I cannot tell a lie, we fly back to California tomorrow, and I am glad.  David is probably gladder, but it will be nice to get back to our routine.  That is not to say that we didn’t have a great time in Paris.  It has been wonderful, and I actually understood the Uber driver tonight when he said it was cold today in French (I was going to type it out, but it is too late, and I need to get to bed).  I am not sure why, but for the last two days, I have been sleeping in quite late, and today I didn’t rouse myself until it was almost noon.  In my defense, I was up at 7am for two hours, but then went back to bed.  That was my mistake!

As soon as we were ready, we headed to Alex and Claire and just relaxed.  Theo was more playful than he has been for the past week.  He has been under the weather, and now Alex and Claire are taking their turns at feeling a bit of the cold.  Claire made a great dinner, and we just hung out and then home.

Yesterday, I also slept in rather late, and we took a short walk in the area.  I wanted to explore the area near the canal St Martin, and at a certain point David asked where we were going, and I told him again and he asked why.  I was a little exasperated, and asked if he wanted to go home, and he said yes, so I turned around and started heading back and told him that I would drop him off and I would look for myself.  He insisted that I turn back around, and we walked along the canal, and every once in a while he would just say “why?’  Along with my fascination with maps, I am intrigued by urban waterways.  I’m sort of a nerd that way.  Not sure why, it is just something that I like.  The neighborhood was kind of cool too, with interesting shops and restaurants.  Later in the evening, I found out that there is a name for the types who live in the area, BoBo’s (bourgeois bohéme – sort of like Brooklyn!)

Then home to get ready for the UNIS gathering at the Marriott Champs-Élysées.  We called a car with enough time to get there and some to spare, or so I thought.  The traffic was horrendous and I knew we were in trouble when we were behind a garbage truck for what seemed like an eternity.  Then, as we approached the area around the grands magasins, it was horrendous.  The number of people looking at the windows of Galeries Lafayette and Printemps were, well, like Fifth Avenue in New York at this time of year!  We were not so late, only about fifteen minutes.  Alex was there as well as two other UNIS alumni.  One was with his wife and the other had his daughter and his parents. Phil and Timor were both really nice, and Timor’s daughter was delightful.  Timor also had some tips for Alex and Claire for getting into a creche.  It was a small group, but nice and we had a good time.
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Then we headed off to La Table des Anges for dinner with Alex and Claire.  We arrived a little late to this as well, and I asked Alex to call the restaurant from the car and I think they actually thought it was quaint (odd) that we were calling to let them know that we would be about 15 minutes late for our reservation.  We had another great meal.  David has a hard time relaxing, and was anxious when the next course wasn’t on the table and the French do have this odd thing about coffee and dessert.  Coffee isn’t served with dessert, but rather, after dessert.  Even though we asked for the coffee to come with dessert, they thought we would prefer it the French way!  I was fine with that, but David, not so much.  Generally, when it comes to meals, they are much more relaxed and not so rushed, which I like.

Then we walked home from the restaurant while Alex and Claire caught the Metro.  A nice stroll along Ave Trudaine where there are a number of cafes and bars.  One had dancing inside, and I think it was swing dancing, which was kind of cool.  There are moments that I am not always able to write here or that I don’t remember.  It was a Saturday night, and the city had most of the holiday decorations up, and lit, and there was a certain magical air about it.  Even with all the traffic and crowds, there was a sense of festivity.  When we got out of the car on the Champs Élysée, the thickness of the crowd was difficult to maneuver, but sometimes it is exciting to be around that throng.  Then as we were walking home after dinner, catching a glimpse of Sacré-Cœur looming over us all lit, as if floating in the sky was pretty wondrous.  The markets.  The wet cobblestones.  The wedding dresses – I forgot to mention that we saw one of the wedding dresses (a peach number) actually being used.  She was surrounded by her bridesmaids as they held the hem of her dress do it didn’t drag on the sidewalk just off of Boulevard du Magenta.

Too many glimpses and moments to recall and remember, but it has been a glorious three weeks, not to mention the almost two weeks on the cruise before Paris.  There was a moment last night when Timor’s mother mentioned that her father had a stroke in his sixties and lived for another 35 years, and I am sad to say that initially I thought – “Oh, God, I don’t think I can do this for another 35 years!” – but both David and I have been fortunate in so many ways, and in spite of the obstacles, we push along and have fun doing it.  I’m just glad that we can still laugh at the bumps along the way!