Paris: Parting shots

This will be my final Paris post and then we will be on to my otherwise exciting life.   When I went to Paris with my daughter, her wife and my granddaughter- Little Bee, I was just along for the ride.  Oh, I had my list of things to see (and I got to see every one of them) but I was just thrilled to the core just to be going to Paris.

I was thrilled with the statues and art work and history and architechture.  The following two shots were taken in a park near La Tour Eiffel. 

Sometimes I took photos with my blog in mind.  Things I wanted to share with you such as this beautiful knocker on a blue door.

 And this gorgeous red door.

There were several things we wanted to do once we got there- and the following remain on my list for next time:
Ride the open air tour bus:

Take the water bus on the Seine:
You can even buy a pass and hop on and off...

Ride a Parisian bicycle:
These were all over and you slide your card and take a bicycle.  I wanted to but just never got to do this.

Next time I will go to Musee du Louvre and actually go in.  I went by myself and the lines were horrible.  I settled for walking about on the grounds, taking photographs.  For me, I was very adventurous just to get in a taxi and go over by myself.
This was the night that Baby Bee fell sick and her moms ended up taking her to the emergency room.  (Which was very scary.) (She was fine- just a virus but ran a fever of 104.)

On my list for next time:  eat more, drink more, sit at outdoor cafes and take even more photographs.
We did eat at the wonderful Italian restaurant pictured below, Amici Miei.  We had pizza and it was to die for.

I am going back.
You see, one of the things I never shared with you was that my friend who I've been friends with since we were seventeen and my daughter planned this trip for me.  They started planning this trip in 2007.  Last Fall my daughter called my friend (whom my daughter is named for) and said "let's do it."  Tickets were purchased last October.  My friend and her daughter met us on the east coast and we all had a wonderful visit together and all the while, she and my daughter were whispering together and plotting.  I had no idea.  Then my daughter gave me my ticket in December for Christmas.  My friend was thrilled for me.  More than I knew because she had a ticket, too.  She was so involved in my plans for the trip, my packing, my getting my passport.  I thought she was just being my friend as she always is.  But she was going along with us. We had adjoining hotel rooms- one for she and I and one for the moms and Baby Bee.
Then two and a half weeks before we were to depart- my friend's neighbor asked her to come by and baby-sit for her children for less than an hour- just to be there from when the sitter left until the grandparents could get there.  "No problem," my freind told them.  She and her daughter went to their house straight away after work.  My friend was still in her work clothes- brief case and purse sat on the porch.  She sat down on the porch swing and the swing came out of the ceiling and fell on her left leg, breaking her leg in four places and crushing her ankle.
An abulance took her to Duke Medical.  She kept telling them to get a cast on her leg because she was going to Paris in two and a half weeks.  Finally, a doctor told her "Darlin, you aren't going to Paris- you are going to surgery." 
This happened on a Friday evening.
The next Tuesday, my daughter called and said "she really did break her leg."
"Yes, she did and it is awful."  I answered.
My daughter said "at first I thought it was a joke- a part of the plan."
"Plan?" I said "I don't understand.  What plan?  I don't know what you are talking about."
"I have to tell you something," my daughter said quietly "she was going with us."
The silence that followed was me, sobbing so hard I could barely get my breath.
I called Doug and cried and told him.
He said "wait a minute, you are still going with your daughter and daughter-in-law and the baby, right?"  "Yes," I wailed, but she isn't going.
For quite some time, I was depressed and despondent. 
Doug begged me to blog about it.
When I am sad or upset, I usually shut down. 
So I am going back.
With her.
And we will do Paris and Spain or Italy.
For now she is doing physical therapy and hasn't returned to work.
We've been on the phone a lot.

For me, this trip was a dream come true.  Now I need to find a new dream!
This parting shot is possibly my favorite photo:

For another American in Paris account (another Hoosier in Paris) go over and visit Jen at The Cottage Nest.  (She visited Paris and London.)