Apr 28 2006
Travels With Dad: Italy to Paris, May 1984
My, what a slackerbaby I’ve been this week! No readin’ (of blogs), no writin’ (of blogs), and you know there hasn’t been ‘rithmetic, either. If it weren’t for inflicting my juvenilia on you once a week, I’d probably still be doing nothing, and lots of it.
In an effort to overcome my writing sloth, I’m going to try 100 Words in May. It’s a writing exercise where you commit to write 100 words a day, no more, no less, for an entire month. Wish me luck!
And now, back to your irregularly scheduled program.
May 9, 1984
The taxi came at 8:45 sharp and we drove to Stresa to catch the train to Lucerne. It was a very nice modern train but still with compartments. We had one all to ourselves. The scenery was very impressive: very high mountains, the Swiss chalets that you never think really exist, fields of cows, quaint villages, fields of mustard.
At Lucerne, we changed to TGV without much time to spare [hardly surprising, since the Italian train arrived and left when it felt like it, and the Swiss train was a model of efficiency and left exactly on time. As I recall, we barely had time to get all the bags on before the train started pulling out of the station.] We’re becoming world experts at moving our considerable luggage. The train was supposed to go 200 miles an hour, but only went 150 between Dijon (hence the mustard fields) & Paris.
May 10, 1984
Megan and I had coffee (me) and chocolate (her) for breakfast. We also had croissants, which were absolute heaven, & Meg had a strawberry tart (all from Chez Nous, near the Republique Metro stop) – all this came to about $4. The subway is 10 tickets for 24 francs.
We went to the Louvre. We enjoyed the Egyptian exhibit very much, while Mom & Dad explored the furniture and objets d’art (I was enchanted by Marie Antoinette’s incredibly elaborate and heavy necessaire de voyage). There was an especially lovely red granite Sphinx & an interesting 10th century BC interior of an Egyptian temple.
We went for a wonderful lunch at a patisserie & salon de the opposite to the Louvre door to the Egyptian exhibit. [This was long before the IM Pei Pyramids.] Meg had croque monsieur for the first time (she loved it) & Orangina – a discovery for Meg & a redsicovery for me. [I first had it when I was an au pair in Nice when I was 17. Everyone laughed at me, since it was considered a kids’ drink, like Kool-Aid. I still love it.]
After lunch, we visited the Winged Victory of Samothrace (breathtaking), the Mona Lisa (no-one was impressed), the Venus de Milo, some very nice Rembrandts, and the world’s most horrible Rubenses. The Orangerie is closed for renovation, but we visited the Jeu de Paume where Meg was delighted with Degas’ bronze, dressed ballerina (tutu and pink satin hair ribbon). It was wonderful to see the Van Goghs, Lautrecs, Renoirs, & Degas again.