We all survived our first overseas adventure together! Sabrina did really well with the time zone changes, dietary changes, new beds, you name it... she was a real trooper! We had a great time, and for us it was truly an escape (no email, no blackberries, no cell phones).
In summary, we spent 5 days in London, took the "chunnel" to Lille, France (in Normandy), drove 4 hours to my grandmother's house, spent 7 days there, then drove to Paris (and drove IN Paris, which was a little scary), and spent 3 days there before flying home.
Lessons learned for traveling overseas with an 11-month old infant:
1. Arrange flights so that you arrive in the evening/night. Traveling itself will wear you out and at least you can all go to bed once you arrive, versus trying to stay up all day to adjust to the new time zone. We lucked out and booked flights that arrived in the evening using the frequent flyer miles I had accumulated in my pre-motherhood, road warrior days (thank you, previous employers!).
2. Bring more toys and activities than you think you will need on the plane. Now that she can walk and loves to explore (she never really was a lap baby), it was really hard to keep Sabrina entertained and in one 2 foot square area for 10 hours. More toys would have helped... after 2 hours, she wanted nothing more to do with the little stuffed Mickey Mouse we brought along.
3. Ask if there are extra seats open at the gate counter. We opted to not buy Sabrina a separate seat, or in our case, spend miles for one. In the end, we lucked out, all 3 flights had extra seats available and they were kind enough to accommodate our request. It never hurts to ask!
4. Invest in a "Sit and Stroll" (see photo above). This thing was a God-send: stroller, car seat, high chair and FAA-approved airplane seat all in one. People all over England and France oooh'd and aaah'd when they saw it. And the airline did in fact check to make sure it was FAA approved before they let us use on the plane.
5. Be in the right place, at the right time, with the right officials. Twice we got bumped to the front of a long line, thanks to Sabrina :) The first time was at Heathrow airport, we landed around 10:30 pm local time, exhausted, then came the long line for passport checks for non-EU residents/citizens. Sabrina let out a squeal (not a cry, more of a happy squeal). The next thing we know, some type of airport official comes over and says to Sabrina "Yes little lady- you called?". We chuckled, and then he says "Please, come this way" and opened up the roping thing used to herd people into a line. I wasn't exactly sure what was happening, but he led us to a special area adjacent to where we were, and next to the hundreds of others who were "queued" up. We were immediately seen by a passport control rep and sent on our merry way :) Thank you, Sabrina! The other time was in the line for the London Eye, one of the employees came up to us, and said "Oh what a darling little girl. Don't tell anyone, but come this way". So we follow him right to the front of the line! I felt a little guilty, but I got over it soon enough :)
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