Jude and Anna come on stage during my opening of Day 2 at LendIt Fintech Europe 2018
The fifth LendIt Europe event was in London again this year and it also happened to be on Thanksgiving week. This is, of course, Jude’s birthday week so we decided several months ago that we would cash in some miles and bring the whole family to Europe. I left on 9 days ago on the Friday with Marcy, Jude and Anna supposed to follow me 24 hours later. But their flight was canceled so they were delayed a day, arriving on Monday morning.
The conference and hotel where we were staying just happened to be walking distance to Arsenal’s stadium (called The Emirates). So, the first afternoon Marcy took the kids to see the stadium. They did the official stadium tour and Jude was in awe. He got to go through the players’ tunnel, go down by the field, visit the locker room and more.
Jude by the field at The Emirates, Arsenal’s home stadium
Tuesday, I still had to work at the event but I did involve Jude and Anna as I brought them up on stage on the opening morning. I am the emcee of these events so I always introduce the speakers and before I did the first speaker on day one I introduce Jude and Anna to the audience. The kids loved being on stage and many people came up to me afterwards to tell me how happy they were I did that.
At platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross Station with Anna wearing her Slytherin scarf
We went to Kings Cross station to see the Harry Potter shop and Platform 9 3/4. They both bought some Harry Potter gear at the shop and got to pose for a photo.
Jude and Anna outside Buckingham Palace
Wednesday was my first official day of vacation and we had a full day. We went to the top of The Shard, the tallest building in London, toured Tower Bridge and the Tower of London, did a river cruise on The Thames, saw Big Ben and Westminster Abbey and finished off the day at Buckingham Palace.
At Windsor Castle where Harry and Meghan got married earlier this year
Thursday we rented a car and left London. First stop was Windsor Castle, the royal residence just outside London that was originally built in the 11th century. It was amazing and we could have spent the entire day there. But we also wanted to get to Stonehenge, which was more than an hour’s drive from there. We arrived just a few minutes before they stopped taking visitors, so it was close to sunset. Stonehenge was spectacular, seeing the massive stones and learning about the ancient civilizations that built them. It was the perfect time for us to visit, late in the day on a cold, weekday afternoon so it was not crowded.
Stonehenge at sunset
Friday was Jude’s birthday and he had decided weeks ago that he wanted to be up early that day to head to Paris. So, we caught the 7:55am train and arrived in Paris around 11:15am (you lose an hour). We checked in to our hotel and then it was off to the Eiffel Tower where we had a 2:30pm booking. The weather was ok but it was a little cloudy right at the top.
Enjoying French Champagne at the top of the Eiffel Tower
From there we were on a mission to find a birthday cake for Jude. We went to all these wonderful French patisseries but none of them had birthday cakes, it does not seem to be a thing here in France. I found a place on Google about two miles away that was worth a try but it was a long walk. So, we spotted Lime scooters, which are also in Denver and I use them occasionally, so Jude and I went the fast way to the pastry shop. We found a raspberry cheesecake type dessert that Jude wanted and we brought it home.
Jude trying to first scooter ride with me in Paris
We arrived back to the hotel to find the staff had left Jude a chocolate mousse-type cake so we ended up with two birthday cakes. Jude was a happy camper and loved turning 12 in Paris.
Jude celebrating his 12th birthday in our hotel room
On Saturday we had a booking at the Louvre at 10am. Marcy had booked us a museum guide that would help us navigate the museum with the kids. She was absolutely fantastic. Her name was Eva and she had a real passion for the museum and could totally talk at the kids level.
With our Louvre museum guide, Eva, telling us stories about Aphrodite (aka Venus de Milo)
We hit “The Three Ladies”: Venus de Milo, Nike (the Goddess of Victory) and the Mona Lisa. While Marcy and I could have stayed with our guide all day (or all week) after two hours the kids were getting restless. So, we called it a day but we were thoroughly happy with our tour.
Taking in Da Vinci’s masterpiece, the Mona Lisa
On Saturday afternoon we went our separate ways with Jude and I heading out to Parc des Princes to watch Paris St. Germain play soccer in a French Ligue 1 clash. We had bought the tickets on Stubhub and Jude was excited to see some of his favorite players. His favorite, Cavani, was the star (with Neymar and Mbappe injured) and he didn’t disappoint scoring the only goal right in front of us.
At Parc des Princes watching PSG play in the French soccer league
Meanwhile Anna and Marcy went walking around Paris and found an amusement park near the Louvre.
Marcy and Anna on the ferris wheel near the Louvre
Sunday was a bit of rest day. Both kids were exhausted from lack of sleep and going non-stop all day. So, we stayed at the hotel until 12:30pm while Marcy went out exploring. We met up in the afternoon at Sacre Coeur on Montmartre (the Sacred Heart basilica), it was amazing but the kids were not into it. We came home early and played some cards, while Marcy did a bit more wandering on her own.