We took a couple of short day trips and finally sat down together, now that we were apart from the family, for that coffee shop talk. "How are you REALLY doing without me?" (I asked her. She asked me. We both started sobbing. Right there in the coffee shop. Our table was strategic. We hid in a back corner. The gals behind the counter just let us cry.) For those few days, we would get up and make an awesome breakfast of eggs and potatoes and coffee. We would watch our tv show together. Then after awhile, after starting to feel like blobs, we would go for very long walks. Soon our few days were up, and we got up at 3AM to turn in our rental car and make our 6AM flight. I had to get her BACK to Germany, as that was the point of origination for her weird-changed-flight-because-of-no-Turkish-evisas.
But our economy middle of the night flight to Germany took us to Paris for 7 hours!!! Get out of the airport? You bet! I was, honestly, terrified, to try it. I feel SO responsible when CC isn't there. He's my crutch so much of the time. But Firstborn assured me she could figure it out and that we would not miss our connecting flight to Munich. First step: pay a small fee to have them hold our luggage. (Toting our big bags around Paris just did not fit the image of "Paris in 7 Hours") Next step: figuring out how to buy the train ticket. I. was. so. nervous. about. this. She kept saying, "Mama, I got it." and typing (and getting) info on her phone.
So, we figured out the right train to get us into town. We knew we didn't have long, so we decided to see Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower. Eat a crepe. And GET BACK TO THAT FLIGHT. The subway train was exciting. I don't think we ever stopped smiling. Except of course, when the random stop in the middle of nowhere turned out to be 5 minutes. 10 minutes. 15 minutes. We had no idea what was going on except that other passengers seemed annoyed. I was worried. How could we even make it back? There were no taxis! I had no idea where we were. FRENCH! Everywhere! I had heard one couple briefly speak in English, so I asked them what was happening. They told me the train had broken down, but that they had promised it would be repaired soon. The couple became our new best friends. I nearly asked, "If not, could you just take us to your house?!"
After about a 30 minute stop, sure enough, the train started rolling again. Then we got off our train and had absolutely no idea how to get to the Eiffel Tower. There were no signs. We did not have data on our phones. Firstborn kept giggling and saying, "We will figure it out." KIDS! I needed her stress level to match mine! We noticed a young couple with another gal. They looked completely confused too. So, we asked them if they were going to the Eiffel Tower. They said they were but there were no signs. Then the guy said, "I think I have it figured out." So we became a group of five. I mean we followed him blindly! We first passed Notre Dame, but kept moving since our time was shorter than we anticipated.
We walked passed the River Seine (from which we get the word "insane"). It was swirling and angry. I mentioned to Firstborn as we passed it, "I sure wouldn't want to fall in that river today...."
And at last, we made it to the beautiful Eiffel Tower! I am not sure what I expected, but it was breathtaking. And in the middle of a city. It looked old and just drew me in.
No time to go up! We just reveled in the fact that we made it there. We took pictures and congratulated ourselves. And by that point, we were starving. The economy flight served no food, and we left too early for breakfast!
We had just enough time to stop in a cafe. A cafe in Paris. You can imagine how much we were smiling. Only God would give me this gift of a chance to see my daughter, after she was unable to get a visa to come home. And not only did I get to see her (She told me she would meet us anywhere....even a slum....she said she just needed to see us....) but I got to spend 7 hours with her in Paris. I never imagined I would ever see it.
The cafe was wonderful and we sat right by the window to see the street.
I had some wonderful Parisian menu item which involved cheese and a crepe. And a coffee. We kept saying, "I can't believe we are here. I am so glad we got up at 3AM so we could do this!"
An enormously sad thing happened. I felt like my first cross over the River Seine was portentous. When we returned, police rescue boats were out combing the river with nets and divers. We wondered if someone had jumped or fallen.
Later the news informed us that a routine practice dive had swept away a young female Parisian police officer, and she was not recovered. I kept thinking that day how we cross paths with people in the world. For some it might be the most wonderful day of their lives. For others it might be the most tragic. We prayed for whatever was going on.
We took one last quick stop in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral. We had no time to go it, and the lines were long. We were happy to get to see it. The 12th century Gothic structure was beautiful!
And so we made it back to the airport, just as she promised we would! She somehow connected that one of her college friends was also in the Paris airport. While she went to give her a quick hug and catch up, I bought her a Paris mug to take back with her to Mississippi.
We had just another day in Munich together, then she would be off to start her spring semester at college.
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