Paris

November 11-14
I love Paris. Paris is my city. It felt so good to be there again. I haven’t really been in Paris since I was there as a nanny 18 years ago, except for a few days when I was there with Martha in 91. We stayed in a charming hotel in the 5eme arrondissement about a 20 minute walk from where I used to live. I loved just walking around my streets remembering what places I used to go to, what shops I used to shop in, what places I used to visit, what cafés I used to go to. It felt so good. I loved that I still knew where things were and that I knew how to get there. I didn’t need a map! We did the whole tourist tour, walking all the way, St Germain, the Louvre, Opéra, back to the Place de la Concorde and up the Champs Elysées to the l’arc de triomphe and then over to the Eiffel Tower before heading back along the left bank. There was a school near the Eiffel Tower that was just dismissing its students. What a cool place to go to school. I don’t imagine they necessarily know that. Yummy lunch on the Champs Elysées, dinner in a nice atmospheric restaurant in the Latin Quarter, even if the food wasn’t the best. Tuesday we walked around Ile St Louis where the Berthillon best ever ice cream shop is and the Pylones shop where I used to get cool presents like rubber ties and rubber ice cube trays. They don’t have the ties anymore but they do still have the ice cube trays. And I found the best falafel place again. I wasn’t sure that I’d still be able to find it especially because I only ever really knew generally where it was. But I found it and we had falafels for lunch under the awning in the rain. The Georges Pompidou centre was closed because it was Tuesday and we walked over to Les Halles and up through St Denis to the train station. I probably should have remembered what sort of businesses run in St Denis…by women in doorways and on sidewalks. A little bizarre to be walking around there. We went up to Gare de l’Est to check out train schedules and tickets because of the impending strike. It turned out we had to leave Paris earlier than originally expected since there was only one train in the morning going out to Germany.

The whole French transportation system began a strike on Wednesday. It had a completely different atmosphere than when our TTC strikes. The streets were calm, less traffic, many stores stayed closed, no panic, no stress. It was almost like people were supporting the strikers by staying home and taking the day off themselves. We walked to the train station to get our morning train. It only took an hour and was not bad at all even with my backpack on my back. The train station was empty too.

Tuesday morning we went to my market, well the one I always went shopping at. It had a different feel, not surprising actually. Mostly I think because there were more vendors that sold textiles and trinkets and less that sold food. That made it feel different. I bought beautiful flowers from the market to take to my family in the evening. I loved that the boucher is still the same as is the dry cleaner. Maybe I should have gone in to see if they remembered me seeing as the concierge at my house ended up remembering me, at least through an incident that I hardly remember…something about Bastien’s cartable when Arthur was born…??

I think maybe the best part was reconnecting with my family there. I called them on Monday night, wondering whether they would even remember me or if I would have to do a lot of prompting. Nadège (the mom) answered the phone and remembered me right away. I was so happy. And she invited us for dinner the next evening. I had a great time. It quickly felt very normal to be there. The place looks the same though they’ve done some renovating including having bought 7 of the little rooms on the 6th floor, where I had a room, and connected them to their apartment adding a whole other floor to their space. It was so great to see them. A friend of theirs was there too plus a cousin who was staying over due to the transportation strike. We had a nice dinner. Nadège brought out an album of pictures so we did a bit of reminiscing. I enjoyed meeting Arthur, again. I used to call him my Paris baby but now he’s all grown up. He’s very nice and I couldn’t help feeling that maybe there was some sort of connection there even though he doesn’t remember me at all. Bastien, who was 9 back then, came by too. Nadège had said that she didn’t think he was coming but he did drop by for a half hour or so. I was impressed. Although grown up too he actually looked the same. I was happy to see him. He was in New York for a year and is now working at his dad’s art and design school in communication and international relations. Guillaume, then 15, doesn’t live in Paris anymore and is married and a physicist who, according to his mother, is cleaning up the world. I’m so glad I reconnected with them. It was warm and comfortable. PS. I love Paris!