By Sue Schroder, guest blogger
Travel has always been my gateway to new worlds: Exploration of the unknown creates an energizing internal high-alert openness; a life-changing richness inaccessible without leaving home.
My parents opened that gateway when I was 13 with a cross-country train trip to California. fast forward 6 decades: As I sat in a chemo chair 15 years ago, I. began dreaming of surviving cancer long enough to introduce my baby granddaughter, Lila to Paris, France; one of my favorite places on the planet.
Lila turned 16 this summer, and thanks to her parents’ incredible efforts and my continued remission, we made it in mid-June! Granddaughter Norah, 13, made our Dream Team complete.
If you are considering a similar 3-generatioin trip, to Paris or a more affordable destination closer to home , here’s how we planned ours an overview of what made the cut; and, with the benefit of 2020 hindsight, our tips for having a great trip.
Tip 1: Divide (tasks) and conquer
As the one with the most discretionary time, I was the travel planner; my granddaughters were the North Stars by which all decisions were judged: their parents were the Deciders of what and how much in 1 day. (In addition to Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower, each of us picked 1 thing to do.)
We all agreed to keep it to 1 or 2 things a day for each of our seven days to avoid being those tourists who see everything and experience nothing. Still, there still were days we over-did it and, with the wisdom of hindsight, one day we would do differently if we had a do-over.
Once in Paris, the parents took over as city navigators.
Tip: Get the official Bonjour RATP app which has virtually every public transportation schedule for Paris and its surroundings you could want. You can purchase and load your transport tickets on a Navigo pass or directly on your phone.
Tip #2: Start planning and reserving early — for us, 6 months ahead.
Getting into what you want when you want is something of a competitive sport. (Think rising at 3:45 a.m. to be ready at 4 a.m. for the opening of ticket sales for the Catacombs.)
As soon as you book your flight and hotel, prioritize what you want to see, and make reservations for tours/experiences/attractions as soon as you can. (Cancellable with no penalty preferred.)
How far ahead you can buy is attraction-specific: Ticket sales for the Catacombs, for example, open exactly 7 days ahead on the official site. Eiffel Tower tickets go on sale for tour operators months ahead of those for the public, and are in the same o’dawn-hundred-hunt territory, which I frankly gave up on. Tour tickets, especially for the Eiffel Tower, are pricier, but we wanted to go at sunset and take our best shot at avoiding lines, so we ponied up.
Tip #3. Maximize your time —
Stay near the attractions in your must -visit list, and get breakfast included for fast and fueled morning getaways.
For us that meant often choosing guided tours and staying at the Hotel Des Grands Hommes, a charming hotel in the Latin Quarter, often called Paris’ oldest neighborhood and within walking distance of Notre Dame. We booked the “with breakfast” option for fast and fueled morning getaways. It was a wonderful choice in a great location. https://www.hoteldesgrandshommes.com/
Tip #4. Plan but have no expectations. Know when to change course, and consider having a back-up plan: You can’t make a pop-up strike at the Louvre go away, even if you stand in a snaking line in the broiling sun for 4 hours watching the doors. 
We finally abandoned the vigil for incredible art in favor of incredible edibles at nearby Angelina, a Paris institution renowned for its hot chocolate since 1903. Lunching and sampling to-die-for desserts definitely helped ease the pain. https://www.angelina-paris.fr/?lang=en
Adding insult to strike injury, a “social action” also closed the Catacombs, which we found out when we showed up.
The Upsides: a street market and a leisurely lunch park side.
Tip #5. Learn what works and what doesn’t and prepare to pivot
Tickets for entry to the still-being-restored Notre Dame Cathedral are available only through the official site and app. You will read that tickets are released a few days and even the same day just hours ahead, but, no matter when we tried to find them, we never could.
Entry is free with or without tickets, but we realized that to experience Notre Dame without another broiling-in-line wait, we needed to get there as soon as it opened (around 7:45 on weekdays; 8:15 on weekends). It worked. At 8 a.m. on a weekday we made it in into a blissfully quiet, startlingly white interior where an early service was underway. Within little more than an hour, the hordes had descended and we left.
The bell towers, still undergoing restoration after the 2019 fire which burned for 15 hours, were not open to the public, and scaffolding remained around much of the outside of the church.
Tip #6. What may look easy and intriguing online may be anything but: Exhibit A: taking a day-trip by bus and train to Giverny, artist Claude Monet’s home and garden. What looked easy online turned out to be a transportation endurance test in 90-degree heat.
Getting to the train station meant a half-hour city bus trip with tiny open windows ineffectually giving new meaning to “air-conditioning;” a 45-minute regional train ride to Vernon, the town nearest Giverny; an open-air tram outside the train station which unexpectedly would take cash only; forcing us into a sardine-like packed bus ride to a bus parking lot then a hike to the gardens.
We got smart for the return trip: Many Ubers can take up to 4 people, but not 5, so 4 of us Ubered the short distance to the Vernon train station, and bought tickets for us all. Then, in a beat-the-clock nail-biter, we waited on the station platform for #5 to show up in a separate Uber … which he did with literally 1 minute to spare.
It was a sunny Wednesday, and the garden was heavy with people. If we had a do-over, we agreed we still would go but with a small group tour which included transportation to and from Paris. 
The upsides: We came across a wonderful leafy-canopy-covered restaurant on our walk to the house (Le Temps Des Fleurs); 2. The Sainte Lazare train station had a McDonald’s which had been on at least 1 person’s Paris wish list. A glass case offered a rainbow of macarons.
French Lunch
Teenager’s request to experience the French version of MaDonalds
Tip #7. People were NOT rude and a little French and a lot of politeness went a long way.
Sue Schroder is a former journalist living in Grand Rapids. A patient advocate for cancer research, a volunteer school tutor, and a travel addict, she believes that the seeds which determine who we become are planted in childhood. Nurturing the blooms is a joy.
