It’s been a while since I posted, but that’s largely because I’ve been busy exploring the city. Last week, my parents were in town and I tried to show them some exciting places in Paris. Now, keep in mind that my parents have been to Paris at least half a dozen times! So I was a little bit hard pressed to find things they would not have seen and give them a new experience.
We did a lot of walking (exploring Quartier Latin, Champs Elysees, Jardin Tuileries, Sacre Coeur, etc). I think I may have made my poor parents walk too much though! My mom kept saying that my dad was tired and we should rest, while my dad kept telling my mom that I was tired and we should rest. Neither one of them seemed to want to admit that I was being a slave driver and forcing them to walk far too much! Nonetheless, we did get to explore a lot of the city and I showed them the Marais which they had, surprisingly, never explored, while they showed me Sacre Coeur which I had not yet visited!
We also indulged ourselves with a lot of eating. I took them to my favorite places like Le Loir dans la Théière and Chez Paul, both of which were met with approval, and also decided to go to Angelina’s. Now, everyone who knows me, knows I have a heck of a sweet tooth. What you wouldn’t know is that I inherited it from my dad, as opposed to my mom, who is oblivious to all things chocolate and such. There is a running joke in my family that my dad can smell where chocolate is stashed in the house (since my mom likes to hide chocolate in random places in the kitchen). So when my mom went shopping, I decided to take my dad to Angelina’s for their amazing hot chocolate and desserts. Now, my dad and I never met a dessert too sweet or chocolate we did not like. But, having finished his mont blanc, and having drank the equivalent of 2 or 3 cups of more or less melted chocolate (which we both loved!!!), my dad and I looked at each other and realized that this may have been the very first time we went too far when it came to sweets. In fact, when we finished our dinner, about 6 hours later, my mom wondered out loud what she should have for dessert… at which point, my dad and I wrinkled our noses in disgust and proclaimed that we would never want dessert again… actually that’s an overstatement and we revised it to for the next day or two!
Lastly, we took a heck of a lot of pictures. Now, my dad is a phenomenal photographer! And I do mean, phenomenal! (Look at www.graizer.net if you don’t believe me!) So between him and I, walking around with our Canons, we took way took a LOT of pictures. Unlike me, who takes pictures of pretty building and settings and random red-headed children), my dad likes to pretend he’s a spy… meaning that he wants to get the quintessential feel of Paris, thus he walks by a table of Parisians drinking their cafes and smoking cigarettes, and snaps pictures of them like a covert agent. My favorite moment was when we saw a Parisian protest (with possibly more cops in riot gear than there were actual protesters) and my dad started snapping pictures of all the dashing Parisian police officers. After the 50th picture or so, one of the cops told my dad that it is not allowed to take pictures of officers on duty. My dad nodded in understanding (he speaks fluent French…) and proceeded to walk away. However, upon reaching the next bridge, full of more cops, he decided that the rules no longer applied and started to take pictures again… My dad likes to break rules apparently. Where-as I was thinking of what on earth I would say (and for that matter how I would say it in French) at the police station when I would have to come to bail my dad out… Luckily for all those involved, the cops ignored my dad breaking the rules.
There was also the moment when a drunken homeless guy decided to yell at my dad! Apparently, he didn't want my dad taking pictures of his scraggly looking dog! In order to relay this message though, he yelled that if my dad so much as thought about taking said dog's picture, he would kill him. And here I thought that anything spoken in French sounded pretty ;)
Anyways, I had a great time exploring Paris with the parents! I’m glad I got to share some of my Parisian experience with them and they got to see Paris through my eyes a little and I got to listen to their stories and see the sights they love!
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