An American Girl in Paris... Part Deux

Before I begin: Blogger is behaving very badly and I am having a terribly difficult time importing pictures. So, unfortunately, I can't show you any of the beautiful things I write about here. Hopefully I will have it all sorted out once we arrive in Lyon, which we will be traveling to today, via the high-speed train.

Until then...

I believe I am finally on the Parisian time clock!  I woke up this morning and ran down to the hotel "spa" (gym) for a mini boot camp work out before our day began.  The hotel offers a complimentary breakfast buffet.  This is nothing like the breakfast buffets you are used to at a typical hotel.  The food was delicious, and the coffee is very strong - but so smooth.

Afterwards we headed out for a day of food tasting and sightseeing.  There was still some fog at 9:15am and this, accompanied by the unfamiliar cadence of parisien sirens only added to the ambiance.  We went to a French market where we tried zucchini topped with ice cream... an interesting flavor combination that started out cool and sweet, changed to smoky (think Gouda cheese) and then mildly crunchy.  It was ... interesting. Not bad, but not something I would purposefully order!  We also tried a violet tea drink with a piece of crystallized violet that tasted just like candy - delicious!

The market was a riot of gorgeous colors, fresh produce, and wonderful scents.

Here's something I love about Paris.  For 1 Euro you can rent a bike for half an hour (longer, of course, for more Euros) to make your way across the city. There are bike "lots" all over the city where you can simply swipe a credit card to unlock a bike.  When you lock the bike up at any "station" the time-clock automatically stops on your card.  Brilliant!

Same goes for cars, which they also offer in NYC and Chicago, but the bikes I'm not so sure they offer elsewhere (please do correct me if you know differently).

But I digress.  The highlight of our morning was a visit to a french chocolatier, where the owner educated us on the differences among various types of chocolate and offered several samples.  Again... delicious!

We were free to wander and find a restaurant for lunch.  We left our group and found a wonderful restaurant in the 6th arrondissment - near (or in? not sure) St. Germaine Square.  Let me digress for a moment to explain further about the 6th arron.  This is the most exclusive area to live in all of Paris. Apartments here sell for $12,000 per square meter.  Can you imagine?

St. Germaine Square is the place to see and be seen.  In his day, Hemingway used to write in the small establishments here, because a cup of coffee was just 10 Euros, and there was heat - a warm place for a starving writer to work all day.

We visited Le Procope which is the oldest restaurant in the city. This was a place where Le Voltaire and Bonaparte use to visit. Bonaparte once left his hat as payment because he did not have enough money to pay his bill.  His hat still resides in the restaurant today.

So... we sat outside a cafe for lunch of course, and people-watched, then rejoined our group to head back to the Champs Elysee where we took a pastry class with Chef Matthew.

He was very charming, and the desserts were outstanding.  He taught us how to make Macaroons, Chocolate Tarts and Tiramisu - Delicious!

Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel. My dad and I decided to walk to the Apple store here and received very simple directions from the conceirge at our hotel.  Simple my ass.  Paris is not as easy to navigate as NYC (their grid system, to me, is quite simple).  After a few wrong turns and two attempts to ask non-enlish speaking french people for directions, we finally found it. This Apple store is like a church! But of course, it's in Paris, what did we expect?

We did a little shopping then walked the mile or two back to the hotel, stopping once at a market for a bottle of wine, then again for a quick bite to eat before finally heading back to our hotel.

It has been a very long, but wonderful day.

An American Girl in Paris, Part Une

What a day it has been... and what day is it, exactly? Now I know fully what it means to have jet lag.  Today was May Day in Paris so the shops were closed, which worked out for me, because I was desperate for a long nap.  Before I get ahead of myself, I have to back up a bit...

First/Business Class is just superb.  I don't think the international flight attendants were quite prepared for my Aunt Diane and me. We had one hell of a time trying out the seats - they reclined into several positions, all the way to flat for sleeping. We sipped Mimosas and wine, and dined on French cheese, etc. etc. After an Ambien-induced nap on the plane we woke up 7 hours ahead of our internal clock. Motion sickness hit pretty hard on the landing, which took me about an hour to overcome.

But I digress.

Paris is very much like you think it would be. The architecture is beautiful, the cars are small, the rain  is steady but very light.  Our hotel sits just down the street from the Arc De Triomphe and the Champs De Elysee.  And to my Parisien friends, I apologize for any spelling errors... I'm just that tired.

Our dinner lasted more than 3 hours - God only knows how many courses and glasses of wine, but it was all excellent.  After dinner, we went to see the Eiffel Tower.  Lit up at night, it was just beautiful.  Have you ever waited so long to see something that you think you might be disappointed to discover it's not as you had imagined in your dreams?  Not so for the Eiffel Tower. It is truly magnificent.  I'm looking forward to seeing it in the day time.

