La Ville-Lumière

Père Lachaise Cemetery

I have had the extreme pleasure of inviting my very dear friend to go on vacation with us to Europe next spring. Ms. Kitty, as she will be known, has never been anywhere besides a handful of states nearby so going to Europe will be … surreal. I remember when I landed in Paris, The City of Lights,  for the first time it was… surreal. Unreal and unknown. There are very few experiences or things that have had a profound impact on my life and going to Europe in 1999 was one of them.

Jim Morrison lead singer of the Doors said once “There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors.” All that stands between knowing and not knowing is moving forward. Interesting. All that stands between experiencing life and not experiencing it is not moving at all. Incidentally Jim Morrison is buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. His grave and those around him are decorated with various quotes from his life the most profound of which is “there are things known…and things unknown.” Who knows what it really means? Seeing Europe for the first time, moving forward into the unknown, will be a profound experience for my friend of which I have no doubt.



River  Seine in Paris



And on a lighter note it will be a profound experience for my husband and I since we both stated unequivocally after our last trip we would “never go to Europe again with you….ever!” You may be wondering why – you saw the pictures and read my posts so it looks and sounds like we had a great time. And we did – but he really pissed me off at the end and that is why I subsequently stated “never again.” Let me explain. My husband speaks three languages fluently and he refuses to translate. Apparently it hurts his brain. So, what we fight about is his lack of chivalry and my lack of motivation to simultaneously learn two new languages. Seriously, who’s in the wrong here? I am after all just a woman. Moreover, I believe expecting me to learn a language while working, cleaning, taking care of the baby, not getting any sleep, cooking meals (well, not really) and maintaining a household is totally unreasonable (I can hardly remember how to add and subtract half of the time).  No doubt we will need to resume the marriage counseling prior to the trip.

In the meantime, I will be looking forward to planning our trip and seeing my friend, Ms. Kitty, experience France, its amazing history and architecture as well as the effects of marriage counseling to make my husband a better translator. Amen.

As a side note...how does one spend ten plus days in Paris and take only two photos of the most famous sight there -- the Eiffel Tower and fifty pictures of a graveyard?