Leaving for Paris
Written by Emily Shearer on July 8, 2009 – 3:45 pm -My sister Sara is turning 30 this summer. Since she’s my little sister, I guess the gig is up; I will finally have to stop claiming to be 29!
To celebrate the momentous occasion, I am honored and thrilled that she invited me to go with her to the City of Lights. That’s right, ladies, Paris! My vacation will start the minute I sit down on that transcontinental flight and pour my first little fun-size bottle of Chardonnay. I am looking forward to every single, gloriously childless second spent browsing the art, strolling the quais de la Seine, sipping wine, laughing with my sis, and revisiting some of my favorite spots in tout le monde.
Sara manages a wonderful grassroots music and dance festival in North Carolina that features groups like Donna the Buffalo, the Elikem African Dance Company, and Keith Frank and the Soileau Zydeco Band. http://www.shakorihills.org/
If you missed the festival this year, you can catch it when it lands in a grassy field again sometime next fall. It’s organic and groovy and family-friendly, and from the picture Sara paints, always a little in flux. It’s perfect for her, because she herself is organic and groovy and somewhat more go-with-the-flow than I am.
That’s why it will be totally marvelous to travel with her. I am her tour guide, her caddy, and her partner-in-crime.
I came here a handful of times in my twenties as a student and then a newlywed (we won the airfare on a $2 raffle ticket!) But this time I can tour the city the way I’ve always wanted to – less like a tourist and more like a grown-up – a coupla euro’s in my pocket, some fabulous shoes on my pieds (in place of the Asics I donned the last time I was in town), and a serious skip in my step.
Sara’s not married and has no kids, but she’s my kids’ favorite aunt, and she’s been around them enough to know 1) how much I adore them and 2) how badly I need this break away from them. She rented this appartement in the 6 ème arrondissement that is charming and hip at the same time. It is oh-so-Franch and oh-so-close to the Pont Neuf and Sainte-Chappelle, if we crane our necks out the second story window, we can probably see the river and glints of sunlight off the stained glass.
I don’t have a guidebook, I don’t have a list, I don’t have an agenda. I told her there is only one thing I really, really want to do, during our six euphoric days of Parisian paradise. I would love to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Yes, it may be tourist-y. My camera doesn’t even have a very good zoom. But I’ve never done it before, and I just want to get up there. I’ve seen the city from the old ferris wheel by the Louvre. I’ve seen it from the steps of the Sacré-Coeur in Montmartre. But I’ve never seen it from this iron relic of the final World’s Fair of the 19ème siècle.
Okay, so I have a few other suggestions to add to our tour. There’s this awesome comic book shop for true Tintin lovers like myself. There’s the Maya painting in the Picasso Museum that my daughter is named for. There’s Place des Vosges, the stunning and architecturally unique square where Victor Hugo’s 17th century digs are located. I never even read Les Misérables, but I can sing every word of the score, and I love the cobblestone streets in that cool old neighborhood.
The entire city is a network of one ‘cool, old neighborhood’ after another. I am delirious about going again. To tell you the truth, I am pretty darn giddy just thinking about reclining my seat, watching the little airplane fly across the Atlantic on that screen in the front of the coach section and pouring my first fun-sized bottle of wine. Bon voyage!
Tags: Eiffel Tower, Paris, Picasso, Sainte Chappelle, Shakori Hills, Victor Hugo
Posted in Adventures in Paris, OPMOM Series, Travel | No Comments »
