Madeline Goes to Paris!

Bonjour!

We arrived in beautiful Paris, but not without difficulty. Even though we planned ahead, much of the packing and logistics happened in the last few minutes.

We rented are house back home and where we packed up all of our belongings. Those of you who have moved recently know how stressful this is. Those of you who have small children know that the stress is amplified.

Once the house was all packed up, I started planning what to pack for an entire year.  My goal was 2 suitcases and 1 carry on for the four of us.  Somehow, I ended up with 4 suitcases. Oops!

Throughout the entire process I had been really stressed and anxious, but had remained relatively calm. I LOVE to travel, but I always get overly excited which translates to anxious and sometimes physically ill.

This time, the stress was so overwhelming that I ended up hanging out in the airport bathroom for 2.5 hours vomiting and nauseous. I would have stayed there longer if the time to board the plane hadn't come. I was beyond scared to get on a 10 hour flight with an extremely upset stomach.

I kept thinking of the worst case scenarios and worked myself up to a bit of a panic. Luckily, we had ended up with 2 business class tickets and 1 first class ticket. The original plan was to divide and conquer: one of us would have a kid in first class and the other would keep a kid in business class.

Given my state, I ended up in first class the entire flight. I had never flown first class international and was amazed by the service. It was way better than business class. My flight attendant was extremely kind and helpful. The never ending tea supply helped calm my stomach and nerves, and the comfortable bed allowed me to rest and feel a lot better.

One of the things I was most thankful for was the first class bathroom! Yes, the bathroom! I was expecting the standard tiny, gross, claustrophobic closet, but instead found a very roomy bathroom. I couldn't believe my luck when I saw the sitting area within the bathroom.

When we finally landed in Charles de Gaulle, I was sure the worst had passed and I could start living my Parisian dream. Not so... stay tuned.