I will not go to Avignon tonight

Wednesday was really the only day that they had to themselves.  I had Marie-Césare on Monday after school, all day Wednesday, and Thursday.  Friday I had to pick her up early from school and drop her with her parents at Gare de Lyon because they were going to Provence for the weekend.  I am certain mom and Pat would have loved some more time alone, but I just couldn't justify having them in Paris and not spending a lot of time with them!  (Ask them and they may have another opinion...)

They were going to come meet Marie-Césare and I at the park that afternoon, so I put her down for a nap and hoped they came in time.  She ended up sleeping for 3 hours and Pat and mom rolled in around 5:30.  Both of them were hobbling in talking about how far they walked that day.  They did, in fact, walk a lot....but on this particular day-it was NOT my fault.  I take no blame for their busy Wednesday.  I did throw Marie-Césare in the bath with some fizzy tablets mom brought for her.  Who knew such a simple thing could bring such joy?  She could not stop saying, "Wow! Wow! Woooow!  Le bain...c'est vert!  Le bain...c'est bleu!"  

Thursday began with a trip to my apartment.  Which meant 138 stairs to climb.  I don't really think about it all that much anymore, because its something I have to do, so the more I agonize over it the more of a chore it becomes.  Besides, its not THAT many...

I think they were surprised how nice my neighborhood is that I live in, and how nice my apartment is.  Its not fancy 16th arrondissement living but it sure isn't the dumps.  We shared breakfast together as my mom checked out all my drawers and window views.  

Since I'm fairly close, we popped over to the Eiffel Tower to take the long-awaited trip to the top.  The line wasn't too long, but I think the clouds hanging over in the distance kept people away.  

I have been up, but only at night in the freezing cold, and it was more interesting to go during the day. (Especially when the trees and grass are green!)  

Us at the very tip top!

Yes, mom did get one glass of champagne at the top of the Eiffel Tower

I forgot how you are herded like a bunch of cows and the interesting folks you see at the top of the Tour Eiffel.  I guess in every mass tourist situation you are herded like cows (aka The Statue of Liberty-one of the worst tourist things I've EVER done) and there are so many different nationalities in one tiny square at one time that at least 15 different languages were being spoken.  The views were beautiful, and being able to point out just about everything was a proud moment for me.  I had my bearings, and I can navigate this city with great ease.  

When you go up, you are taken to the second floor, then you get on another elevator to go to the very top, then if you want on your way back down you can stop at the first floor.  I received a very quick "No, I'm tired, I don't want to stop at the first floor," from Pat so we bypassed that view.  Fortunately, there wasn't much else to see except for a slightly lower panoramic of Paris.  

That night for dinner we met a long-time family friend of mine, Eric Beuerlein, for dinner at Chez Marianne...just around the corner from their apartment.  He is teaching this summer in Brest, and spent a couple of days in Paris before taking his high school kids from Indiana on a 9 hour bus ride to the city.  And ironically, as we were walking towards the metro on the Champ de Mars earlier that day, who do we run into, but him! It was so bizarre.  I am always taken back when I do cross paths with someone I know, but it was even more weird knowing we were going to see each other that night.  I hate to say we didn't take any photos!  Dinner was...interesting...definitely not the best food I've eaten in Paris but certainly not the worst.  A friend of his in the same program joined us so even though the food was mediocre the company was great!  

Friday was a very low key day, I showed off the "Grand Magasins" Au Printemps and Galaries Lafayette.  Mom and I spent a couple of hours in Galaries Lafayette as Pat wandered around outside wondering why we were spending precious time in Paris in a department store.  Trying to explain that Galaries Lafayette is not just any ol' department store to a man is impossible, so we just let that one lie.  We were going to tour the Opéra Garnier, but as usual, it was closed for auditions and renovations.  We weren't interested in going to the museum, just the auditorium and its been my luck that when I go its always closed!  One of these days I hope my luck will turn around and it will be open!  I showed them Place Vendôme where Chloé works and the ritzy district of the 1st and 9th arrondissements, including the Église and Place de la Madeleine which I always find impressive.  

I left to pick up Marie-Césare for her train to Provence (Avignon) and we arrived at Gare de Lyon at least 30 minutes early.  For those of you that don't know French train systems, they don't announce the platform that you will be leaving from until about 15 minutes ahead of time.  SO, you have a huge crowd around the screens and as soon as its announced, hundreds of people go charging in that direction.  We were sitting patiently coloring and playing with the new My Little Pony mom brought her when the platform was announced.  Immediately I received a call from Chloé who was panicking telling me which  platform and train car they were in.  We head towards the platform immediately and I start counting the cars...8, 7, 6, 5, 4...okay something was wrong.  They were in car 12.  There is no 12!!! I check the platform to see if I'm on the right one and I call Franck.  (All this while Marie-Césare is picking her nose, telling me she's thirsty, and asking me to look at that mans funny mustache...) I hear the whistle blow....oh (insert bad words here)!!! I KNEW if I didn't find Franck or Chloé and get her on this train immediately that I was going to be making a trip to Avignon that night with Marie-Césare.  "My parents were in town....this is NOT happening!!!" I thought to myself.  I picked her up and began to run....a few seconds later and with a sigh of relief, I saw Franck in the distance.  He began running in my direction so I handed over the baggage and they quickly jumped on the train just as it was pulling out of the station.  Turns out there were 2 trains connected as one instead of just one train, so the beginning of the next train started over with car 1.  They should really note that stuff on the platform screen.  Especially for people like me who don't take TGV's very often...very confusing!  Those 20 minutes happened so fast I'm surprised I even remember them.  All I could remember thinking was, "I am NOT going to Avignon tonight."   

