The last week or so has been a blur.

Saturday and Sunday were spent sleepless, and mostly waiting for Emily and Cody to arrive. I wandered around the city, stopping by Notre Dame and Shakespeare and Co. bookstore and spending way too much money on books, that I then had to carry across town to the DHL post in a backpack and tote bag to send home. It’s so stupid. I’m done buying things. Then lunch in the Luxembourg Gardens and watching the old folks play bocce ball. Honestly, one of my favorite parts of the trip was watching all of the activity at the Luxembourg Gardens.

After delays in getting to Dallas, delays in Dallas, almost cancelling their trip, being on stand-by flights, etc. they finally made it in Sunday afternoon. And they cancelled their Dublin trip, and so were planning to be in Paris longer than originally expected. I met them at their apartment, and we headed out for dinner. So good to have them with me.

The next day, Monday, we started the day earlier than I’ve started any of my days on this trip. We were at breakfast at 8:00 am. And it was so good. An absolute ton of bread. Emily and I couldn’t stop laughing at any number of things. Mostly eggs in French–spelled “ouef,” but we kept calling them “oofs” and giggling like crazy. Walking down the street, singing random songs together that were stuck in our heads.

We walked over to Sainte-Chapelle. We decided we needed to see this one, especially since Notre Dame is still being restored from the fire. This is another I’ve learned in every art and architecture history class I’ve ever taken. Known for the stained glass work and structure. We walk in and it is much tinier than I ever thought it would be. I guess in all of the photos I’ve seen there were no people for scale. I thought it would be as big as any of the others I had been through recently, but it is so small. Magnificent, nonetheless.

We had a bit of time to kill before the Louvre so we wandered a bit, then headed to the glass pyramid. I found a random SANAA building on the way. I’m obsessed with their building skins.

It was surreal walking through the more classical buildings and seeing the pyramid in the center.

I’m going to tell you a secret. Please, don’t hold it against me. Dan Brown books are one of my biggest guilty pleasures. Yes, I know they all follow the same structure, and have very similar plots, but I really enjoy reading them. The DaVinci Code is obviously one I enjoyed, and seeing those pieces from the book in real life was fun. Besides the amazement of being at the Louvre. Randomly Emily would say, “Guys. We are in Paris right now. I can’t believe it.”

After about thirty minutes of being in the wrong line, trying to figure out which line we were supposed to be in, starting our own line at the direction of one of the guards, etc. we made our way down the pyramid.

The place is huge. With thousands and thousands of pieces of art. There were a few we definitely wanted to see. The obvious ones of course–The Mona Lisa, Seated Scribe, Winged Victory, Liberty Leading the People, etc.

We start weaving our way through the museum and the crowds of people. Down through the galleries, up some stairs, and there’s the Winged Victory. Beautiful. Just standing quietly while people mill about, up and down the stairs.

The Seated Scribe must be on loan at another museum because we can’t find him. So we make our way to see the Mona Lisa. Up a flight of stairs, down through a gallery, down some stairs, back up. We were lost. Rerouting. And back on track to the Mona Lisa.

We walk into a gallery and it’s immediately like every movie you’ve seen at the Louvre. So excited. Up ahead we see a crowd of people trying to get to another gallery. That must be it. We walk up and look over the crowd. You can see her, so tiny, the only painting on an enormous wall, shielded by glass. We’re not waiting in line, so we make our way around the crowd to get a closer side view. It’s not my favorite piece of art by any stretch, but certainly surreal to be seeing it in person. I feel so bad for all of the other paintings in this particular gallery, completely overlooked by the one, tiny, Mona Lisa.

We make our way to the back of the gallery and into another. Huge canvases. I look over and it’s the Raft of the Medusa. Another really wonderful Delacroix that I didn’t remember was here. Emily and I are so excited. And then a little ways down, Liberty Leading the People. Ok, I think we can go now. We are both so happy.

But really, we walked around for a bit more and then left. The scale of the museum is quite overwhelming. And depending on what you like, you could spend days, months there. Or just about an hour. We spent a little over an hour. And that was good.

