WE WILL ALWAYS HAVE PARIS

Paris is my great love. Paris is like that guy that you have this intense relationship with full of long, intimate talks, fiery sex, and endless nights of drinking wine under the stars on hot summer nights. It’s the guy you know you will never be with because in reality the relationship is too emotionally consuming to handle long term, but a relationship you will always cherish as having been some of the best days of your life. This was Paris for me. An intense and beautifully overwhelming array of gorgeous people, buildings, food, art, and architecture which I will always crave more and dream about during my duller days at home. Paris was some of the best five days of my adult life, and even better I was able to spend it with my mom.

Now, we did all the typical touristy sight-seeing stops, the Eiffel tower, the Notre Dame, the Champs Elysees. We ate quiche and croissants and drank lovely French wine with dinner; waiters happily mistaking us for locals when we greeted them in French with seemingly no American accent present. But we also couldn’t leave Paris without checking out the party scene. On our second-to-last night in Paris, we had dinner in the Jewish quarter, and ended up in this bar after being coaxed inside by the “promoters” or whoever those people standing outside asking you to come in are called. It was a smaller space, dark with blue and colorful lights flashing around to imitate a club. We ordered drinks at the bar and sat down in one of the corners next to the wall and chatted and sipped our very expensive drinks. Not long after, two guys came over to us, one with brown hair and one blonde, about 30’s we estimated, and sat down and started to chat us up (after buying us drinks, of course). Luckily, before we entered the bar, I had a chat with my mother in which I indicated to her that under no circumstances is she to say she is my mother or divulge information about our ages. We decided that for this evening we would be sisters, and so we played this off with the very handsome Canadian gentlemen that were chatting us up. We created a full story on how we are from San Diego and have our own business. They asked us if we are friends, we said ‘no we are sisters, can’t you see the resemblance?’ They ate it all up. We are really good liars, or storytellers, or imaginers? Not sure what you would call it. Let’s just say we had a good time. When we decided we wanted to leave, they walked us out and tried to take us home. Little did they know we are smarter than we look, handle our liquor better, and aren’t actually as slutty as our dance moves would suggest. So with sad eyes they went back to their own hotel, alone.

So the next night, our last night, we met up with our very handsome police officer friend who took us to this extremely elite club by the Champs Elysees. This club was incredible. Three stories high, each with different music and bars to order drinks from. Now, we don’t need alcohol to have fun, but our entrance fee came with a drink so we quickly drank that and headed up to one of the dance floors. We danced on top of these lifted stairs in the middle of the dance floor where of course everyone could see us and many men and boys came over to “chat”. This time we decided to say we were friends instead of sisters, which is believable considering we look very different. The rich men in the VIP area attempted to coax us over to where they were sitting with free drinks and money flashing, unknowingly barking up the wrong tree. We left the club at 6am fully invigorated with confidence, sore feet, and the break of the sunlight hitting our faces as we walked back to our hotel and attempted a few hours of sleep before enjoying our last day in the city. The last day was bittersweet, walking through the nearby parks and taking in all that this beautiful city has to offer. Paris was nothing like they said, it was so much better, more alive, and more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. This city will forever be the place I dream of when I’m lonely or happy or wanting to escape to a fairy-tale-like land where nothing else matters except the moment you are in and the wonders you see around you. #dianasays

I have to agree; Paris is an epic love affair. The city is simply intoxicating, makes you want to speak French, act French, become French. You want to put on a pretty summer dress with a fancy silk scarf tied around your neck while strutting through its streets and bridges. Of course this was not my first visit to the city of love but definitely the most special one. Diana always talked about seeing Paris and I finally planned the perfect trip for us. Yes, it was perfect in every possible way. An unforgettable mother-daughter adventure.

After a short two-hour flight from Budapest, we took a train from Charles de Gaulle airport into the city. Our hotel was by the Latin Quarter so as we came up from the metro station and turned the corner, the first thing Diana saw was nothing less grand than the Notre Dame across the street. I cannot even describe her facial expression except by comparing it to when she was about two years old and got her first bicycle. Her face lit up in sheer delight and disbelief at the same time.

Our mornings and afternoons would be dedicated to sightseeing. I reluctantly agreed to let Diana sleep until 9 each morning but have her concede to a no later than 10 o’clock departure. Consequently, I got up earlier each day to go out to the local pastry shop to fetch our breakfast. Chocolate croissants, quiche Lorraine, almond twists or whatever I fancied that day. Our friendly hotel manager would greet me on my return and remark knowingly: oh, the young lady is still asleep…

From the minute we arrived, Diana could not stop talking about the Paris party scene. I had to promise her I would make it happen somehow, although I had no idea how I would pull this one off. As usual, we simply got lucky. On our very first night we were helped by a young policeman at the metro station who took pity on us seeing we were clearly lost. Even though we were dressed and acted appropriately to blend in with the locals, our map and confused looks might have given us away. Anyhow, our new policeman friend not only pointed us to the right direction but “escorted us” all the way to the Eiffel Tower. As we came up on the steps he asked Diana to close her eyes and led her up to the top of the hill. There it was, the magnificent view of this cool structure all lit up with the evening lights. “May I present you the Eiffel Tower” he said in a super cute French accent. Can you imagine my daughter?!? From that point on he walked us all the way to the bottom of the tower and I asked him if he had any suggestions where I could take my daughter to experience the Parisian night life. He said he knew just the place to go, so we exchanged numbers to be able to reach each other the next day. We had plans to spend the entire day inside the Louvre exploring. By the time we got back to our hotel late afternoon, my back was killing me. Slow walking and standing around is exactly what I cannot not do for hours without paying the price, but in the name of art and history what choice do you have? Taking some pain killers and resting for an hour with your feet up does wonders. That evening we had dinner at this lovely restaurant on a corner, sitting outside right by the Seine River. Beautiful warm evening with a gentle summer breeze, sipping our wine while watching the locals pass by. It felt so right, as time completely stopped, a perfect moment I did not want to end. Ever.

Now let me tell you that the entire sister/friend act was all her idea. She threatened me not to tell anyone that I am her mother, so I decided to let her handle the talking. After all, it was her night out in Paris. Our policeman friend definitely delivered on his promise and took us to an amazing dance club. He met his girlfriend there and let us enjoy dancing by ourselves, checking in with us once in a while to make sure we were having fun. Oh boy, I do not remember the last time I danced an entire night away. Great music, intoxicating experience in a fabulous city. Oh, did I mention we made their Facebook page out of thousands of photos that night? Just saying, we know how to party! Walking home with the sun rising, the city just waking up, with my daughter by my side, despite feeling very tired I could not help but smile. Merci Beaucoup Paris! #mommydearest