Susan Senator

“We’ll always have Paris.”
–Humphrey Bogart to Lauren Bacall, in Casablanca

I have been sleeping a lot (although I did do an hour-long workout at the gym to guard against the Paris pounds) so I have been too sluggish to blog much. There is just so much about the trip, but it will mostly remain in my heart, I think. I am going to list my favorite parts of the trip, and my least favorite as well:

The Best Things About Paris
1) I successfully used French about 75 – 80% of the time.
2) I never felt like a slob compared to Parisiennes.
3) The best breakfast was the one at Coquelicot, (“poppy” in French), a tiny yellow-painted cafe in Montmartre. We had brioches and baquettes and the most delicious jam.
4) The Eiffel Tower was larger than life, and just perfect, especially the fact that they sold champagne at the very top — and my sweetheart bought me a glass.
5) The Pont Alexandre Troisieme was my hands-down favorite bit of architecture, with its thick gray-green fondant-like appearance and its gilded statues and puplish glass lanterns.
6) Laduree, with its gold-and-green canopied cafe and pages and pages of desserts. Plus, a tiny little French grande dame sat next to us, complete with silver-blond Grace Kelly coif, white gloves, pink Chanel suit, and gold lipstick case.
7) Going out one evening just with Ned and having wine, cheese, and dessert at a cafe near the Louvre.
8) The bed at our hotel.
9) Cafe au lait.
10) The sound of women speaking French.

What I didn’t like:
1) Nat wasn’t there.
2) So many smokers.
3) Having to find food that we all liked.
4) How expensive food was.
5) Swollen feet.
6) Terribly long lines at every attraction
7) Our cell phones did not work — also a plus.
8) I spent 10 E on 15 minutes of Internet once — that is like a dollar a minute.
9) The annoying crafty vendors who get you to buy things you don’t want or need.
10)Leaving

Here is a Tabblo that Ned made of the highlights of our trip.