Of course, this is a tourist attraction, and the hawkers were out in full force trying to sell their plastic Eiffel Tower replicas for "just one Euro!"

In my library at home hangs a framed picture of the Champs De Elysee.  It is a beautiful painting of a tree-lined street, fresh and peaceful after a light rain.  The real thing is no less a sight to see, but it did seem much more commercial to me in real life, and not unlike Madison Avenue in Manhattan.  I'm not sure whether this was a disappointment or a relief to me. I do love Manhattan, but it did take away just a bit of the romance of this city of lights.

Tomorrow we leave the hotel at 9:15 am for several tours, the first of which will take us to a Patisserie where we'll learn how to make French Macaroons, and taste more amazing French wine.

I wanted to post a few pictures by blogger is giving me hell and I'm in no mood to fight, so... tomorrow.

Bonne nuit mes amis!

Au Revoir! OR Mom's Takin' a Lil' Break

I'm leavin'.  On a jet plane...

My bags are packed (sort of), the kids' schedules have been finalized and distributed (mostly). And tomorrow at 1:30, I'll be headed to Chicago's O'Hare airport where I'll board a 5:30pm flight bound for Paris.  This trip has been 8 months in the making (I first wrote about it here) so you'd think I'd have had ample time to prepare, right?  Well, with three kids, a host of last minute stresses, oh and throw in a few surgeries, it's been pretty tough to pull it all together.

Have you ever planned a weekend away without your kids? A little getaway perhaps with the spouse or the girls?  Moms never just pack up and go. We have to arrange and rearrange and schedule and assure, and write notes, and email teachers... I realized this past week, that, well, I do a LOT! Just on a daily basis.  Good LORD, no wonder I'm so tired!

It's hard for moms to admit, too, that not only do we need a break, but we deserve one, too! We have so much guilt, and if you're Catholic, well, you've got it in spades.

But I digress, with the help of my mom, and my kids' dad, I am, in fact, taking a break. A 10-day break to be exact. I'm not sure if I'll know what to do with myself without all the... stuff.  The homework, the school lunches, meals, play dates, driving to and from wherever. Oh, and the laundry. Good Lord, there's a lot of laundry! Housework and yard work, and whatever else.

I can't imagine having no dishes to clean after dinner - for 10 DAYS straight! No alarm clock to wake me up. No boot camp (although I will be taking my bands, and fitting in workouts because, well, a Shark's a Shark no matter where you put us).

These eight months have flown by! I was going to make time to learn French (at least enough to get by). Instead I downloaded an app yesterday that will teach me the basic phrases (where's' the bathroom; Red wine, please; another round, please...).

So, I'm off.  But I will be writing. And I'll be posting my "American Girl in Paris" blogs as often as possible, so stay tuned!

But first... I'll be hugging my kids a little tighter, staying up a little later tonight just to be together.

Au Revoir!

On Rejection and Looking Forward

I was cleaning out my filing cabinet the other day.  A task I enjoy so much that I space each occurance out by about five years.  So, I am going through these files for my freelance business that I began back in 2004.  This is also when I started trying in earnest to get published.  When I graduated in 2005 (um, no, I was not 21), I was given a copy of Writer's Market as a gift. I scoured the pages, highlighting and dog-earing any publications for which I thought I might like to write.

And then I started writing and sending query letters.  I really wished I'd saved the letters, but oh well.  What I did save were all the rejection letters.  I learned early on (from Stephen King's "On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft") that rejection letters were not a bad thing, that every writer receives them, that they are really just a sign that you're doing your job, getting your work out there, trying.  So, I created a special file folder which I labeled "Rejections" in big read letters. And that is where they have resided all these years.  I pulled them out the other night and was shocked at how many I'd received.  Wow! Look at all the publications I'd sent to! I was actually proud of my younger, greener self.

From my seat on the floor of my office, I looked up at the credenza above my writing desk where I keep a copy of all my published articles.  The Chicken Soup books and various magazines now number more than a dozen.

Ten years ago, I only dreamed of having a dozen or more publications under my belt, my bio listed in various anthologies and publications both regional and national.  And now, years later, here they are.

As I continued going through files, I came across one from my Webster University days filled with short stories I'd written for creative writing classes. Those protagonists I created are just lying in wait to be given new opportunities, new challenges, new life.

