I Love Paris...

 

2011 French Open - Roland Garros

The last time I saw Paris...

The last time I saw Paris was eleven years ago and yes, I attended the French Open. Paris is a beautiful city and the tennis venue has to be one of the greatest in all of tennis. Roland Garros is nestled away in a little residential neighborhood. But if you think about it Paris is really of city of little neighborhoods.

Paris is a walking city and the French love to walk. I think that is why they can eat such marvelous food and stay wondrously slim. A meal in Paris is to be enjoyed, never hurried and experienced with good friends and a good wine. Even the smallest little cafe will offer up a delicious and savory meal.

Paris is a city filled with wonderful history and museums to nourish the mind and soul. It is a city that seems to never rush. There is always a beautiful fountain that will beckon you to sit awhile or the river Seine which flows through the city at an easy pace that calls you to its bank.

Europe Summer of 1955 - Artichoke Annie on the left

My first visit to Paris was in 1955, we spent a few days in the city, to cap off a summer spent attending classes at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, before returning home to California. It's funny I remember my first and last trips to this city so very well, the in-between ones are bit of a blur, hmm perhaps like lovers.


Sometimes I think only young people should be allowed to travel to foreign countries, they are so accepting and non-judgmental. That first trip to Europe as a young student brings back vivid memories. I remember listening to the American tourists complaining of this and that and how everything back in the USA was better. Perhaps they should have stayed home. We had a ball and enjoyed hanging out with other students from the Sorbonne, in the Latin Quarter on the Left Bank of Paris. We did play tourist a bit if you count going to the Louvre as being touristy. We went to the famous cabaret Moulin Rouge - that experience certainly had this kid's eyes wide open, Can-Can dancers and the even more exciting and dramatic Apache dancers. Everything a kid dreamed of when thinking of Paris is those days.

But my last visit in 2000 was really the trip of a lifetime. I am an avid tennis fan and to attend the French Open was dream come true. I spent three weeks in France, first attending the opening days of the tennis tournament and then joined by my two daughters where we traveled to the Loire Valley exploring castles and countryside's and picnics along the way. It was just delightful.

The girls returned home and I was later met by my girlfriend. We attended the final two days of the French Open and then finished up the trip with several days on a leisurely barge trip on La Belle Epoque on a small river about an hour outside of Paris. What a perfect ending to a perfect Paris and French holiday.

... I am ready to do it all again.