After years of staying put, and kind of going kaput, we traveled to Paris not once but twice within the year, within a month. (And I went to Pakistan too—a banner year, travel wise.) For the kids, it was their first trip overseas since returning from Indonesia. Paris provided a circle, being our launching pad to the States in the summer of 2018, and our landing point for Christmas 2023.
The weather was just right for France, moody and mostly misty, always overcast but never quite raining. That gave us plenty of opportunities to hole up for Belgian beer or chocolat chaud, depending. We walked a lot in spite of the weather, and one of our best days included all forms of public transportation. We separated near Sacre Coeur at noon with instructions to meet at the Eiffel Tower at 5.00. Hugh and Finn walked (to the tippy top of the Eiffel Tower); Heather took the bus; Kevin took an Uber from the office; and Clara and Tatum took the metro and got lost on the way, to their delight.
We all made it in time to board the tour boat on the Seine for sunset, a glass of wine and a sparkling Eiffel Tower. One of Tatum’s highlights from the trip was her first shower in our Montmartre apartment, from which we could see the Eiffel Tower glimmering in the low-hanging sun. We were situated directly across the street from Sacre Coeur, giving us an amazing view from the sofa.
Paris at Christmas is so glittery. We walked from the Musée d’Orsay through the Christmas market at the Tuileries Gardens (catching a few amusement park rides and a winter picnic along the way), to the showy shops along the Champs Elysée. “Are those real?” Finn asked, seeing the Gucci, Dior, and Galeries Lafayette store windows. The winter window art reminded me of Saks Fifth Avenue at Christmas, all magical landscapes for the imagination.
One of our most fun evenings was much more down home, when the kids ate take out at the new home of Oscar and Elsie, good friends from our Jakarta group who moved to the area near the World Bank office and the Arc de Triomphe in August. After kir and cocktails, Kevin and I ate out with Tash and Andy and remarked on the absurdity of finding it easier to get together in Paris than in DC, where working and schooling a few miles away makes regular get togethers difficult. (We sprout and worked at their house upon arrival.)
We missed Brooks so much, and had even picked the charming Montmartre area because we thought he would love it, having never been to Paris or Europe before; but he had the opportunity to get cataract surgery and of course had to take it. But we did get to meet up with Hugh, since he just completed his teaching program in Edinburgh—so that was fantastic. Especially since we had to update our photo in front of Versailles. It’s been a minute since we’ve been there, maybe about 40 years.
Clara’s highlight of the visit to vanity-making Versailles occurred in the spectacular Hall of Mirrors. They were secretly following some cute guys, but then they realized they were not as secret as they thought. Tatum tried to hastily make her egress, caught her purse on a door handle and tripped. Discretion went out the gilded window. My favorite thing about Versailles was seeing a gorgeous dresser in Princess Adelaide’s room and discovering it was actually a commode.
The last important thing to note about Paris was Finn’s highlight, which was “eating food.” No food in particular, just all of it. It worked out well for all because we rarely finished our dinners and he rarely didn’t finish them for us. Parfait. But he didn’t touch the escargot, which Tatum not infrequently ordered. The warm chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream was also a regular order. It’s a good thing we were on the sixth floor of the building at the top of many steps up the Mont of the Martre.
@theterrace 