Panic at the Arc de Triomphe

     I thought I wouldn't have much to say today. Ha. 

     In the morning after I'd gotten dressed my aunt came in and asked if a baguette for breakfast sounded good and I was like "Yeah that sounds great!" thinking we'd go somewhere and get a baguette together and then she gave me some money and directions to the bakery and I was on my own through the streets of Paris! I went the wrong way but realized quickly enough, turned around, and found the bakery, called "Paul", a minute later. Long story short, I successfully bought a loaf of bread on my own and brought it back to the apartment. As I neared the gate to the apartment building, baguette in hand, I realized that my aunt hadn't told me the passcode and I was sure what it was but I knew that it started with an A and that there was a 3 in there somewhere and sure enough, when I got in front of it I somehow knew what to press and the door buzzed open. I guess I'd watched JP punch it in enough times to know it by sight.  

     After breakfast, we went to the  Musée de l'Orangerie where we saw Monet's famous water lilies paintings. I feel like the rooms where the water lily paintings are would be great places to go at night and sleep in the center of the big round room with little lights illuminating the paintings...I'm such a romantic. 

     After the water lilies we took a bus to this huge park for kids and rode on a little choo choo train driven by a 20-something guy who looked like he positively hated his job. When my aunt was taking pictures he put his hand over his face and ducked down by the steering wheel. It was hilarious. 

     I was feeling extraordinarily tired and apparently it was obvious because my aunt kept asking if I was okay and I was like "Oh yeah I'm fine! Just tired." I really was fine and just tired. I don't know why. I slept for a good 9 hours. Blame it on jet lag. 

     We got lunch and then went to the attractions. JP rode the big swing thing and then my aunt suggested that I take a break on the bench while they did some more rides. I only hesitated a bit before taking her up on the offer. I sat on that bench, looking like a pedophile bag lady (I had all of our bags stacked on my lap), watching the kids on the big flying swings ride, for literally two and a half hours. And I was somehow not bored for a single second of it. That's how much I needed solitude. And it's funny because it was the opposite of solitude: all around me were screaming children and parents chittering but it was all in a language I didn't understand so it was just like background noise. Like an "ocean waves" or "peaceful breeze" soundtrack. 

     After a while my aunt came back to fetch me and then JP got some frozen yogurt but he didn't like it because it was "sour" so I ate it. It was a bit sour. French frozen yogurt actually tastes like yogurt and not custard. I liked it. 

     While I ate his custard, JP did the Hall of Mirrors but he was taking a long time so I was sent to retrieve him and while I was looking into the hall of mirrors this kid saw me and did a double take at my ugliness and smacked his head into a mirror. Then he kind of smiled embarrassedly and I kind of laughed at him a little...it was funny.  (I guess not though if I have to say that it was funny).

     Around 8 we met my aunt's friend Eddie for dinner. I sat next to him and got both a great view of his nose hairs as well as a wonderful scent of mothballs. The thing was though, Eddie was my soul mate. Like, if he was 50 years younger, I would marry him. Mothballs, nose hairs, and all. He's from Paris and lives there three weeks out of the year and in the Florida Keys the other part, when he's not traveling around America and the rest of the world. In his free time he reads, writes, listens to music, and enjoys the great outdoors. He says that when he travels around America he takes the back roads because the highway is boring and goes "as slowly as possible" and will even go so far as to intentionally get lost. His favorite places are "the water or the desert." WHICH IS ME!!!! When asked about his attire he says "I spent enough years dressed up as a penguin. I'm finished with that." He was dressed in a blue shirt and blue scarf tonight. And he was a gentleman! He held the door open, poured the drinks, (offered me some wine?), paid the bill, and carried my aunt's bag. (Eddie: "I see that your love of big bags hasn't changed" Aunt: "The good things don't change") Oh, Eddie...why did we have to be born so many generations apart? Just kidding, just kidding. I'm under the impression that if you marry someone who is just like you you'll wind up despising them because you'll realize how annoying you are. Opposites attract, after all. 

     After dinner we took a cab to the Arc de Triomphe. Most people have to walk up the steps but my aunt fibbed a bit about having knee surgery so we rode the elevator. (Lol). I wasn't expecting anything spectacular, but it definitely was. It was like being at the top of the Empire State Building but better. My aunt was having a hard time getting around because her knee actually did hurt so I took JP on the other side and we looked around for a good twenty minutes or so and when my aunt didn't come looking for us I was like "Okay we should go look for her." Usually she takes a million pictures but this was  enough time for two million. When we walked back around to the other side though, she wasn't there. I didn't get to worried though until I saw her standing in the distance looking utterly distraught with a policeman beside her. I waved and hurried over and she was already in tears, saying how she thought she'd lost us and that she'd gotten the police and she was hugging us and crying and I was going "I'm so sorry" over and over because I felt responsible for her thinking she'd lost her son and I was on the verge of tears but I didn't actually cry and she explained that she had gotten stuck up on the ledge and had to get someone to help her down and she walked all around and couldn't find us and she'd panicked and gotten the police and I was just like I'm so sorry we were probably looking for each other at the same time and doing circles around each other. 

     Anyway, the circle of hugging, crying, hysterical Americans was probably more of s spectacle than the lights of the Eiffel Tower...or maybe not. 

     We got a taxi home and while JP got a shower, my aunt came into the bedroom and asked if I was okay and I was like "I'm so sorry, I feel awful" and she was like "No no, it's okay. It's not your fault" etc. etc. but I just burst into tears and she was like "Oh no no don't cry it's okay!!" And I was just like bawling and I was like "I can just imagine how it felt...it's the worst feeling in the world." It really is, thinking that you've lost someone you love more than anyone in the world (her son) and you have absolutely no way of contacting them. (Oh I guess I should give this some context: my phone only works when connected to wifi and even then I can only send iMessages or emails so obviously she couldn't have called me on the top of the Arc de Triomphe). But yeah, I would say that that feeling is probably the worst feeling in the world. It's like someone took your heart and ripped it out and it's beating out of your chest and every logical thought is complete vanished from your brain and all you can think is "they're gone and it's my fault." And I felt so awful for putting her through that. I'm supposed to be the nanny! The helper!! I'm supposed to be making her life easier not harder!!!! But yeah, after that episode I guess it was fine. I've definitely gotten more in touch with my emotions during this trip. Jeez oh Pete. 

     Go hug your mom. Have a lovely evening. 

Quote of the Day:

JP: "You somehow smell like gum. Like gum that's still fresh."

Me: "Like mint? Or the regular kind?"

JP: "The regular kind. The pink kind. Pink double bubble."

I guess that's better than mothballs...

Day 946 Song Recommendation: I'll get one tomorrow. 

-SE Wagner