Well, That Went By Quickly - by Jenni

Today was our last day in Paris. There's nothing to say that wouldn't sound like a cliche. It has, indeed, seemed like a blink of an eye. After a year of dreaming and months of planning, we have one more abbreviated night in this lovely place and then it's off to the airport (taxi arrives at 5:20 AM, and I'm tired just thinking about it).

We slept in, since we had to wait for Louis to let us know if we were going to stay here tonight or relocate to the airport hotel. He texted me about 10:00 with the all-clear: the protests are over and we will proceed as planned tomorrow morning. I slept well last night and my throat no longer hurts. I still feel tired and a little achy but much better. Ready for more adventures.

This was the warmest day yet - high 80s, and starting to get a little muggy. That's why we planned for the Day of Dad. Emma gave David the Day of Dad as a Chanukah present last winter. She promised that he could take her to a science museum and he could explain anything he wanted, and she would listen attentively and patiently. So today we headed for the air-conditioned haven of the Cite des Science et Industries.

A small part of one of the five floors. I can see why they call it the City of Science.

Emma was as good as her word.

I took advantage of the many benches and comfy chairs from which one can watch all kinds of interesting short movies. This museum had by far the most comprehensive multilingual documentation of any place we visited, and that helped hold Emma's interest. There are two fast-food cafes, a Burger King and an actual restaurant. We ate at one of the cafes and went back to the exhibits after lunch.

Skeletons of a dog and a cat.

Me, represented by cells. Or something. I didn't really understand this one.

Even the most patient teenager eventually reaches her limit.

We took the Metro to the bridge right near the Ile St Louis and continued our investigation into Parisian ice cream with another stop at Berthillon. Emma had vanilla and chocolate ice cream and raspberry sorbet. I had salted caramel, gingerbread and chocolate ice cream. David had chocolate and raspberry sorbet. We were all happy. Conclusion: Berthillon is better than Amorino, by a nose. Or a tastebud.

We came back to the apartment hot and tired at about 4:30 and I opened FB to see all the posts about the Supreme Court marriage equality decision. Yay!

We changed our clothes and finished packing the big suitcases. This apartment is on the top floor of a quiet residential building and they don't want any trouble with the neighbors - the kind of trouble one might have if one banged big suitcases around at 5:00 AM on a summer Saturday. The driver who will pick us up tomorrow morning came by this evening and took the three big suitcases. We'll manage our carry-ons all by ourselves.

We headed out to dinner at a local restaurant recommended by the apartment agent, the wonderful Louis (the same man who fed us ambrosial foie gras last week. He's a chef). The Ambassade d'Auvergne has apparently been a family favorite for several generations. We had a 7:30 reservation and were the first arrivals - only tourists eat this early (and indeed everyone else in the place was English-speaking). I started with a melon soup - fresh honeydew in a gingered mint syrup that bore no releationship to canned fruit cup. David had a charcuterie plate that he shared with Emma, and there was an amuse-bouche of housemade pate that was heavenly. Emma got adventurous and ordered sausage, also clearly housemade, and I had duck, which was tender and perfectly cooked. Emma and I had a side of cheesy mashed potatoes - the chef brought the copper pot out into the dining room to demonstrate the awesome cheesiness. They were as yummy as you'd think. David had dourade (fish which is plentiful in local restaurants), also perfectly cooked. I had chocolate mousse for dessert. Oh, my. David ordered sorbet that turned out to have two scoops of ice cream and Emma held out for Amorino, so we stopped on the way back to the apartment. It's our last night.

It's our last night....and I should go to bed to allow this cold to continue to improve. I have to get up very soon, anyway.

I'm glad I'll have these posts (and the hundreds of digital photos on our camera that I haven't actually reviewed yet) to remember the trip.

Not everything went as we expected, or hoped, because it never does. Emma didn't want to lug her big camera around everywhere, and was disappointed with the apartment wifi, so you only got one vlog.  There are many things in Paris we didn't see. David kept saying "We're not checking things off a list. We're here to have fun". And so we did. Two weeks is a long time for a social 15 year old to be stuck with her parents. She put up with us with grace (mostly). I feel as if we all know each other better. I'm glad we came and I'm glad we waited until Emma was 15 to take a major family vacation. 

Au revoir, Paris!