Having Mom here in France was absolutely one of the greatest parts of the trip so far. It’s especially fun being with someone whose impressions of the country are new and not 2 months old. I really love looking at all the differences between here and the US with other people. For example: The French here have a complete disregard for their cars – well at least in terms of parking them. Mostly cars are parked bumper to bumper and more often than not at least one wheel is up on the curb or sidewalk. Basically – parking is fair game, and if you can manage to squeeze your très petite voiture into the space then it’s okay…even if you have to tap another person’s car, because hey, bumpers were made to be used right? At least that’s my interpretation of their driving. That and they drive like maniacs – but that’s for another blog.
Mom & I met up in Paris on my way back to Aix from Giverny. Her flights here worked out very smoothly and we met up in our hotel. I don’t think I ever wanted to stop hugging her! The first night we walked around our hotel’s area and ate dinner at an outdoor café with a view of L’Arc de Triomphe. Then we walked under the arc and under the traffic circle and arrived at Les Champs Elysées. Very cool shopping! It was really crowded but it was fun bustling around the big city together. We went into a perfume store with more perfumes than I’ve ever seen in my entire life. So of course we had to do some testing of the scents in order to choose some future Christmas presents! We found some very fun stores and tried on lots of clothes even though in general the stores were a million degrees. I ended up with two new dresses and a very trendy sweater. And mom has a super cute new dress too! We’re good shoppers – even when we’re not sure what our European dress size is!
The next day was a long, fun filled day!
We went to a Perfume Museum (I swear we didn’t plan the trip around perfume!)
Had a delicious meal (actually one of the best salads I’ve ever had…or maybe that was because I was so hungry – either way delicious!) which was actually attached to a giant department store. Mom disappeared for almost 15 minutes when she went to the bathroom and the whole time I’m thinking, “How do I tell dad I lost mom in Paris?!” And when we finally were back together she told me how the bathroom was 4 floors up and down a very hidden path…we had no idea our outdoor café was part of a giant store! Crazyyy!
Perused some more stores (one of them, UNIQLO, was soooo hot that we didn’t make it very long and decided on a waffle shirt and hoofed it out of there really quick)
Walked through les Palais Jardins, which were very grand. There are a lot of trees planted in very neat rows with a center area for sitting and taking in the view. The entire garden is surrounded by a rectangular walkway filled with fun little boutiques including children’s stores, clock makers and ornate jewelry, clothing and furniture. Well you could find almost anything there.
Next we went to The Louvre!!! Amazing, I know. We had to wait in line for a while but we made it into a special exhibit going on – Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese…Rivals in Renaissance Venice. The work there was absolutely amazing in execution and seeing the similarities in style and work was very interesting. Most of these artists were competing for commissions and their work can reflect that. Afterwards we bought some postcards of the work we saw and a book on the exhibit. I bought it in French because, well I’m in France, and only later realized that they probably offered English copies…sometimes I think I forget to think! Whoopsie! The views from the 3rd floor where the 19th Century French Paintings are housed and we were able to shoot some very cool photos with a new perspective on the courtyards outside of the museum. We saw the Mona Lisa too, and Mom had the same impression as I did when I first saw her…”She’s so small!”. Exactly. We walked through many rooms of sculpture and enjoyed hearing people speak English around us – so crazy for me to hear English being spoken outside of the classroom.
That night we took it easy after a leisurely walk down the Seine and dinner at yet another marvelous café where we had mini-pizzas, wine and fresh salads! Afterwards we took the metro back and watched some quality Gilmore Girls together on my computer. Have Gilmore Girls will travel.
Unfortunately, the next morning I woke up with a little bit of a headache so we took it easier that day. We started with the Eiffel Tower and made it up to the second floor. Mom wasn’t feeling the heights so much so we decided to skip the third floor with the realization that it was a slightly foggy day and, “Hey, what can you see up there and you can’t from here?” we ask you. The views were pretty and I pointed out where Katie, Emily & I sat for Bastille Day 2007 just two years ago. It was pretty breezy up there so we went inside and did a little souvenir shopping for friends and family. On the way to the first floor we admired the architecture and also noticed that the French are totally okay with standing very close to you. But that’s Europe! Personal space is definitely dependant on the culture!
Next we had lunch in a very authentic, small French pub. The owner was like, “Two Cocas Light (aka Diet Coke), I love Americans!” Hahahaha. What a character. The meal was good but we were happy to get out of there because it was kind of like living in a fish bowl. “Look – Americans!” Oh my.
Next we went to the Rodin Museum which was INCREDIBLE! His works are amazing to see in person. It’s so much better than a photograph since they’re three-dimensional. The really appreciate them you have to be able to walk around them and appreciate all of the angles. We walked through the gardens around the old house and even got to take pictures with The Thinker (“I’m thinkin, I’m thinkin’!). There was a special exhibit we also went to which compared Rodin’s drawings and sculptures to Matisse. We even saw a rough sketch of what was to become his famous piece, La Danse. His cut paper pieces are also intriguing and a lot of fun to look at and appreciate.
Next we went back to the room because I was fairly certain a freight train was barreling its way through my brain. We rested for a while and did some reading and movie watching (which was fun for mom since she doesn’t have a lot of down time at home to read Ms. Evanovich!). Then we went out for dinner and walked down Les Champs Elysees one more time.
Friday morning we woke up early and took the train (which goes very fast!) down to Aix. It was so much warmer in Aix it actually surprised me. But after days of being up north I realized I’m a southern French person at heart (and American, obviously). I showed mom Mt. Saint Victoire and we strolled the main road Cours Mirabeau and ate crepes! We visited the English bookstore, Book and Bar, and bought some new reading materials. We hiked up to the studio and I showed mom all my new art (which I promise to photograph and put up on here very soon!). We visited the art store and mom was super kind and bought me an early Christmas present – an AMAZING 22 color watercolor set. OH MAN! Needless to say we then had to sit in my tiny park and do some painting. Awesome!
Mom and Mamie really hit it off and I tried to play interpreter between the two. I didn’t get everything perfect, but by the end I was tired because I couldn’t figure out what language I was supposed to be using! Hahaha. I actually dreamt in French the other night – crazy. It was about food though so that’s not completely surprising. Mamie and I drove mom to the airport on Monday and took it easy driving home because the drive there was rain filled and I’m pretty certain Mamie got lost…but I wasn’t asking questions! Mom’s flights home, sadly, got very messed up. She ended up flying to Paris, then from Paris to London because their plane was having problems, where she then stayed the night and took an early morning flight home. Her driver on the way home was late too so she just rented a car and drove from Newark home. In the end it all worked out and I’m SO glad mom visited. I couldn’t have made it almost 4 whole months without seeing my mom! We had a great time together and now I’m even more excited to be home for winter break, baking cookies in my warm house.
Thanks for coming mom! I love you! See you in 40 sleeps. Okay, okay. I know I shouldn’t be counting down the days – I’m having a great time, I really am! – but it will be nice to be back in the States again. I love France, but I’m an American at heart (bring on the large coffees to go please!)
Wednesday I’m headed back up to Paris for 5 days with Marchutz to study in the museums…tough life, I know! Tee hee.
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