My trip to Paris was more than I dreamed!
After the "key debacle" in London, and 4 days exploring the city alone, I was really looking forward to meeting my sisters & mom in Paris. I hopped on a flight at 5am to meet Miss Rose, Angela, and Airin at Charles de Gaulle airport. They were all flying in from Philadelphia so we could spend 3 1/2 days in the Light City. (Did you know it actually translates as the Light City NOT the City of Light ;-)
My mom, sisters, and I had always talked about going to Paris together...one day. But when we were dreaming about it, it was the 1980's and my mom was struggling to raise 3 girls alone in small-town Coatesville, Pennsylvania. Back then, it was hard enough trying to keep our big old house heated during the cold winter months. So discussions of vacations in Paris were more like a fantasy, then an actual plan. But here we were. All of us together in Paris, France.
I'd always been enamored with the french culture--the history, the art, the food, the men! Who else could getaway with wearing a beret cocked to the side, a turtleneck, and skinny jeans (before skinny jeans were in), but French men? And now there were French men as far as the eye could see!
We spent the first day on a bus tour of the city. We saw all the places we'd only seen on tv or in pictures. The Eiffel Tower. L'arc de Triomphe. Notre Dame. We bought sandwiches off the street, and warmed ourselves with piping cups of cafe au lait. I got to practice my french with annoyed store clerks, who would start speaking to me in English after 3 seconds. But I would just smile, and repeat my request again. "Combien coute, el plancher?"
I can tell you this much, I have never in my LIFE walked so much in three days-and in the rain at that! But none of us let it dampen our spirits. My older sister, Angela (the engineer that she is) had thankfully mapped out our schedule. We hit about 90% of the places we had wanted to see. We took tons of pictures and video, so we could remember it forever. And we even got an impromptu singing performance by my younger sister, Airin, at a jazzy supper club our second night. I'm always floored whenever I see her get up on stage with a musician she's never met or sang with before, and she just tears it up!
I wonder what my mom was thinking seeing all of her daughters together in Paris- all grown up, but still her babies.
The 3 1/2 days passed way too quickly. And sadly, our trip ended on a somewhat somber note because of a disagreement that erupted over my work as a burlesque dancer. I now officially feel like a black sheep. Things to contemplate later, but now it's time to catch a train to Cannes.......
After the "key debacle" in London, and 4 days exploring the city alone, I was really looking forward to meeting my sisters & mom in Paris. I hopped on a flight at 5am to meet Miss Rose, Angela, and Airin at Charles de Gaulle airport. They were all flying in from Philadelphia so we could spend 3 1/2 days in the Light City. (Did you know it actually translates as the Light City NOT the City of Light ;-)
My mom, sisters, and I had always talked about going to Paris together...one day. But when we were dreaming about it, it was the 1980's and my mom was struggling to raise 3 girls alone in small-town Coatesville, Pennsylvania. Back then, it was hard enough trying to keep our big old house heated during the cold winter months. So discussions of vacations in Paris were more like a fantasy, then an actual plan. But here we were. All of us together in Paris, France.
I'd always been enamored with the french culture--the history, the art, the food, the men! Who else could getaway with wearing a beret cocked to the side, a turtleneck, and skinny jeans (before skinny jeans were in), but French men? And now there were French men as far as the eye could see!
We spent the first day on a bus tour of the city. We saw all the places we'd only seen on tv or in pictures. The Eiffel Tower. L'arc de Triomphe. Notre Dame. We bought sandwiches off the street, and warmed ourselves with piping cups of cafe au lait. I got to practice my french with annoyed store clerks, who would start speaking to me in English after 3 seconds. But I would just smile, and repeat my request again. "Combien coute, el plancher?"
I can tell you this much, I have never in my LIFE walked so much in three days-and in the rain at that! But none of us let it dampen our spirits. My older sister, Angela (the engineer that she is) had thankfully mapped out our schedule. We hit about 90% of the places we had wanted to see. We took tons of pictures and video, so we could remember it forever. And we even got an impromptu singing performance by my younger sister, Airin, at a jazzy supper club our second night. I'm always floored whenever I see her get up on stage with a musician she's never met or sang with before, and she just tears it up!
I wonder what my mom was thinking seeing all of her daughters together in Paris- all grown up, but still her babies.
The 3 1/2 days passed way too quickly. And sadly, our trip ended on a somewhat somber note because of a disagreement that erupted over my work as a burlesque dancer. I now officially feel like a black sheep. Things to contemplate later, but now it's time to catch a train to Cannes.......
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