Eurojournal – 30 August 2006 (James)

James visited for about a week which was fabulous. I am pretty down today since he left early this morning. We won’t see each other for almost 2 months now. Ouch. It is so much easier being the one to leave than be left behind.

When he first arrived I was ecstatic as were the children. Byron and I kept it a secret from the kids so that they could wake up and see him. I picked him up on the 24th from the train. He was exhausted from traveling for 24 hours via bus and plane. We went to dinner (Ethiopian!) and returned home. In the night Luna woke up and nonchalantly asks if Daddy has seen the tower outside the window. It was lit. I tell her yes. I ask how did she know he was here. She says she heard him. Liam wakes up and crawls over to us with his eyes really big. He was surprised and happy. It was sweet.

We walked all over Paris the next day. That night Byron watched the kids while James and I went to the Louvre. It was fun to watch James wander seeing the exhibits. I had hoped that he would be interested in the religious paintings. He was explaining the theology around most. Another day, after the skatepark, we ate at a wonderful Chinese Buddhist basically vegan restaurant. It was really good and reasonably priced! We saw the Pompidou and took James into the pink room. At this point Liam was burnt on museums but he handled it well. Luna liked looking at abstract paintings and telling us what she saw or felt.

Throughout the week we saw Paris in the rain and in the sun. Aunt Gayle, James aunt was also in Paris. We went to Musee de L’Orangerie with her. That was really great. It had two full round rooms of Monet’s water Lilies. Liam was excited about that. The kids did some more sketches. Afterwards, we walked to the carnival. This is where we rode the giant ferris wheel a few weeks ago. James and I went there one evening and watched the people ride this crazy ride. Two people sit in this metal ball which is basically held down by giant rubberbands and magnets. Then the magnet is released bouncing the ball into the air up and down. We decide we want to do that this week. So we wandered there with Gayle and the kids. We mentioned we wanted to ride it and now with Gayle and Byron involved wanting to watch we had committed. The anticipation was intense. We do it. It was exhilarating. Quite the adrenaline rush. We bounced up and saw the whole city of Paris, not from a window or highly gated area but almost in the air.

Later that afternoon, we went to Sacre Coeur. That was an experience. The cathedral was gorgeous, the sun was out (it was raining a few hours ago) and we were on Montmarte. The views of the city were amazing. We rode up the hill in the forniculaire de Montmarte. It was like a gondola on the ground. While inside a mass began. Tourists still continued to walk around. We sat down thorough the mass. It was really neat to witness a Catholic mass in French at Sacre Coeur. Liam learned about holy water and communion. We walked around Montmarte. It reminded me a lot of Sighisoara, Romania.

Yesterday we finally made it up the Eiffel Tower. The children wanted to go up with James. This was his last day here and we were going rain or shine. We got the rain and cold. We arrived an hour before opening and were the first to go up. The children loved the elevator ride. Byron spotted our apartment building form the tower. We stayed home the rest of the day while I made some crepes and fruit compote.

That evening, James and I went to dinner and walked around Paris. We ate at this really nice veggie restaurant near centre Pompidou. He had mushroom pie and I had seitan. For dessert we had vegan carmel apple pie and vegan fruit mousse. It was a typical Parisian café with tables very close and lots of conversation. Yet it was incredibly romantic and intimate. After dinner we went to Notre Dame and wandered across the Pont Neuf. And yes we did kiss on the bridge. We ended up on the left bank at Shakespeare and Co bookstore. That was fun. We were both in heaven. So many books in such a wonderful bookstore. We walked around the area where restaurants lined cobblestone alleys. Restauranteurs would approach us asking if we wanted to eat at their restaurant. We came home with about 3 hours until James had to wake up to catch the night bus to the airport. We parted at 3:25 am at the bus stop a block from the apartment.

James came and went and I had my dream date in Paris with him.
We meet again in Barcelona in autumn.