142: We Took the Kids to Europe Instead of Summer Camp. Part 2 of 5: Paris

Welcome And Trip Setup

Jessica 0:00

Welcome to the Sugar Daddy Podcast, where we help you build a clear financial plan so you can feel confident and in control of your money. If you are an OG, welcome back. So glad to have you. And if you're new here, we're so glad that you chose today to listen to our podcast. This is going to be a special little mini series. We just got back from a month, almost a month in Europe. And we're going to tell you all about it. And we're going to tell you a little bit about how much we spent. We went to four different countries across four weeks as a family of four. So let's get into it.

SPEAKER_01 0:35

Sugar Teddy Podcast, yo. Learn how to make them pockets grow. Finance for freedoms where we go. Smart investments, money flow.

Paris Surprises And First Impressions

Jessica 0:45

We are back from Europe and we are talking about Paris today.

Brandon 0:50

Yes. Uh first time, first time for myself. You've been to Paris before.

Jessica 0:55

Yes, I've been to Paris. But I was. I will say my previous experience in Paris, I came back and I was like, no, I don't love Paris. Like I don't know what everybody's like big deal is, but this time I loved Paris.

Brandon 1:08

Yeah. And so like I definitely had like some preconceived notions that I've heard from other people, like in regards to maybe the people there aren't the most friendliest, or Paris is, you know, Oh, they're French. Yeah. Or Paris is dirty. In all honesty, that was not my experience whatsoever. At least where we were in Paris, I thought it was extremely clean, especially for a large city. And everyone I encountered was extremely friendly.

Jessica 1:32

Yes. We had a wonderful couple of days in Paris.

Arrival Logistics And Marais Base

Jessica 1:36

So when we left Barcelona, we had a late flight. Again, we booked with points of mile. So sometimes you don't get, you know, the best opportunity to pick your, you know, your times. So we left Barcelona at like 9 p.m., got to Paris at, you know, 11 something. We ended up staying at a hotel right outside of the airport. Um took a little bit of figuring out, wasn't like as easy as I would have hoped, but we got through it and had a nice night's rest, had good breakfast the next morning, and then we um went to our Airbnb. So I thought the area that we were in, it was the Mar Marais area. I I'm always gonna mispronounce it.

Brandon 2:20

Yeah, I don't speak French.

Jessica 2:21

Um but it was a very like bustling part of Paris. It was, I thought it was so cute. Um, tons of cafes, tons of restaurants, again, easy access to like the subway, the bus. We again did public transit everywhere that we went. Um, and the first day we got to Paris, we went to the

Eiffel Tower Tickets And Views

Jessica 2:42

Eiffel Tower.

Brandon 2:43

Yes.

Jessica 2:43

So I think the kids loved it again.

Brandon 2:46

We went up to what the second floor of the Eiffel Tower, which was plenty.

Jessica 2:51

Yeah, I don't know that I need to go all the way to the top.

Brandon 2:53

I think the second is plenty because it costs more to go to the top.

Jessica 2:56

It c well, and we couldn't get tickets, like they were already sold out, and again, I had been stocking them for weeks, but um, I think I might be I don't want to say afraid of heights, but like I don't love it. So the second floor for for me was totally fine. And I thought it was a great experience.

Brandon 3:15

Yeah, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

Jessica 3:17

The Eiffel Tower?

Brandon 3:18

Yeah, because I'm like, uh, it's an Eiffel Tower. Like, okay, we're going up to the city. No, you have to go to the Eiffel Tower. Yeah, I mean, you have to, it's part of going to France, but like I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

Jessica 3:27

Yeah. And just to be clear, I mean, this should be obvious, but you can see the Eiffel Tower without going to the Eiffel Tower.

Brandon 3:36

From a lot of places.

Jessica 3:37

Like, you don't have to get tickets to go inside or to go up. You can also get tickets to go inside without going up. So if you are afraid of heights, like you can still stand underneath the Eiffel Tower and take your pictures and do the things. Um, you actually get the best pictures of the Eiffel Tower not by being in the Eiffel Tower.

SPEAKER_01 3:54

Yeah.

Jessica 3:55

Um, but that was a great experience. Again, the kids were like, whoa, it's way bigger than we thought.

Brandon 4:01

Um Yeah, I think a great part of this entire trip, and like you know, that also included is just seeing their reactions to things.

