Sunday, May 1, 2011 4:59 PM
Dear Friends and Family,
Two more updates after this one, and you'll have the full story...Hard to believe we've already been home for a week. We're trying very hard to keep it all from fading...
SUSAN WRITES:
What a whirlwind the trip has been so far! Most days we’ve gotten up and out quickly, and then walked all day, because there was so much to see and so little time to do it. But as Robert, Isa, and I traveled back on the Eurostar from London to Paris, we had a couple of hours to reflect on how amazing it had been to finally have seen so many online friends in person.
Right to bed, exhausted, and the promise of a day with our feet up, catching up with emails, and for me, getting some updates out and some photos organized. But of course, we couldn’t take the ENTIRE day off! We planned to head out to the Musee d’Orsay for a casual afternoon.
But when we got to the museum, there was a special exhibition and a long line of cocktail-partygoers waiting to get in. Fortunately, in Paris, another fantastic museum is never far away! We chose the Rodin.
ROBERT WRITES:
I decided that I had more shopping to do, so I declined on the museum and basically did just that, went shopping. Isa and Susan dropped me off, in essence, at the mall in Montparnasse -- and they went off to the Rodin Museum. Isa had given me her son’s cell phone in case something happened, and we picked a meeting spot before they left.
So off I went! It was really great to be out and about in Paris on my own, knowing I had to speak the language as best I could. I walked through the mall and most of a city block. I stopped in a Starbucks and ordered one of my favorites in French... a "frappucino caramel" -- and the counterperson said that the words I knew in French were very good, "very French," which gave me a boost of confidence in my speaking ability.
I headed back to the mall and found a jacket that I liked. As the time was quickly approaching for meeting Susan and Isa, I wrapped up my shopping -- wishing I had more time to just be Parisian!
SUSAN WRITES:
After meeting with Robert, we had a quintessentially Parisian café experience -- Isa took us to La Coupole, right in the middle of the artistic enclave of Montparnasse, which is legendary for its connection to the some of the most creative minds of the early 20th century. I had an Irish Coffee -- sipping its deliciousness and feeling the lovely warmth of the whiskey as I watched Paris life walk by us -- that's something I won't forget as long as I live.
And by the way -- I may have said this before, but it's charming how most of the chairs in Paris cafés are faced out, toward the streets and sidewalks. The Parisians are unapologetic about their love of people-watching!
Then? The Eiffel Tower. And just a reminder -- this trip really began with me saying to Isa that I wanted to stand atop the Tower and share a kiss with Robert at sunset. We'd planned that for the evening of this day, and it was one of our last chances.
But the sign over the ticket office said, “Upper Observation Deck Closed Due to Congestion.” What was amazing was that we felt no disappointment, no regret, no sense of lost opportunities. Robert and I just looked at each other and smiled, and said, “That’s okay!” and we truly meant it. We happened to be UNDER the Eiffel Tower, and he kissed me there! We had already seen so much, and been blessed with so many unforgettable memories, it seemed impossible for us to ask for more.
My French word of the day? “Bénédictions,” which means blessings. We couldn’t go to the top of the Tower, so instead, we walked to the far side of the bridge after getting luscious crêpes filled with chocolate, bananas and Chantilly cream from a sidewalk vendor. We watched as the lights slowly came on, making the Tower glow. We listened to the life that swirled around us, watched boats on the Seine, and then, at 9 o’clock, the Tower sparkled again, right above us, as we had seen it do many days ago from far away. Magnifique!
ROBERT WRITES:
We caught a bus from Montparnasse to the Tower, and just riding the bus is very Parisian experience. Not many tourists do that, so you see real life happening.
We were at the far back of one of those long double-car buses with the rubber connector in the middle. A very elderly man pushed the button to signal the driver to stop, but the driver didn't hear him. As the bus started to pull away, the man said, “La porte!”, meaning "the door!"...but the bus was still pulling away. He got more agitated, and tried to say louder, “La porte, monsieur, s'il vous plait! MONSIEUR! LA PORTE!” Then, suddenly, the call went forward, "la porte!" from person to person in the bus, until it reached the driver, and he stopped. The old gentleman got off, having traveled not too much further down the line from his original stop. People working together is the same in any language!
As we got closer to our destination, the Eiffel Tower came into view above the tops of the houses. It was now evening time and the sun was starting to set as we stepped off the bus. We quickly realized that we weren't going to be able to get to the top as everyone had come out on this beautiful day to do just the same thing!
It didn't matter. Both Susan and I were in awe, and the light of the setting sun was incredible, so I took as many pictures as I could. I kissed my wife under the Eiffel Tower with both of us vowing that on our next trip we would make it to the top.
We couldn't be denied a crepe at this point so we ordered one... and let me tell you, they were heaven under the Eiffel Tower, lit up like a Christmas tree. You be the judge by the pictures. What a day in Paris!
My French phrase of the day? “Je voudrais un crepe avec chocolate et banan et chantilly, si vous plait!”
Mmmmmmm.....
With much love,
xxxx
Robert and Susan
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