Back out to find food. We stop in at a small cafe. It’s so good. So, so good. I’m ready for a nap, starting to lose quite a bit of steam. But we head over to the Champs-Elysees. We walk up and down the streets forever, see the Arc de Triomphe, then back to our rooms to freshen up. Or so we thought. We call it a night because we’ve walked about fifteen miles and are exhausted.

The next morning we head over to the cemetery, Pere Lachaise. Jim Morrison, Eugene Delacroix, Oscar Wilde. It’s really amazing. And beautiful. And it’s cool and mostly overcast. A nice day for a nice stroll through a cemetery. We see a ton of huge crows. I’m obsessed with them. So much better than the pigeons all over the place.

We make our way back across town to grab lunch before our tickets to the Pantheon. A nice cafe again. And quite a bit of time to kill. I suggest hanging out at the Luxembourg Gardens since we’re close.

We find a sunny spot on one of the lawns, lay down among all of the Parisians on their lunch breaks, and take a nap. It was perfect. Overcast and cool. And just as you would start to get too cool, the sun would break through the clouds to warm you. And just as you were getting too hot, it would slip back behind the clouds. Perfect.

We make our way to the Pantheon. We want to see Marie Curie’s tomb. Emily loves her. I do too, but this was important for Emily. We see the narthex, up to the dome to see the view of Paris, then down into the crypt. So many important people.

Across town again to get closer to our apartments. We find another nice cafe for dinner (they’re literally everywhere). Emily and I start a game. We are sitting across the table from each other, and the game is to warn the other person when a cute dog is about to come by. That’s it. And it was the best.

The next day we get up a bit later. The early mornings were killing both of us. And we head back across town to see the Marie Curie museum. It’s at the college and includes some of her equipment and the lab and office where she worked. It’s tiny, free, self-guided. Strange that someone so influential and well-known has such a tiny moment. Her entire life, never really given the credit she really deserved because she was a woman. But her work was groundbreaking and life changing. And then her work as an educator to give back. Like I said, we love her.

The rest of the afternoon we just wander the city. Back to Shakespeare and Co. so Emily can see. Back down through different parts of the city. We stop for a macaron break. Emily makes better ones. I’m serious. They’re so much better.

It’s Friday, our last day together. We get another late start and make our way back across the river near the Louvre. Emily and Cody have to get COVID tests to go home. So we pick a spot near the pharmacy so they don’t miss their appointment. We have tickets to the Musee d’Orsay and they are to get their results in 30 minutes to an hour. The people in front of them at the pharmacy tested positive. Emily is so nervous now. I start getting nervous too.

We cross the river again to the Musee d’Orsay. How wonderful that I get to see it again. Emily wants to see the Impressionists, the Post-Impressionists, and the Gaudi exhibit and that’s it. We slowly walk through the Impressionists. There are much fewer people than when I was here the first time. Much quieter and easier to navigate the crowds.

Across to see Van Gogh, down for a few more galleries, then back out. They still haven’t been emailed about their tests. Emily starts to get nervous. We head back across the river to the pharmacy to see what’s going on. I find a table at a cafe to wait for them.

They come back. Their system was down. Should have results in thirty minutes to an hour. We get drinks and dessert and wait. Emily and I are so nervous. I don’t think Cody is. At least he doesn’t let on. With all of the drama of them getting here, I want their trip back home to be smoother. Almost an hour goes by and Emily gets an email. But the link to their results doesn’t work.

Back down to the pharmacy. This time they print off their results: both negative. Thank goodness. We all feel relieved. We walk back across town to get dinner and croissants for their early morning to the airport. Dinner is so good. We have crepes for dessert.

They walk me back to my room. Emily and I hug. It’s so dumb this is so hard. She tears up.

“You can’t cry!! Because I’ll be so sad! Don’t cry. I will be home so soon! And you get to see Max! Don’t. Cry.”

They leave and I go back up to my room and start to pack. I cry. I love my sister so much.

Today I traveled to Basel on my way to Ronchamp. This next week of train rides and buses and connections makes me nervous. We’ll see how it goes. This hotel for tonight is magical. So I’m laying here, after dinner, chilling and writing this post. It was a real nice time in Paris.