Paris, Je T'Aime

Earlier this summer,  my daughter, Annie, and I made a post-graduation trip to London and Paris.  I posted about our time in London already, but I need to post about the 2nd half of our vacation.  

Paris is an amazing city!  This was my daughter's first time there, but my second.  

Where London seemed to be a fine-tuned, past-paced machine where people walked briskly and with purpose,  Paris was a stark contrast to that.  Parisians seem to spend a lot of time enjoying life.  They lounge in parks, near fountains, on the quays next to the Seine, near the Eiffel Tower, and at many, many bars and cafes.  Ok, maybe some were tourists.  And maybe London is different because the weather is not as conducive to lounging outside. But there is a distinctly different feel between the two cities.

As I look back on our pictures from Paris,  I am struck by how pretty 

everything was.  

We stayed in a small apartment in the 6th arrondissement on Rue Bonaparte.  I LOVED this neighborhood more than any other I've seen in Paris.  Within a short walk, there were affordable restaurants, bakeries, bars, shops, and Luxembourg Gardens.  The streets were narrow and quaint and beautiful!

On our first day, while walking to Luxembourg Gardens,  we came upon this statue "Under the Hat" in front of the Hungarian Institute.  There is a twin statue in Hungary.  

Luxembourg Gardens is a huge park, and we enjoyed walking around its many sections. 

We sat by the fountains and watched Parisian children push sailboats around the fountain with long sticks (nothing motorized).  

We passed by the original model used to create the Statue of Liberty.

Then we sat and watched a group of men play Petanque - a French version

of Bocce Ball.

On our first evening,  we walked to Tuileries Gardens where we got our first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower.

Then, as daylight waned, we watched the pyramids of the Louvre come alive with light. 

We briefly visited the Arch de Triomphe, 

and the Trocadero for this iconic view of the tower.

We climbed to the towers of Notre Dame.

Annie attracted a crowd as an artist in Montmartre "cut" out her silhouette

with paper and scissors.

Then she allowed another artist to do her "portrait".  He wanted $100 for it.

We refused.  He gave it to Annie anyway.  She put it in the nearest trash can!

Wherever we went,  we saw Asian couples in extravagant gowns and tuxedos having professional portraits taken.  It was rather odd.

One evening, we attended a wonderful concert of Carmin Burana 

at beautiful Saint-Chapelle.

The musicians played instruments from the Renaissance period which was a treat

for Annie.  She recently played the Crumhorn in a Renaissance Quartet at Eastman!

Another evening was spent at the Eiffel Tower. 

We took the elevator to the top level, then walked down from the second level.

Not wanting to leave, we lingered on the lawn for a picnic and a few games of Rummy 

in the shadow of the Iron Lady.

The Eiffel Tower (and all of Paris) is really at its finest at night.  One of our best

discoveries was an hour-long boat tour (Vedettes du Pont Neuf) on the Seine.  We booked the last ride of the night so we could relax and enjoy the "city of lights".

We traveled past Notre Dame, under many gorgeous bridges, and past many buildings and monuments.

The reflections of the lights in the water made everything doubly beautiful! 

The boat turned around at the Eiffel Tower, which takes your breath away at night!  For five minutes at the beginning of every hour after dark, the Eiffel Tower "sparkles" in addition to its regular lights.  We were fortunate to be able to see this light show too!

My favorite day in France was a day-trip from Paris to Giverny to visit the house and gardens of artist Claude Monet.  We took the train to Vernon, where we decided not to take the bus, but rented bikes to ride the remaining 6 kilometers to Giverny.

It was so much fun!

I am a gardener and a lover of flowers of all kinds, so this was a huge treat for me.

We also were able to go inside the house, which was a feast of color too.

On the way back, we lingered in Giverny amid its quaint beauty for a while longer.

 The poppies were growing wild on the roadside and each house that we passed was adorned with flowers of its own.

We grabbed an ice cream cone before returning our bikes and heading back to Paris.

It was such a fabulous day that I will never forget!

I am so thankful for the privilege to spend this unforgettable time with my daughter

during this summer between her graduation and the beginning her first job as a teacher of music!

"It's better to see something once than to hear about it a thousand times." 

~Asian proverb

   

My Family Continues to Grow!

I have become a Grandma once again 

and again.

One of the first things my daughter, Annie, did after settling

into her new apartment was to make it a home

by adopting.

Her choice was between one adorable white kitten with huge paws,

or TWO brothers that had to be adopted together.

It wasn't her plan, but she went home with two adorable little boys!

It's a good thing she has lots of space in her apartment!

Meet Wells (Wells Fargo)

and

Charles (Charles Schwab).

I've been having a lot of fun taking pictures of my new grandsons!

They have already been visited by Aunt Kerry

and Uncle Adam!

If Aunt Kerry had only known, she wouldn't have appear so calm!

Charles and Wells play very well together. 

Forgive me for so many pictures!  

I'm just practicing for when I have a human grandchild

to photograph.

But that will be easy

because human babies can't move as fast as these guys!

The First Day

Change has always been difficult for me.  I'm someone who takes comfort in some degree of predictability.  Of course, there are changes that aren't difficult.  What I'm talking about are changes that you know will affect your life on a large scale - those that keep you up at night with "what ifs" and occupy your waking mind with attempts to make plans for the future.  The problem is, it is impossible to plan when there is so much uncertainty.

My daughter, Annie, begins her first day of true adulthood (the first day of her first real adult job) tomorrow.  She will be teaching band and music 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th graders.  Wow!  THAT is a day of change, for sure.  As I listen to her and watch her, I kind of know what she is feeling.  I had a first day of work one time too.

 After living at home ALL of my life until then,  I had gotten a studio apartment, sight unseen, in New Britain, CT at the recommendation of my uncle.  I drove my parents' station wagon,  loaded with stuff, on Thursday, September 10th, 1981 from Burlington to New Britain, CT.  No GPS. I got a speeding ticket in Greenfield, MA.  I somehow found my apartment complex and moved the contents of the car into my tiny apartment.  My parents and sister would be coming on the weekend, but I had my first day of orientation for my job at Travelers Insurance Company in Hartford on Friday, September 11.

On Friday morning,  bolstered by my "business suit", I drove courageously into Hartford and parked in a parking garage a few blocks from the building.  I was in a training class for computer programmers.  There were 25 other trainees of varying ages and ethnicities.  I don't remember much about that day.  But I do remember what happened afterward.

This was a time with no GPS, cell phones, or internet.  I got to my car to drive back to New Britain, anxious for the arrival of my family.  I had never driven in so much traffic before, and I missed the sign marking the turn to get on I84W.  Instead,  I drove into the north end of Hartford.  Soon I was in the midst of a very run down street lined with graffiti-ridden buildings and storefronts with windows covered in bars.  There were more Black and Hispanic people on one block than I had ever witnessed in my entire life in Burlington.  This was a place a young girl from Vermont was not comfortable being lost in.  Somehow, I managed to retrace my path and find my way back to the highway and back to my apartment.

My parents and my sister helped me move in and get settled.  I bought an inexpensive but reliable used gold Dodge Dart with a black roof and white-wall tires from my uncle who worked at Papa's Dodge in New Britain for $1750.  In one weekend,  life as I knew it had disappeared.

I would begin my job at Travelers Insurance company on Monday.  My mom and sister drove back to Vermont, but my dad had business meetings in the area and would stay for a few more days.  I was so thankful for that!

On Monday,  I used the commuter bus from the mall to get to work (first time taking a bus).
I made it through the day with this Asian guy staring at me from across the room.  I looked forward to seeing my Dad that night for dinner.  The commuter bus stopped and I quickly located my old-lady car.  On the windshield was a piece of paper.  It was a note from my Dad.  His business meetings were canceled and he had driven home earlier in the day.  He wished me luck and signed it "Love, Dad" in his barely readable handwriting.  

I burst into tears.  Somehow I was able to see well enough to get to my apartment.  I sat.
I cried.  I was lonely.  I was scared.   There was so much uncertainty in my life.  I had no friends there.  I had almost no money.  I had nobody to talk to.  I had no phone.  I missed my cat.  I missed my family.  There were no mountains to look at or lakes to sit by.  

I wiped my tears,  put myself back together as best as I could, and drove to the mall to find a pay phone.  I called home collect and they took the call.  It was short because long-distance phone calls were expensive,  but this call gave me the strength and courage to go on.

Over time,  I became less lonely.  I got my own cat.  I discovered beautiful places in CT.  I made friends and had fun. How could I have guessed that I would never move back to Vermont?  That I would stay here and have a wonderful life.  That I would marry that Asian guy that was staring at me on that first day. 

Life is interesting and unpredictable and scary and wonderful.  
It's just a good thing that those "first days" happen only so often!