Ashleigh met us for a low key evening.  We shared a bottle of wine from the Cinque Terre that I brought over, and went to get falafels for dinner.  I couldn't believe Ashleigh has lived here since September and still hadn't eaten a falafel.  I'm pretty sure Pat had at least 3 of them and he was only here a week!  Ashleigh was leaving on Sunday at the same time as mom and Pat, and I'll have to say I was deeply saddened at the anticipation of her departure.  Hers more so than mom or Pat I believe.  

Saturday mom and I woke up super early (moi, je me suis reveillée à 6 heures du matin).  And were on a train to Giverny at 8:20.  It was either an 8:20 train or a noon train, and we decided we would at least not be so rushed if we took the 8:20 train.  This was something that mom had wanted to do since they had decided to come to Paris.  I love getting out of Paris for the day, and Giverny is such a lovely place to visit.  Who wouldn't want to spend the day in Monet's gardens? 

 Well, Pat.  

I left him instructions for Les Invalides and how to get up to Montmartre in hopes that he would have as successful of a day that we were going to have.  

I was in Giverny in April at Monet's house and gardens...but everything had changed.  I thought it was beautiful before, but it was even prettier now!  Instead of the tulips it is full with greenery and all sorts of strange flowers.  So many colors and kinds I don't know how they keep track of them all!  

The water lilies and pads were out and with the reflection of the willows the pictures were fabulous.  

As we were wandering around the pond, we were looking for someone to take a photo of us.  Someone who wouldn't be too bothered and preferable spoke English.  Mom said, "Well, lets ask this little girl."  This little girl being 25 years old of course.  They looked at each other for a minute, and the 'little girl' said...."Terri?"  NO WAY.  Of course mom would know someone on a different continent 45 minutes away from Paris.  What are the odds that you meet at Monet's gardens in Giverny, France.  Turns out, she was a speech pathology student from Germany who had observed for a few months under moms German employee, Alex at the SLLC.  How bizarre!!  And yet, how cool!  What a small world we live in, huh?  She may be a great speech pathologists but unfortunately, I don't see being a photographer in her near future as our photo didn't turn out so well.  

I bounced through this field of poppies on our way back to the bus...I've always wanted to dance in a field of poppies!!!

Fantastic day spent in Giverny with just enough time left to take a quick nap and get ready for our (their) last dinner in Paris!  We couldn't ever decide on a restaurant, and once we got down to it everywhere was booked so we took a suggestion out of the book at their apartment for a restaurant just across from the Notre-Dame...L'Atelier with Guy Savoy.  Of course a meal by a well-known French chef can easily come across as 200 or 300 euros (without wine) so this was a step down but still associated with a well-known French chef.  And they had a table for 4 available so we jumped at the chance!  

We got all gussied up and walked across the Seine.  Ashleigh met us as it was her last dinner in Paris as well and I didn't want her to spend it alone.  My time with her was dwindling down to the minutes and I wanted to soak it all in!  The restaurant was clean and crisp, not gaudy with decoration.  Simple and modern with wine bottles decorating the walls.  The menu was simple not too lavish...which sometimes drowns food with all the preparation.  I ordered the lamb as did Ashleigh which was served with an artichoke gratin.  Hello....delish.  The lamb was so tender it practically melted in your mouth.  Whatever sauce it was served in I wanted to sop up every last drop with the last piece of bread in the basket on the table.  The artichoke gratin was creamy and rich and served in a piping hot cast iron dish.  

Pat had the beef, and mom the sea bass a la plancha with potato gratin.  Dessert was another favorite part and I was happy with that choice as well.  Wild forest strawberries soaked in a sugary slightly mint flavored syrup, served with mini pistachio cupcakes, strawberry sorbet, and strawberry coulis.  The strawberries were a bit tart, but the syrup on the bottom complemented them nicely.  The pistachio cupcakes were warm and soft on the inside and practically melted the sorbet which was sitting just beside it.  

Mom's dessert of lemon-cherry cheesecake was also scrumptious.  I'm not a huge fan of cherries, but these looked pretty darn good.  

With full tummies and a bit of a chill in the air, we walked back over the Seine and waited for Notre-Dame to turn on their outside lights which is always a beautiful sight.  

I bid farewell to Ashleigh which was so tough to do...and sent her on the metro back to her house because she had to leave very early the next morning to catch her flight to the US.  Dare I say that yes....I was going to be seeing her again???  In Paris????.....................