September 13, 2009

Summer in the City - Ma & Pa Part 2

Our (almost) last day in Paris was conveniently also Mum’s birthday. Having missed out on all the other family birthdays over the year, it was nice to spend the day together, cramming as much in of the big attractions as we could. We did Notre Dame, the Arc du Triumph and Champs-Elysée. We didn’t go inside the church nor up the Arc – no time, and I am sorry to say that after visiting Italy, the UK and France, churches were becoming a bit dull. Of course, the enormous organs and beautifully crafted stained glass windows that can be found throughout Europe are worth a look, but they were beginning to become one and the same in my memory.

We stopped in at Ladurée for macarons, which went well with the pizza Mum selected for her birthday dinner, and soon enough we were back at the hotel room, getting ready for bed. I would like the interrupt the story at this point to mention that Mum and I played a few round of Yatzee that night, and I rolled 3 Yatzees in one game. This is an outstanding achievement, and I am not a gracious winner - my victorious yelping much disturbed my father’s reading.

On Sunday morning, Mum and Dad took the Eurostar to London, and I went back home to Caen. I’d been away for two and a half months, and I embraced my bed and washing machine like a returned soldier embraces his family (at least I remember it that way). I had 3 glorious days to sloth around in my pyjamas, clear out my backpacks, and get ready for the return of my parents – their days in France were not over yet, and neither were my travels.

4 days later, united again in Caen, I made the most of having a man around the house. I employed Dad to change a tube on my bike while Mum and I had a Yatzee re-match. We wined and dined in my little apartment, and took a day trip to Mont St-Michel. Finally, it was time for our grand journey – we were bound for Paris again, just one afternoon, and then onward to Turin, Italy.

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1 comment:

  1. Know exactly what you mean about the churches... good for a squiz once in a while, but a terrible bore after 30 cities!

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