Monsieur, Madame, et Mademoiselle

My parents came to visit me during the second week of my February/March vacation and we completed the French trifecta of titles: Monsieur, Madame, and Mademoiselle Desmond.  I have to say it was quite amusing to hear all three whenever we went- whether we were sitting down at a café or checking into a hotel or simply walking into a shop.  (The term ‘mademoiselle’ may not be used in the near future; more on that here).  So, yes, I’m finally blogging about the fantastic week spent with my parents earlier this month! We visited three places in France together: Paris, Bayeux, and Dijon.

Paris

We started our week in Paris- it was my mom’s second time there and my dad’s first!  We went to many of the famous-must see places as you must do when in the City of Light.  It was nice to be a tourist in Paris again!  I was also able to show them the university where I studied in 2009 and some other parts of the city that are off the beaten path.  Our hotel was in the Latin Quarter which is one of my favorite parts of the city- full of cafés!  It was a big difference from the week I spent in Paris with my Mom in 2007, as I now know the city better.  It was a treat to be in my favorite city with two of my favorite people. Still, there were so many places we could not see (as always in Paris!) so we’ve already decided we have to go back in the future.  (Maybe next time we’ll convince Brian to come!)

The 'rents and I with La tour Eiffel 

Bayeux

Bayeux is small town in Normandy close to the D-Day beaches.  We stayed at Le Lion d’Or hotel which many other celebrities and political figures have stayed at as well. (Including but not limited to: Ethel and Pat Kennedy, Tom Hanks, Charles de Gaulle, Bill Clinton, Prince Charles, etc)  It was really cool!  Bayeux is home to a famous cathedral (the French knew how to build ‘em!) and also the Bayeux Tapestry.  The tapestry tells the story of William the Conquerer- it was amazing to see in real life.  Of course, the World War II sites were the main reason for our stay in Bayeux.  While I had already visited many of these sites before in 2009 this time around we had a private tour guide and I learned so much more!  It was fascinating and possibly more moving than the first time.

Monsieur , Madame, et Mademoiselle
in front of Omaha Beach

Dijon

We finished the week in good, old Dijon.  I was happy to show off my new home to my parents!  They saw my neighborhood, flat, favorite cafés, where I shop, and so on.  They were able to see the old streets I walk on everyday, see the Duke's palace, make a wish at the owl at Notre-Dame de Dijon and so much more!  It's really great that now they can visualize where I am when we talk on the phone and I tell them I met friends at Place de la Lib, that I had chocolate con pana, or went grocery shopping!  The strangest part about Dijon though was sending them off at the train station.  They had to catch a train back up to Paris to head to CDG airport and since I'm usually the one leaving it was pretty bizarre to be staying, standing on the platform waving goodbye. (Now I know how they feel! haha)  

Somehow this is the only pic of the three of us in
Dijon? Rocking our shades outside the hotel.

I really enjoyed that my parents were able to experience a large French city (Paris), a smaller city/town (Bayeux), and a medium sized city (Dijon) so that they could get a real sense of France and French life outside of Paris.  Our week together made me feel older in a good way- I was the one to order food for the whole table every time we went out, sit in the front of the cab and chat with the driver, navigate our way around places, listen to announcements on the trains about delays and so on.  It also allowed for my parents to see firsthand that France truly is another home for me with a different set of customs and social codes that I know how to navigate.  I think we all got very different things out of the week together but the best part about the trip for me was being able to share one of my favorite countries in the world with my parents- it’s one thing to love a place, it’s another thing to share said place with loved ones.

Word of the Post: mémoires -- memories