If you had 2 extra days in Europe (by Michelle)

Several airlines have incredible deals on air travel within Europe. So, given 2 extra days before returning to the US, we took a quick trip to Paris. The flight for our family cost . . . get ready folks . . . $200! No, I don't mean per person; I mean that the total for a family of 5 to fly from Madrid to Paris and back was US$200 (including tax!)(some flights are even much cheaper!) So, where is the catch you are wondering? These flights, we discovered, usually fly into more out of the way airports. So the cost to and from the airport to Paris for our family . . . get ready folks . . . was $200! And that was using an economizing cocktail of buses, metros and one taxi! Its a crazy, mixed-up world.

Indeed, Paris is an expensive city and in December it is a rainy, cold city. Still, even with us being cold, wet, tired and cheap, it was still worth it. Paris is . . . well, Paris! You don't need my adjectives. We saw as much as you can see in two days (The Louvre, Musee Orsay, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Pantheon, Arc de Triomphe and walks along the River Seine) and we ate pastries, crepes and cheap paninis. What a great final adventure! Alex took the impressive night photo below of Notre Dame.
That was just 7 days ago now and the kids have already noticed the fame of Paris. On the plane on the way home we saw Ratatouille and a few nights ago we saw Mr. Bean's Vacation (has Alex ever laughed so hard?) and the kids get so excited every time they see some place that we have visited. We feel very lucky and blessed to get to do and see all this.
I thought that it was interesting how the flag is the only colorful thing in this picture. It looks like I doctored it, but I didn't.