Les rues de Paris

Wisdom for the road

"You don't always need a plan.  Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go, and see what happens." 

mandy hale

   In March, I took 28 9-12th graders from our school on a spring break trip to London and Paris.  On our last day in Paris, two boys were vomiting and too sick to leave the hotel, so I stayed behind with them.  It was our day to visit Versailles, what I though would be the highlight of the trip for me, and  I shed a few tears of disappointment.  But then I regrouped and vowed to make it a good day no matter what.  After all, I was IN PARIS!

   I couldn't venture far from our hotel on the outskirts of the city (had to check on the boys every couple hours), so all my wanderings had to be in this Paris neighborhood.  And, did I mention it was raining/sleeting/snowing?  So what to do?  Spy on ordinary life and explore the neighborhood!

   The smell of the patisseries--at least two in every block--started to lure as soon as I opened the hotel door.  After window shopping awhile, I chose a delicious small strawberry tart to eat on a bench near a bank with others doing the same, and watch the traffic go by.  In the rain/sleet/snow.  If it didn't bother Parisians, it wasn't going to bother me! 

Fruit and veg venders and flower shops ... did I mention it was sleeting/raining/snowing?  Why are these not freezing and wilting?  Anyway, they add welcome jolts of color to the gray skies and streets.

Lunch time.  I picked out a French bread sandwich with smoked salmon at a boulangerie and ate it in a park area.  Look at the sky.  No rain/sleet/snow.  Ooh la la! 

Because of a record late spring, flowers were just getting planted.  These will be glorious when summer arrives!

Palm trees and brick streets

There were no signs on this gorgeous building trimmed with so much gold that it had to be important! I never did find  out exactly what it was.

And finally, back to the tiny hotel room to take a nap and wait for the others to return. 

"You don't always need a plan. Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go, and see what happens." 

Nothing surprising happened on my solo day in Paris, but it was relaxing, sweet, and memorable with no kids, no crowds, no responsibilities.