We are into week 30 and I can’t believe what a crazy week that it has been. On Monday April 12th, 2010 I had a check up with my doctor. He wanted to make sure everything was okay before we left for Paris and to checkup on the issues that I had had over the weekend and end of last week. I was feeling much better, but I sometimes think that having too much time on your hands can make your brain go a little nuts. I was happy after seeing my doctor on Monday to know that everything was okay with me and the baby. It’s a little scary leaving your comfort zone when you’re pregnant, but I really wanted Jake and me to enjoy our last trip before she was born. We left on Tuesday April 13th, 2010 for my Birthday Trip to Paris! I was excited for us to go on another trip. We arrived at the airport and the lady at the checkout counter asked if I was pregnant. I happily told her yes and didn’t assume anything of it. She asked if I had my health. I said no because when I called the airlines over the weekend they told me that I didn’t need one because I was not 35 weeks. This is when things got interesting because they were refusing to let me fly without the certificate. I asked if I could contact my doctor, who I just saw the day before to fax a letter over. They agreed and then I took my chances getting a hold of the doctor. I knew that I would not be able to get a hold of the actual doctor so I decided to call his secretary, who by the way only works part time. I was so happy that she was in the office that morning and was more than happy to help out with the situation as long as she could get a hold of Dr. Campbell. Things all worked out and we got onto our flight. As I write this now I wonder if this was actually our hint to not take the trip because we ended up stuck in France.
We got into Paris and even though we took an early flight there is something to be said about feeling tired that first day. It was nightmare trying to find our hotel because streets and addresses in Paris are so confusing. It makes cities like NYC seem like a breeze because the letters go one way and the numbers the opposite. This was not the case when it came to streets in Paris. After we walked about 3 miles we finally arrived at our hotel. It was a nice hotel, but much to our surprise the AC had broke in the building. I’m pretty sure that the constant temperature was around 85 degrees. I told Jake that I felt like we still lived in our last place in Hawaii. It was so hot and miserable. I complained like I of course do because if you ever stayed in Paris you know that hotels are very very very expensive. So they offered both Jake and I the continental breakfast. Which was 12 euro a person and if you wanted the American breakfast it was 23 euro a person. HOLLY SMOKES talk about expensive. I figure that for the price the continental must be good. We spend the rest of our first day in Paris just walking around and exploring the sights. We went and saw the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower was great, but just as you would expect filled with tons of people and street vendors trying to sell you the same crap every 10 feet. I was happy to see it and be able to walk around. We got some great pictures, but decided to not go up to the top because neither of us really wanted to wait in line.
The second day in Paris (Wednesday also the mark of 31 weeks prego) we decide to go to the Battle of Belleau Wood France. What kind of Marine Family would we be if we didn’t visit it? This is the trip that we are not able to go on because I will be term when the Marines go in May to it. We had a great time and it was really moving. This is a famous WWI battle site of the Marines. This is a bit of the story behind it, “Part of the 1918 German Spring Offensives, the Battle of Belleau Wood was won by American forces after twenty-six days of combat. Fought predominantly by US Marines, the battle stopped the German offensive and began a counterattack in the area. Fighting in the forest was particularly fierce, with the Marines clearing the wood six times before it was finally secured.” This is the battle that won the Marines the name Devil Dog.
We had fun trumping around the forest and looking at WWI trenches. Jake even got to drink from the Devil Dog fountain. Jake was pretty excited that he got a certificate and some authentic wood from the woods that had a BW burned into it. Today is also the first day that the Volcano in Iceland has started to mess up flights. We had hope that by Saturday morning when were due to go home things would clear up. We watched some guy at the rental car place rent a car for 1600 euro to drive it to Switzerland. Jake and I both had to pick our jaws off the ground over this.
Our third day in France we decided to walk around Paris and look at all the sights. We did a lot of walking and riding the subway. Jake feels like he saw more underground of France then anything because you chance subways so many times. We both got shocked at how many French people smoke. It’s not an understatement on how many of them smoke either. We thought it was bad in Italy, but nope the French are worst. I also must look pretty pregnant because everything we got on the subway and I had to stand up someone always offered me their seat. I have looked in the mirror this week and been blown away by how large my belly has gotten. I can’t believe it, but sure do feel how hard it is to carry around this extra weight. I sure wish that Jake could do a little of the work for me. I’m just asking for him to carry her around for one day. She has been really active since we got to France and Jake and I both love watching her stretch her legs out on my side, poke a knee or elbow out, get hiccups all the time, or poke her little butt up
The fourth day in France was my BIRTHDAY! YIPPEE Happy Birthday to me. We got up SUPER early because we decided to get a rental car again and drive to Normandy. It was not exactly what you think of doing on your Birthday, but I got to spend the whole day with Jake. I think that is the best Birthday gift because we have spent so many birthdays apart over the years. Jake got me the most beautiful birthday card that brought tears to my eyes. Normandy had a lot of people at it, but you can’t expect much more than that from a famous battle spot. We even went down to the beach and got some sand and rocks to bring home, which will add to Jake’s sand battle field collections from all over the world.
We spend a small fortune at toll booths on the way there and back. It was pretty funny because on the way back Jake got off on the wrong exit just to come up on a toll booth. I laughed pretty hard, but he was pretty pissed over it. We got back to our hotel at about 9pm that night after being up since 5am and both of us extremely exhausted. This is when we found out that our flight was cancelled and all the flights leaving that weekend. I had a breakdown over the situation. I was ready to go home and also upset because the soonest we could get out of town was Tuesday by train, which was a TON of money. I pretty much believe that Jake and I can’t go on cheap vacations. The same thing happened when we tried to go on a cheap anniversary trip because the alternator when out in our car on that trip. We couldn’t get the EuroStar website to work that night and that made me even more stressed out.
The fifth day of our trip we got up early again after not going to bed till SUPER late and were able to book our train tickets and get a hotel near Disney Paris. At this point Jake and I had about run out of clean clothes. We had planned to be heading home by this point. We just kept our fingers crossed that we would have a washer at our next hotel. We spend most of this day heading to our next hotel, which was much larger and the AC worked.
The sixth day (Sunday) we went to Disneyland. It was fun and we walked around so much. We had fun taking pictures and seeing the sights even though I couldn’t go on any rides. Jake told me that Disneyland was my real birthday present. I could see why little kids love Disneyland so much. I can’t wait till we can take our little girl to Disneyland.
The seventh day (Monday) we did nothing. Jake and I played on the computer and played Sudoku a lot. At this point we felt ready to go home. I was sad that I was going to miss my doctor’s appointment at the hospital that we are planning on having our little girl. The good news was that they could get me in for another appointment at the end of the week. I was worried they might not be able to because it took me 3 weeks to get in for the first appointment.
The eighth day (Tuesday) this was a day full of lots of train rides. Jake and got up a bit early and to the train station early also. We wanted to make sure that we got on that train and didn’t miss it. I don’t think that I slept at all the night before because I was so afraid that I would oversleep. The good news is that we did make it home on Thursday! We had a great time, but it’s always nice to be home. Now we are bunkering down until it’s time for the baby to come.
My Giant Belly~
Around Paris~
Belleau Wood~
This is for you Bean.
Normandy on my Birthday~
Disney~
No comments:
Post a Comment