Anticlimactic Paris

"This is not what I thought Paris would look like…." Ailyn said with a mixture of bewilderment and disappointment.

"Sweetie, this is definitely Paris! Look around at the style of the buildings and the streets. See how old and beautiful the buildings area in their French style?" I responded.

"But this doesn't seem like Paris!"

"What did you expect Paris to look like, Sweetie?"

"I thought there would be pink skies – with orange, purple and yellow too like you sometimes see if pictures. And the Eiffel Tower of Paris! I don't even see it! And the sky is gray….."

My heart broke for her. She had a cartoon Paris in her head and that was not what one finds outside of the Gare de Lyon train station.

I explained that it's winter so it's cold and often gray – and that we had talked about that even this morning. Ailyn told me that she understood it would be cold, but not all gray! And the buildings and avenues meant nothing to her – just the Eiffel Tower.

I told her we could solve the Eiffel Tower problem later – but I can't change the color of the sky.

Thus it was that after a long wait for a taxi, getting the keys for our Airbnb, getting settled into our new three bedroom – kinda two, kinda one bath (one toilet, but two rooms with showers/sinks) apartment on the Rive Droit (Right Bank), grabbing a quick dinner and a kebab place on our street (that's what the kids wanted), we took the Metro to the Champ-Elysees and walked the boulevard with a view of the Eiffel Tower. When Ailyn laid eyes on the tower, she was the one who lit up and for the first time was actually excited to be in Paris.

Sennen's image of Paris may be more in line with reality, but he too has been underwhelmed. "It's not as great as I thought," he said walking down the Champs-Elysees. However, the glittering lights in the trees lining the street and the searchlight from the Eiffel Tower did impress him. As did the cinnamon-sugar crepe we picked up while walking. "This man knows how to make a crepe much better than anyone in Cannes!"

The Metro was generally acceptable. The Champs-Elysee, Place de la Concorde, the Rive Gauche, the view of Notre Dame… he could take it or leave it. The machine gun carrying guards in front of the American Embassy – that was kinda' interesting.

Looking at the Arc d'Triomph, "It's not really as impressive as I expected."

After returning to our apartment, the anti-climactic sentiment reached a crescendo. Ailyn felt the apartment was old, scary and maybe unsafe. Sennen said he preferred Cannes. Ailyn felt that she too probably preferred Cannes. I asked Ailyn to help me understand what about the apartment was so scary – because it's a beautiful apartment on the Boulevard Voltaire with high ceilings, large windows, light colors fairly sizable for a Paris apartment. The hardwood floors in the living room and master bedroom creak – and really need redoing. That scares Ailyn – even though I explained there's a very secure floor underneath the wood that won't cave in. The hallway is narrow, the IKEA bed in her room seems flimsy, the building is very old, the building stairwell is dark and could I be sure all the windows and doors were securely locked? She compared and contrasted with our Cannes apartment in which the beds were large and comfortable, everything felt new and modern, things were built more like home and (my words, not hers) the city wasn't so much of a big, scary city outside. 

Meanwhile, Sennen  - while not freaking out – seemed more like he could have had a V8. 

At bedtime, both kids expressed preferring Cannes – just as they did when they woke up in the morning. I thought for sure once they saw Paris, they would go with it. Still, it was a five hours on the Train de Grand Vitesse and a particularly slow taxi line at the train station that had us not really seeing Paris until after dark. So maybe with fresh eyes and daylight, Paris will seem better. Sennen wants to see the Christmas Market off the Champs-Elysees. Ailyn wants to go up the Eiffel Tower – and preferably eat there. It's a place to start.

Prior to our arrival, there was serious Cannes mourning from the time the kids woke up well into the train ride. Three things helped Sennen: the bagel sandwich we got from The Green Bagel Cafe (and oddly American modeled place), the views of the Mediterranean coast as the train went from Cannes to Marseille before turning north and the incredible speed of the TGV itself.

"This train is build for speed!" Sennen said just looking at it for the first time. And then later, "Daddy, look how fast we're going! This is the fastest train in the world. None of my friends have been on it!" When it turned out there was also a power outlet at his seat and free WiFi, heaven was a place on earth. He also passed part of the journey by having me look up each French king named Louis by number to get an idea of the trajectory of Louises (?). 

"I love Louis(es)!" he said as the activity became a cross of a bedtime story and a jigsaw puzzle in his mind. Sennen had imagined the line of kings named Louis was consecutive – learning that not only was that not the case, but that a good many of them were not even remotely related. And that Louis III died at 17 years-old after bumping bis head on a doorframe when chasing an attractive girl into her home….

But the TGV didn't bring the same thrill to Ailyn and she called the bagel out for what it was – not as good as home; barely a bagel at that. Her wireless earbuds were depleted of power by the end of the trip and her one glimmer was to be able to share the joy of Paris with her friend Sunday – who has been asking Ailyn how Paris is every night when they talk, with Ailyn explaining each time that she wasn't in Paris. Now it's finally true and it turns out the sky was not created with fairy dust.

 Nonetheless, I have faith that Paris will redeem herself. It is, after all, Paris and there is no other city as beautiful and cultured. Cannes is imminently livable, but it is not the cosmopolitan wonder of Paris. I'm hoping some rest, familiarity with the apartment and a walk in the Tuileries will cure our malaise. A tes souhaites.