Jessica 4:10

Yes. Yeah, just seeing it through their eyes, I think is so special. And I mean, Aston, like, she wanted a beret, and I mean it was it was adorable. Like everything was just so Parisian and so perfect, and I absolutely loved it. Yes.

Louvre Must Sees And Meet Up

Jessica 4:28

We um we also went to the Louvre, which, you know, the Louvre is the Louvre. It is massive. You could spend multiple days there. You're not gonna get through it all in a day. Of course, we went and saw the Mona Lisa.

Brandon 4:42

Of course we went and saw which is not for those that don't know, it's not a very large picture.

Jessica 4:46

It's a very small picture.

Brandon 4:49

You would think it's this massive portrait, not at all.

Jessica 4:52

Mona is small, okay? Um, yeah, so we we kind of rushed to see the Mona Lisa. We also went and saw um oh gosh.

Brandon 5:02

Don't ask me the names of the sculptures. I know what you're talking about, the one with no arms.

Jessica 5:05

Yes.

Brandon 5:06

I think it's like supposed to be Venus.

Jessica 5:08

Venus, yes, we saw Venus. Does she have wings?

Brandon 5:11

I don't think so.

Jessica 5:12

I've I've been to the Louvre before, so I wasn't paying super close attention. It's also like it's pretty crowded, so I was like, you know, worried about the kids and but they, you know, for what it was, they had a good time. Um, we actually ended up meeting our friend Amy there. Shout out to Curly Q Lou, um, which was so fun to just like this is one of Jess's friends that she has made through her various ventures online and social media over the years and had never actually met her in person.

Brandon 5:45

And they've been friends for a few years now.

Jessica 5:47

Well, and this is like when I say like a friend, like we have spent hours talking on the phone. Like she is a f a true friend, but we have never met in person. She lives in Colorado, we live in North Carolina, and she was like, Hey, what days are you gonna be in Paris again? Because I'm heading over there after like a work thing. And so we ended up meeting at the Louvre. It was so fun, so perfect. And then her and I afterwards went to Pauline, which um when we're talking about like the money that we spent, there was only two things that I wanted to do on this the entirety of this trip, which is I wanted to go to the Pauline store. Um, so if you like beautiful purses, you've been warned. Um, and then I wanted to go to Rituals, which is like a bath and body and skin type store. Um, they do not ship to the United States. I don't know why. And I wanted to go and stock up on my favorite

Polene Purchase And VAT Refund

Jessica 6:40

body products from there. So those were the really the only two things. And I went to Pauline, not even thinking like that I would buy a purse, um, but I did end up buying a purse.

Brandon 6:50

And you were in there forever.

Jessica 6:52

It was such a nice experience. Amy ended up buying a purse as well. Um, afterwards, we learned that we actually spent less buying it in Paris than if we would have bought it online and had it shipped to us. So that was a win. And then also the two purses that we got, the straps were thick enough to where they could like emboss them and but do a gold stamp of our initials, which they only do in store. So that felt extra special. Um, and then as long as you were happy. And then when we went to the airport, um, when I was at Pauline, they ended up doing the paperwork to get the VAT, uh, the VAT tax back. And so I filed for that at the airport. So I'm actually getting another $40 back. So Girl math, I spent less by buying it.

Brandon 7:39

I mean, that's not girl math. That was just math in general, technically.

Jessica 7:41

Yeah. But it's like a win, right? You spent less on the purse overall. You got something super special that you can't do when you order it online, which is like getting your initials onto the strap, which was so nice. And I'm getting money back for the tax. Yeah. So yeah. So if you're gonna buy a luxury item, um, make sure that you ask for the that paperwork. They fill it out for you, and then you just have to um give it to the little area at the airport, and you'll get your your taxes back. So 40 bucks ain't nothing, you know.

Brandon 8:12

Yeah, I mean, I've heard about certain other luxury items, sometimes like watches, stuff like that, depending on what country you're in. Yes. Um, those could be less expensive in that, you know, said country. I did not I like watches. I didn't do any watch shopping because the watches that I want I currently cannot afford. And I don't like look I don't like looking at things I can't buy.

