We crossed something off the adventure list that we hoped we wouldn’t have to do – spend a night in a German hospital. Ty got a concussion at rugby practice, and the coaching staff thought it would be best to get him checked out. I took him to one ER, where we waited 3 hours to be told that they don’t have a pediatrician on staff. So we got in the car and went to another hospital and waited about 2 hours before being told they want to monitor him for 24 hours. We got to our room at 1:00 AM. The mom and son that shared the room with us had a flurry of activity at around 3:00. Needless to say, we didn’t get much sleep.

So what is the same and what is different than US hospitals? Crappy cafeteria/hospital food = same. Caring nurses = same. Sleeping accommodations for mom = better in Germany. Delivery of pain medication to Ty = only after asking multiple times. Checkout process = much easier in Germany.

He’s out of sports and resting as much as possible for 10 days, then we will see what the Dr says. we are all a little sensitive about brain injuries so I’m not in a hurry to get him back on a field.

We had some unplanned mother/son bonding time.

Something we were all looking forward to was MEMAW AND PAPA arriving in Germany the day they released Ty from the hospital!! They will be here for a whole month – lots of fun posts coming!

Kaycee is in his happy place. He has missed memaw snuggles.
Kirk got a taste of our Sunday hike fun. He walked with Lily and Jay to Rotemüller, where Memaw and I met up with them for dinner. Memaw is a fan of schnitzel. Yum.
Hey, Sherry. What do you want to do this weekend? Train to Paris? Ok, sure, sounds good to me.
Sherry’s first time on a subway. By the end of the weekend she had it mastered.

We dropped our bags at the hotel then found a cafe nearby that had amazing French onion soup. Then we wandered the streets and did a little shopping and a lot of people watching.

We had dinner reservations at Le Sens Unique on Friday night. One of the specials was Parmentier de Canard. It is kind of like a shepherds pie with duck confit at the base. I thought I would give it a try, and oh man, it was SO GOOD!!!
We stayed at the Marriott Champs Élysée, a perfect location for our primary activity – SHOPPING!!! The Arc de Triomphe is a must-do selfie spot.
Kirk, Jay, and the kids went to Stuttgart on Saturday to check out the Porsche museum. Jay’s souvenir is built, but it wasn’t in Stuttgart yet so they didn’t get to set eyes on his new ride. Soon!!!
Sunday morning we woke up early and walked slowly through the quiet city towards the Eiffel Towel. I wish I had my video camera rolling when Sherry FINALLY saw the tower. She was like a kid at Christmas. It is kind of surprising that you can’t see it from everywhere in Paris. I built up the suspense for 2 whole days. Her reaction was worth the wait.
We ate breakfast at a sidewalk cafe where you could see just a little bit of the top of the tower, then made our way to the entrance for our 9:30 tour. Pro tip. Book the first tour time of the day. Get there a little early. Find an English speaking tour group to stand next to. :). We were in one of the first elevators and didn’t have to wait long at all.
We had some time after the Tower so we hopped on the subway and went to see Notre Dame. It is still closed for renovations but is getting closer!

I am so proud of Sherry. She checked off so many “firsts” this weekend, and she just rolled with it. We had yummy food, shopped till we dropped, logged thousands of steps wandering the streets of Paris, saw some bucket list things. I asked her if Paris was like what she expected it to be or not. “Oh it is so much better.” I have to agree.