete my wedding ring set (an identical 2nd wedding band to frame my engagement ring).  Nick said he loved me twice as much as the day we were married so it made sense to have twice as many wedding bands <3

The next day, we were able to fit in one more adventure before bidding farewell to England and the extended Millington family.  We heading to an old WWII airfield.  The walk was hot and Graham started to get uncomfortable so Granddaddy Millington taught him a new song that kept him distracted for a good 20 minutes.  “Old McDonald Had a Farm” affectionately referred to by Graham as “ee-i-ee-i-o” was a huge hit!  We also got lucky and saw a huge dump truck.  While we were looking at the truck, Grandma Millington discovered a quail trapped in some mesh wires and it was beautiful to see the bird fly away after Grandma Millington freed him. 
The best part of our airfield visit was when we happened to find an open hangar with vintage old warplanes.  Graham was mesmerized by the planes and loved touching the propellers and wings.  I was thrilled to find a colorful plane that was built by a Graham!:

Goodbye Lavenham.  You saw our son during the crankiest week of his life, but you also helped him develop a love for horsies, an appreciation for English cuisine, and most importantly, you fixed his leg for the rest of our trip!  Paris, here we come!

We opted to take the Eurostar train under The English Channel to get to Paris and although Graham scored a window seat, he didn't realize he was inside one of his beloved trains and basically slept the entire way:

I had made all the transportation and accommodation bookings from the United States, with little input or oversight from Nick, so we were both a little nervous that something wouldn’t work out quite right, but when we arrived in Paris, a friendly gentleman met us at the train station to take us to our apartment and the trip seemed to run smoothly and get better and better from there (minus the small mishaps of getting locked out of our apartment (with the wrong entry code) and losing our apartment key leading to a half day of worry).  When Nick busted out his fully fluent French, I knew Graham and I were going to have a good tour guide and our trip ended up being a beautiful mix of relaxation, sightseeing, lots of wonderful food, kid-centric activities for Graham, and visits to Nick’s old home and favorite places from when he was a kid living in Paris.  I loved Paris from the moment we arrived.  There was something about the feel of the city.  The wide, beautiful streets, lined with tall, green trees; the incredible consistency and history of the architecture; so many historic sites; the slow pace of the mornings filled with strolls and trips to the local patisseries; and the long, late nights, staying light until well past 9pm.  In a week, we managed to see everything I wanted to see, while not feeling rushed, and still leaving with an undeniable desire to go again.     
The pictures can tell the story of our trip.
Our apartment was steps away from the Eiffel Tower, so it was the start and end of every day and the first place we went to take the canonical tourist pictures:

We wasted no time getting to our first meal.  Every meal went with a bottle of wine and a baguette for Graham and we had to take a picture of our dessert on a plate from Café Stella (in honor of Cousin Stella Millington back in the US):

So lovely to walk home, enjoying the lights from the Eiffel Tower each night:

The next day started with a visit to Les Invalides (home to Napoleon’s tomb):

On our way to the Pompidou Center, we stopped in a shoe store to get Graham a pair of oversized Crocs that would fit over his cast so he could walk around instead of being confined to his stroller.  Such a good purchase!  I love seeing the Crocs now.  One is pristine and brand new and the other is battered and full of dust from a week of running around the streets of Paris:

Graham was napping in his stroller by the time we got to the Pompidou Center, but we still paused to get a few photos:

and when he woke up, it was off to a park for Graham to test out his new shoe:

Can’t go to Paris without visiting Notre Dame:

and always a thrill to spot one of Daddy’s products in a foreign country.  This one was at the local Darty store:

With our walk through the Eiffel Tower each night, I got very familiar with the street vendors and it was on this particular evening that I had an epic bargaining session and was able to give Graham his very own flashing Eiffel Tower souvenir:

The next day, we started off our sightseeing with a treat for Graham.  We took him to the aquarium at Trocadero where Nick used to go as a kid.  Graham loved running around and looking at all the different fish.  He got wet at the touch tank, got scared at the pirate exhibit, and had a ball playing in the toy ship at the end:

We visited lots of places that didn’t make it onto film, including Nick’s old apartment, the embassy where his dad worked, the Modern Art Museum, famous shopping streets, the Seine, marvelous playgrounds for Graham, many cafés, etc., but I did remember to take my camera out at the Arc de Triomphe (although not for the nearby obelisk and surrounding gardens):

We had a big day that included both the Louvre and Montmartre.  Graham was a trooper at the Louvre.  He was patient while Mommy got her tourist picture out front:

He was properly awed when I made him pose in front of the Mona Lisa (so he will believe me years from now when I say he was there):

He enjoyed the glitter at the exhibit of Napoleon’s apartment (while I loved seeing the hundreds of statues sitting behind a gate waiting to be displayed):

and most importantly, he made our lives much easier by learning how to nap in his stroller when it was time to check out for a while:

Other highlights of the Louvre included our admission at the front of the line because we had a stroller with us and Graham’s many, many laps around the top floor of the museum when we paused for a lunch break. 
Half the fun of Montmartre was getting there.  We loved the views as we got closer and closer and Graham enjoyed his first funicular ride as we made our way to the top:

When we got back down to the bottom, he also enjoyed his first carousel ride.  He loved it but we probably switched horses three different times during one ride because he wanted to make sure he didn’t miss out on anything:

All that touring around called for a stop at a bakery to sample every flavor of Macaron they had:

We saved our last day for the trip to Versailles.  The morning (like every morning) started with a visit to the fabulous bakery around the corner from our apartment.  We tried so many things, but the simple petit pain au chocolat was always the best:

We loved Versailles and spent a lot of time making sure we saw everything, so you will notice that at an opportune moment in one of the great rooms, we snuck into a corner and listened to the audio guide while Graham took an hour long nap.  Silly boy!  At least he was refreshed and ready to enjoy the hall of mirrors and queen’s bed:

When we got back to Paris, Graham and I went on a quest to find the perfect crêpe while Nick visited Les Egouts de Paris (The sewers of Paris).  My crêpe turned out to be a big disappointment, but Nick had a great time at the sewer tour and was eager to share pictures when we met back up:

We had a successful flight home the next day (with only two minor hiccups of worrying that our taxi had forgotten us in the morning and a major flight delay in the evening due to a work-slow-down) but we couldn’t board the plane and head home without one final farewell dinner the night before. 
As far as I’m concerned, every meal should end with some great French wine, cheese, and bread:

Farwell Paris, until we meet again!