Jessica 8:28

Yeah, yeah. Well, that's one day, one day. But I will say this was not a like thousand dollar or two thousand dollar purse. It was not a Louis Vuitton or anything like that. Um, I think it was 340 euros. I think it was 390 online uh like if I would have bought it from the US, and I think it was 340 euros in um in Paris. I didn't have to pay for the uh the you know initials getting put on the strap, and then I get the 40 dollars back for the taxes. So, you know, nothing crazy. It's a small purse, but she's so cute. She's um she's called the number one and she's adorable. Let me know if you want the link because she's so cute. So we did that um after the Louvre. We also did a riverboat

Dior Museum And Luxury Streets

Jessica 9:20

cruise on the sign. Um that was really nice as well. I think two of my favorite things were the Christian Dior Museum. Our daughter takes sewing lessons, she wants to be a fashion designer, and so when I found out about the Christian Dior museum, I was like, we have to do this. And honestly, it exceeded my expectations. It was absolutely beautiful. I mean, I would go back.

Brandon 9:47

Yeah, no, like I have I had zero interest in Christian Dior prior to going on the trip, and I still have zero interest in Christian Dior, but the museum was interesting because once again, I like museums and I like the history of things, even if I don't have an interest in that specific thing. So it was interesting to learn about Christian Dior, his upbringing, his inspiration for like how he created things. That was interesting.

Jessica 10:08

But it was also beautiful.

Brandon 10:10

It was very nicely done.

Jessica 10:10

How it was curated.

Brandon 10:11

And it's can and it's connected to it's it's the museum is part of the original Christian Dior store.

Jessica 10:17

Yes, yeah. So it's literally in the building, like his office and everything, which I thought was very interesting as well. It's in a very affluent part of town.

Brandon 10:26

It's like you look around and just think of every luxury brand, and that's right around there.

Jessica 10:31

Like Harry Winston and uh Yves Saint Laurent, and all I mean, just all of those are like within you know a couple of blocks of of each other.

Brandon 10:40

Yeah, I think you turned our daughter into like she she's a little bit of got some expensive taste now.

Jessica 10:46

She's always had expensive taste.

Brandon 10:47

I'm like, you need to have a good job, girl.

Jessica 10:50

I know.

Brandon 10:51

She's like looking at all these like luxuries. Can we go in there? I'm like, I'm like, no.

Jessica 10:54

Like, first of all, absolutely not.

Brandon 10:56

And well, they even let us in, that's it.

Jessica 10:58

No, with kids, absolutely not. No. But it was absolutely beautiful. So if you have any kind of um interest in fashion at all, highly recommend. It was absolutely stunning, w far exceeded my expectations. And again, was not super expensive. I don't remember off the top of my head how much the tickets were, but at no point was I like, oh my gosh, this is too much. And the costs for the the kids everywhere were very, very highly reduced.

Brandon 11:27

Yeah, or or free.

Jessica 11:28

Yeah, or or sometimes free. I think they, I mean, I want to say they were like maybe 20, 20 bucks a person for an adult. It was, I mean, it was worth it. But you have to get a ticket before you go.

Luxembourg Gardens Sailboats With Kids

Jessica 11:40

Like all of these tickets we did pre-purchase. Um, we also went to the Luxembourg Gardens.

Brandon 11:48

That was very nice.

Jessica 11:49

That is free. It's literally just a public garden. Um that's beautiful. That's absolutely stunning, like straight out of like a Bridgerton show. But what I will say is that they have these sailboats that you can rent um that are handcrafted and hand-sewn, like the sails are hand-sewn. And it's like eight euros for a half an hour, but the kids get to pick out their own sailboat and kind of sail them around the basin in front of like this beautiful building that's in the gardens. And our kids did not want to leave.

Brandon 12:23

No, like for just like a basic sailboat, that only thing that was pushing it was the wind that was blowing.

Jessica 12:29

Yes.

Brandon 12:29

And then they get this little like steak to kind of like guide it across. They were having a ball.

Jessica 12:34

And I knew that they would. It's funny because you know, we were walking a lot and it was getting hotter, and there was times where I'm like, okay, we're gonna do this next. And then like our son would be like, No, I just want to go home. And I'm like, no, you're gonna love this. And so we went, they picked out their boats, and then again, they loved it and they did not want to leave.

Brandon 12:51

And it was nice because it was something that took them away from their, you know, electronics.

Jessica 12:56

Like Yeah, I mean, they didn't do a lot on I mean, it's not like we were walking around with a tablet.

Brandon 13:02

But it's nice to do things that are just basic, you know, basic fun kid stuff.

