A really long time ago, our family of five went to Paris with my parents and my brother. Well, I guess it wasn't that long ago. But, when you come home and are hit with two rounds of strep throat and an online summer course and swim team, vacation seems like a really really long time ago.
Prior to this trip, the only ever time I had been to Paris was as part of a very awkward third wheel. While, I did enjoy the fancy hotel (with my VERY OWN BED! and MY VERY OWN SHOWER!! It was the tail end of a multi-week backpacking, train sleeping, cliche college trip), I did spend much of the week either: a) alone or b) in very close proximity to an extra-marital affair (hence the awkward part). But, the thing about Paris is that it was almost exactly how I remembered it to be, even seventeen long years later. Also, and this is important, it wasn't nearly as cold or wet as Apple Weather (and my parents) were predicting that it would be. This meant that the weather in Paris was glorious and warm, and we spent much of our week outside.
This is from our first full day in Paris when we were all exhausted from jet lag, but still had fresh legs. It was also the only picture I have of all eight of us. And two people aren't looking at the camera. Also, note, this was about 15 minutes into a four hour trip to Versailles. I won't go into details, but needless to say my French isn't quite up to snuff and we got on the wrong train going in the wrong direction. But, by the end of the week I totally mastered the metro. So, no hard feelings Paris.
There is no better place than Paris to just walk around - and we managed to cover a lot of ground. Seeing that it was half of our party's first trip to the City of Lights, we did many of the most notable landmarks. We climb to the top of the Eiffel Tower in the late afternoon. We took a private tour of the Opera House - the girls were obsessed with seeing that building after they saw the movie Leap earlier this year. We found nameless neighborhood brassieres where we gorged ourselves on frites and bier. We got hopelessly lost on public transportation. We (along with the hordes of other people) elbowed our way to see the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo at the Louvre. We tried all possible flavors of macaroons. We admired the breathtaking stained glass at Saint-Chapelle. We walked out to Pont Neuf at midnight to see the Eiffel Tower in all it's lit up glory. We rode every carousel we could find. We wondered the D'Orsay and practiced our backbends in the Versailles Gardens. We admired the Parisian views from the top of the Arc de Triumphe. We prayed for our country at Notre Dame and bought books at the famous Shakespeare and Company bookshop. We had drinks at a Jazz Cub. Of course, we were looking for live jazz music, and if there's anything worse than being laughed at in French, it's being laughed out of a Jazz Club on Sunday night in Paris because you don't have a reservation.
One of my very favorite things about Paris, by the way, is the staggering preponderance of cheese and baguette that is everywhere. Most mornings, I started our day by visiting the local boulangerie to buy bread, then stopping in the little market for fresh cherries or berries and juice before finally heading into the sleek fromagerie to buy the softest, smelliest cheese I could find. I'd load up my backpack with my goodies, stop for espressos at the cafe and balance everything in my bags and arms before climbing the 80+ creaky, circling steps back to our tiny apartment kitchen. I love staying in apartments and in places for longer than a just a few short days; you feel less like a tourist and so much more like a resident. For our week, we stayed at the most wonderful apartment in the first arrondissement, near the Louvre, but off a quiet alleyway on the third floor of an old building.
I've been to many cities, but Paris might be one of my favorites, and as much of a cliche it is to say it, it's true. It doesn't matter if you are staying for eight hours or eight days or eight months, the city expands and contracts around you to fill the time you're there. We never felt like we hadn't seen and done what we came to see and do.
So, this is what I say to everyone: Go to Paris if you're ever given the chance, even if it's years and years from now. Go with the person you love most in the world. Go with your children if you have them. Walk everywhere. Get lost on the metro. Eat everything. Drink all the espresso. Take a lot of pictures. But, be smarter than us and make a reservation for a jazz club. And don't be fooled by the RER Train Line C, you want the Rive-Gauche exit.
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