Through mama's eyes

Every now and then, my dearest friend Emma features a guest blogpost on her blog. It is a space for someone special to share his/her ideas, story, voice. Since this trip is just as much mama's as it is mine, I thought this would be the perfect time to read about her perspective, see Paris through her eyes. So without further ado, here's a little somethin' somethin' from mama... "As our days here are coming to an end, I'm starting to feel sad. I have become one of millions who can now say, "i love Paris!" This city is beautiful along with its people and language. How I wish I could speak French. I've had the best trip anyone could have. I have the best traveling partner; Erica the planner, the researcher; all I've had to do is follow her around. She has mastered the metro system, I just have to make sure she doesn't have too much wine! The challenge is having energy and stamina to keep up with her. Imagine trying to keep up with someone who jogs everyday. She has been running me ragged! Have I lost any pounds? Unfortunately not, I feel like I've swelled up not so much because of the food, (the food here is another story) but it's been surprisingly warm. Thank goodness for band aides! My feet have been abused. Last night we had a wonderful dinner at a place called, "Les Cocottes de Christain Constant". It's a popular place so we had to arrive early before it opened for dinner. There was already a line forming, dinners are served in these little Staub pots, the atmosphere is contemporary with community type sitting, small and quaint. I had the lemon chicken and Erica had the lamb. We had a couple of glasses of wine. It was a great dinner, I'll let Erica describe for you. We timed it perfectly before our walk to the Eiffel Tower for the lighting. We were both so excited to see this, aside from having a bit of a buzz (we're both light weights) we walked over to where we would find a spot among hundreds of others and wait with anticipation. I thought about this special moment while I saw how happy this beautiful child of mine was, I enjoyed seeing her excitement. I thought about our journey here... We had been through so much these last couple of years. I thought about Marcus, his love and support. This became an emotional moment especially when it finally became dark and lights came on and twinkled all up and down the tower. What a magnificent sight. I can't explain the beauty of this place. You have to experience it yourself, this is truly a wonderful place to visit. Although if it were up to Erica, she could easily make Paris her home. We have made the most of this trip each day, we have experienced life here along side the Parisians. Ok, let's talk about some irritating stuff..... Smoking! These people smoke like chimneys, from morning til night. Our lungs must be black by now. Being stuffed in the metro with hot, sticky, smelly people sucks! One day we made the mistake of using the metro during rush hour, have I mentioned it's been in the high 70's low 80's? Anyways, so we get squeezed inside this metro; bodies touchy, people breathing in your face, skin hot and wet from sweat. Sweat coming down people's face, getting the picture? Then, lucky me I get the stinkiest armpit in my face!!! I thought I was going to die, no where to go! This had to be my worst experience here. Do people not shower? One day Erica came out of the metro with some sort of goop/snot/semen on her blouse, yuk! I ended up catching the sniffles, I wonder why? Bathrooms, where are the public bathrooms! It would be nice to have an app for the location of public "toilettes"! Stairs inside the metro stations, they could use some escalators. Sad to see women with trying to carry strollers or baggage up at least 25 stairs. Yes, I did count! A young gentleman helped us with ours when we first arrived. Some people are courteous, but for the most part, people keep to themselves. I was a proud mama, when I saw Erica give up her seat to an elderly lady. This place could use more of that. Some of the nice things about Paris.... How people get together at the St Martin Canal or the Seine River in the evenings with friends, boyfriend or girlfriend; they take their bottle of wine, six pack of beer and just hang out, not to mention the smoking! No problems, just a good time in the evenings. The French people are very nice, most speak English. I've had a very positive experience. This has been a dream come true, thank you Lord for keeping us safe!"