Jessica 13:07

Yeah. No, it was so I mean, we were out in nature, they have tons of seating available. So we just like sat and the kids, you know, of course, they they were like starting to race with some of the other kids, and then like the sailboat would crash into another kid's boat, and it just was one of those like, oh, this is so nice. Like I could do this on a Saturday morning.

Brandon 13:25

Yeah, I mean, it was like you know, I've never seen any park like it in the US. No, like it was a beautiful park.

Jessica 13:31

And they have, you know, so we we went to the park with the idea that I wanted them to do the sailboats. Um, but you can play tennis there. You have like there was a when we walked through the park, there was like very clearly like a school group playing basketball.

Brandon 13:45

Basketball courts and stuff like that.

Jessica 13:47

Yeah. So I mean it's a very large park. I think they also do like programming and exhibits and things like that as well. But highly recommend you can walk to the park. It's completely free. And if you want to do the sailboats, it was like eight euros for a half an hour and you get to pick your boat. And it was I thought it was just so special

What Paris Costs And What’s Next

Jessica 14:05

and so cute.

Brandon 14:05

Yeah.

Jessica 14:06

Absolutely. Um anything else you want to say about France?

Brandon 14:11

Like I said, France exceeded my expectations. Um as far as living there.

Jessica 14:16

Paris, I should say.

Brandon 14:17

Yeah. As far as living there, only reason is my would be like it's expensive because part of like us looking to move abroad is not to drastically increase our cost of living.

Jessica 14:27

And we would actually want to ideally decrease our cost of living because we would want to do a lot of traveling.

Brandon 14:33

Yeah, and I just don't see that happening in Paris because Paris is one of the most expensive cities in the world from a at least from a housing standpoint. Now, when it comes to like, you know, groceries and everything else, it was very affordable.

Jessica 14:44

Yes. I mean, we had like our morning croissants every day.

Brandon 14:48

I would even say like even eating out wasn't crazy expensive.

Jessica 14:51

No, and it it wasn't. And you know, a lot of times we would just go to the bakery in the morning, we would grab something, you know, to walk to wherever we needed to go, or hop on the bus or hop on the subway, and then we would grab a sandwich or something for the afternoon. Do you remember that baguette with the butter?

Brandon 15:06

I was about to say the sandwich with the butter.

Jessica 15:08

Like I could eat that every day. Oh my gosh. It was like we were just sitting on like a park bench, literally eating like fresh baguette with butter, and it had like butter and it had ham and cheese or something.

Brandon 15:24

I don't even think it's ham. I think it's like pastrami or something like that.

Jessica 15:26

You mean prosciutto?

Brandon 15:28

Whatever.

Jessica 15:28

Pastrami.

Brandon 15:29

You know, I don't know these things. Oh my gosh.

Jessica 15:33

Anyways, I think it had prosciutto and cheese and just a rich layer of butter, and it was oh, it was so perfect. Oh my gosh. But yes, I the food wasn't super expensive. Um, oh, for our Airbnb, we had a little two-bedroom studio. It was absolutely adorable. Had one bathroom, had a washer and a pullout couch, and a pullout couch that your mom slept on. So I think for a family of four, um, like two adults, two kids, it would have been fine had your mom not been there. One of the kids would have slept in the living room, one of the kids would have had their own room, and then we would have had to share a bathroom. Um, but we had a washer, we had a dryer, we had a little kitchen, um, and it was in the heart of everything. Yeah. And it was it was the location was great. Location was, I mean, phenomenal. And that was uh $1,941. And we were there for three nights.

Brandon 16:24

Yes.

Jessica 16:25

Yes. So from Paris proper, we took about a 40 to 45 minute drive, and we went to Paris Disney, and we surprised our kids. So that is gonna be the next episode. Paris Disney, here we come. Don't forget, Benjamin Franklin said, an investment in knowledge pays the best interest. You just got paid. Until next time.

SPEAKER_01 16:51

Sugar Daddy Podcast go. Learn how to make them pop kids grow. Find mental freedoms where we go. Smart investments, money flow.

Jessica 17:01

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SPEAKER_02 17:30

Our content is intended to be used and must be used by information for the public. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment based upon your own personal circumstances. We should take independent money to advise from a license professional and connection or independent research and verify any information you find in our pockets and which you rely upon, whether for the purpose of making an investment decision or otherwise.