4 Days in Paris

Going to Paris was always going to be the hard one! Just four days and a lifetime of expectations to live. Yes, I had dreamed of this day, when I looked longingly in 8th grade (standard) at my french text at the etching of the Arc de Triomphe. Something about the spirit of the place captured me right then and I was in love with Paris and everything parisian.

In College, I did French Literature as a minor and was introduced to the writers; Guy de Maupassant, Andre Gide, etc and their description of the French and the countryside entranced me.

Now here was my dream, now a reality and I couldn't help but intellectualize it, just so that I didn't miss a thing and could just feel things through, when I was in Paris. I watched my teaching company course on the paintings of the Louvre, Watched French movies, the first one, "Amelie" (without subtitles and not getting most of it) with Elvi. Then some more; "Paris" and "French Kiss", I read "A Movable Feast" by Earnest Hemingway and watched a 6 part course on "The History of Paris" on Amazon Instant Video, which was surprisingly good and very interesting.

D-Day: We flew Finnair and I watched an episode of Classical Destinations with Simon Callow. It was about Paris and it's famous composers. Debussy (who I was learning with my piano teacher, Chelsea) and Ravel. I loved the musical perspective on my beloved Paris.

The moment we landed we were faced with a barrage of french. Very few things are in English and so in order to get the Roissy bus from the airport and make sure we were headed to the right stop, I started to speak to a native frenchwoman from Montmartre, Stephanie, at the bus stop who was as eager to talk to me in English as I was to her in French. The resulting conversation must be heard to be believed! We exchanged email id's and phone numbers and hope to keep in touch.

I then got my second opportunity to speak some french with the cabbie on our way to the Bateaux Parisien to take a night cruise on the Seine. Ethan said to me surprised, "Mama, I knew you knew a little french, but I didn't know you could have a conversation in it. Elvi had been saying "Non" and "Oui" for days and days, before we reached Paris, I suppose Ethan thought that that was all we could manage!

The boat ride on the Siene was fun! There was an audio guide we could use, which my boys refused to so I would update them off and on and gave them a humorous tour with my own impressions thrown in, the whole way back to the Hotel.

We began our celebration of our 'holiday of gratitude' with bordeaux and crepes. I had picked up a little souvenir music box of "La Vie En Rose" the tinkling music to which I went to sleep to, with images of the Notre Dame's gothic spires and two columnar towers on the Ile de La Cite astride a sparkling black Siene.



Day 2: We woke up at 11:00 am, which by US time zone was just in time to start the day. We walked and walked and then stopped for brunch at the Cafe de La Paix ('paix' meaning 'peace')
http://www.cafedelapaix.fr/ . The food was elegantly served and in small portions, just the way we like it. