France, 35 Years Later. Part 1.
I've been to Paris five different times. The first time was with my parents when I was a teenager. Dad was working in Libya at the time, and our family of five went on vacation from Tripoli to Paris. We visited the obligatory sights back then in 1975: The Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, l'Opera, Champs Elysees and the Palace of Versailles. That might have been the last time we traveled together as my original nuclear family. We grew up, went to college, got married and lived in different parts of the U.S.
Since then, I've visited Paris several times with newbies to France: with my roommate in 1983, with my husband in 1997, and with my husband and kids in 2009. Each time, we pretty much stayed in Paris because for first time visitors to France, Paris is of course a must see. I was glad to re-acquaint myself with Paris and Versailles, yet I wanted to venture out and see something new.
My opportunity came when I had a birthday. My sister was going to Paris for a conference, and she offered to take me to visit France as a birthday present. The same time, my parents gave me a sum of money, also for my birthday. My mom, with tears in her eyes, tells me that she wants to give me something because she figured that she and my dad won't live long enough to be around for my sixtieth. The thought of that eventuality made me cry.
I told them that I'll take that check only if I can use it to buy plane tickets for them and for myself to fly to Paris, meet up with my sister, and we'll all go on a week long vacation. My youngest sister heard about this plan and decided to join us too, offering to drive us outside of Paris since she is the one most adept at driving a stick shift.
So it happened. My two sisters and I, along with our parents, went to France, leaving our kids with our husbands for a week. We decided to stay in Paris for only two days, in a charming apartment on l'Ile Saint Louis. The rest of the time, we drove the rented Opel diesel stick shift station wagon out of Paris and headed north.
Since then, I've visited Paris several times with newbies to France: with my roommate in 1983, with my husband in 1997, and with my husband and kids in 2009. Each time, we pretty much stayed in Paris because for first time visitors to France, Paris is of course a must see. I was glad to re-acquaint myself with Paris and Versailles, yet I wanted to venture out and see something new.
My opportunity came when I had a birthday. My sister was going to Paris for a conference, and she offered to take me to visit France as a birthday present. The same time, my parents gave me a sum of money, also for my birthday. My mom, with tears in her eyes, tells me that she wants to give me something because she figured that she and my dad won't live long enough to be around for my sixtieth. The thought of that eventuality made me cry.
I told them that I'll take that check only if I can use it to buy plane tickets for them and for myself to fly to Paris, meet up with my sister, and we'll all go on a week long vacation. My youngest sister heard about this plan and decided to join us too, offering to drive us outside of Paris since she is the one most adept at driving a stick shift.
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| Paris rooftop room |
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| Sis behind the wheels of the rented Opel |
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