May 8th, 2009
If you have a baby and you don't want that to get in the way of a good holiday, go to Europe, people actually want them around ... even if you don't. I was the kind of new mum who ran screaming from motherhood so for me, if I was going to survive my very first Mothers' Day, it would have to be in Paris.
While planning, I had images of crying in queues, restaurants, planes and trains ... and at times that image included me. So I booked a flight to coincide as closely as possible with my baby's sleep routine and hoped for the best.
Penny and Nicolas standing with the river Seine as a backdrop Photo: Penny van Maasdyk
I always find myself scowling at parents who bring babies on planes as I am invariably seated near to the screamers. So it was my turn to be the recipient of similar scowls with people physically recoiling from me in the hopes that they might escape a similar fate. But fortunately my baby had - what I hate to call - a blankie and it was sleep time as soon as I gave it to him. He slept the whole night, waking rested and ready to take Paris by storm.
After checking into our very chi-chi hotel, Hotel du Petit Moulin, we set the pram to recline and wandered the Paris streets at leisure, hopping on and off trains, trams and buses and stopping occasionally for café au lait.
And when the urge arose to indulge in a platter of those notorious French cheeses, I just had to park, throw a blanket over the pram with the thumb-sucking blanket inside to ensure an uninterrupted glass of Chablis. A strict routine meant complaint-free sleep-time for baby and a two-hour respite for mum and dad.
A Sunday in Paris is best spent with famous artists at the numerous galleries. Well, so we thought until we saw the queue at the Musee d'Orsay - it stretched down streets and wrapped around blocks for what seemed like miles.
But, as we were about to retreat back to the hotel for a quiet Mothers' Day lunch, we were approached by an animated guard who ushered us to a separate queue ... perhaps a Mothers' Day thing or perhaps because mothers are considered disabled. And after missing that queue, we had time to jump another one at the Picasso Museum where we got a guided tour around the building with special access to all the concealed elevators.
Penny and baby Nicolas outside the Picasso Museum in Paris Photo: Penny van Maasdyk
‘Have baby, will travel' comes with one very significant pre-requisite though: a routine. Because we could easily get a French babysitter to watch him, we were guaranteed a consistent night's sleep of twelve hours and we could wander down Rue du Poitou for a superb 4-course meal at Le Reconfort.
Nicolas was only seven-months-old then so the concept of a Mothers' Day gift had not entered the realm of his comprehension, but just being the way he is, allowing me total indulgence on a trip to Paris, is the best gift I'll ever get.
Penelope van Maasdyk is the author of the travelogue, never go trekking and the blog, www.bhalababy.com. She is also an editor, copywriter, dark poet, travel addict - and a mom.
