On Saturday, my daughter came over to begin planning our upcoming trip to Paris. It was March 3, and we leave for gay Paree on April 5. It had suddenly struck us both that time was ticking. We sat in front of the computer oohing and aahing over Loire Valley chateaus. How are chateaus different than castles? They looked like castles to us. Google says that chateau is, in fact, French for castle.Well, whatever — we both want to see Chambord, castle or chateau! 

We agreed that she must see the Louvre, the Eiffel, Place Vendome, Champs-Elysees, Arche de Triomphe, The Thinker—the list grew. I want to get out of the city this trip. She wants to shop and eat and drink wine, which I reminded her, is spelled Vin and pronounced VAH! To which she replied, you just told me “i” is pronounced “ee”! Oh, yeah, that–.

Seemed like every word she came up with was an exception to the rule. Much like English I observed. It didn’t help with her frustration! She assured me I would be the speaker this trip. To which I replied, “You’re in charge of food and beverages. I’ll do directions, names of places and the Metro.” She has a great sense of direction which she proved all too often in Florence. But I’ll take a metro map and a city map just in case.

She added the Moulin Rouge to our list and Montmartre, and I added Shakespeare and Co. and the Bastille. We considered the Opera as well. “How about the underground?” she asked. “I just want to hang out in parks and read and people watch,” I said. Do you want to see the Picasso Museum or the Orsay? Can we do both? “I want to research a winery,” she added. “And I need to check on a hotel in Avignon for the day you leave for the states,” I said. “You forgot Versaille,” my son, who had remained silent for hours, piped in.

We looked at each other and began to laugh. Can we change that return to the end of May? And really, how can you plan Paris?