Say it isn't so

Today is our final full day in Paris. Actually, it is our final full day of our trip. Something just doesn't seem right about this. Mama looks forward to sleeping in her bed, driving her car, and spending time with daddy and the dogs. I just look forward to running and seeing g. But if we didn't have those men in our lives, or some of the daily comforts we've grown accustomed to, we would have no problem staying put. Right where we are. In Paris. Yesterday we paid our respects to the Arc de Triomphe and the Louvre. But you know how me and mama are...we planned our trip to the louvre on the day it was closed. Closed means less people, which then means more pictures without strangers IN them. No, friends, not once did we walk through a museum on this trip. We feel we learned more about the people and culture by living with them...in cafes, at the boulangerie, in shops. Or at least that's what we tell ourselves. I can't go without telling you about mama's rendezvous with a treat of her own...the pain de Amis from the boulangerie around the corner. I mentioned in an earlier post that we happen to stay in an apartment right around the corner from one of the voted best boulangeries in Paris, Du Pain Des Idees. Its story is very inspiring, something I will share in a future post. The head baker created a bread, pain des Amis, which translates to "bread of friendship" and it is apparently well known throughout. We now know why. I will post photos of it as soon as I get back to the states, and I'll let mama post about her experience devouring it. I couldn't possibly relay to you how she felt while eating it. But it was, pardon me, damn good! Surely, we'll take some for a snack on the plane ride home. Today, on our final day, we plan to take it easy and capture every last bit of our surroundings. More pain des Amis will be eaten, my last Pierre Herme maccarroon will be savored, final photos will be taken, and a goodbye will be said to Monsiuer Eiffel. I want to end this post with a few things I will miss about this city (and trip in general): spending lazy mornings with mama at the breakfast table; the ease of riding the metro; watching people carry - and eat - their daily baguettes; picturesque parks all around; hearing mama butcher "bonjour;" the ease and freedom of living; being amazed by the small things...bread, wine, treats; oh, and of course, the treats! Most of all, I'm going to miss the quality time I've shared with mama these past few weeks. Traveling does something to a relationship, and although I didn't thinks ours could get better than it already was, it did. Here's to the loveliest trip with the most inspiring woman I know. We'll be seeing you in the States.