When was the last time you took the time to look back over the last 10 years or so to see what you've accomplished?  My guess is you've come a long way, baby.  We all fall into ruts now and then. Face rejection. Have trouble finding inspiration.  If you haven't yet, take a few minutes today to remind yourself of all you've accomplished, the goals you've reached, the ones you're working towards. Then get back to working on them.  They're not going anywhere, and the days, months and years are going to pass whether you go for it or not.

Give yourself the opportunity to look back 10 years from now and be proud of all you've accomplished!

You Just Never Know

Yesterday, I was driving to the hospital with my middle son (Jack), who was scheduled to have knee surgery. While his knee is in a large brace, turns and bumps in the road are still painful, so I was very careful as I turned into the gas station. Checking my rear-view mirror as I did so, I saw the young driver behind me.  To say that he was not happy with the speed at which I turned into the lot is an understatement. This young man was making all kinds of hand gestures, yelling, basically full of road rage. Normally, I laugh this idiotic behavior off, but this time it got me thinking...

You just never know what people are going through at any given moment.

That older man you just passed on the highway doing 55 in the fast lane? Maybe he just found out his wife has Cancer.

The young couple in front of you taking the turns so slowly? Maybe they're on their way home from the hospital, their newborn baby cradled in the back seat.

The woman speeding down the highway like a fool? Maybe she's racing against the clock to say goodbye to her father.

But I digress.  Yesterday, Jack had surgery.  He had a complete knee dislocation, and 30% of his kneecap had broken off in the process.  This was Jack's first surgery (and hopefully his last). I've been in the waiting room at St. John's many times, though. His older brother has had six surgeries, his first when he was just five...

I remember when the nurse called me back to the post-op room - where the patients wake up after surgery. They only allow one parent in that room... I don't even think I gave his dad a chance.  I got back to my little boy, who was just starting to open his eyes.  I held his hand, and ran my hand through his hair, telling him everything was okay, mama was here. Suddenly, he opened his eyes. "Mama? Mama! I need the nurse!" I tried to calm him but he was insistent that he needed to see the nurse right away.  I ran to get her.  She reached his bedside and leaned close to find out what was wrong. When he saw her there he reached for her hand, and started to cry. "Thank you.  Thank you so much for taking care of me."
That was all he needed to say.
The nurse and I cried with him.

But I digress.  This was Jack's turn. And when they called me back, I headed to the post-op room to hold my boy's hand.  When I got there, he was in a great deal of pain, in a fog from the anesthesia, and couldn't feel his leg at all because they'd put in a nerve block. "They cut off my leg!" he screamed.  It took a few minutes - and several doses of morphine - for the nurse and I to calm him.  But when we did, and that medicine took hold, Jack was in typical form. In fact, the nurse loved him so much, she called the other nurses over for a laugh. The two that rolled his bed up to his hospital room were in stitches and told him they wished they could hang with him all afternoon.  He shook hands with everyone who entered his room, cracked jokes, sang songs and generally made everyone else feel good.

Speaking of Nurses... These people are angels. Really, they are.  If you are a nurse, know or love a nurse, or happen to need a nurse sometime in the future, please remember that these people devout their entire career to taking care of people who are miserable, in pain, unhappy, don't want to be there, can't sleep, are crabby, and generally not too pleasant to be around.  I've spent the night in the hospital with my boys a total of 7 times now. And believe me, it's work. There are constant requests for drinks, urinals, food, scratching of itches, and pain medication. There are countless complaints, many tears, some frustration and general crabbiness.  At one point today, trying desperately to help Jack into a wheelchair I just burst into tears. I simply had enough. I was beaten down, exhausted, stressed and ready to go home.

Nurses take care of perfect strangers. I watched half a dozen of them work with my son, and not one of them was anything less than helpful, kind, and caring.  Props to all of them.

But back to that young man in the car behind me on the way to the hospital yesterday morning. He really got to me. I mean, ask any mom.  Mess with me, okay - I can deal with that.  But you f*&k with my kid? We've got a problem.  Maybe I need to take my own earlier advice and realize that teenage boy might have been going through his own turmoil.  Nah. My guess is that he was just a kid - selfish, as teenagers can be.

But someday, that teenage boy is going to be a husband, driving his very pregnant wife to the hospital. He's going to be a daddy, racing his own teenage boy to the emergency room. He's going to be a grandfather, driving a little slower, a lifetime of living and worry slowing him down just a bit.

Until then, I'll do my best to remember...
You just never know what someone else might be going through.

Author's Note: Jack is home from the hospital and doing well. He's got a long road ahead of him... Four weeks in a locked leg brace, and then the pins in his knee will have to be removed. But he's in good spirits and glad to have the worst of it behind him. Thanks to everyone for your calls, texts, prayers, and kind thoughts!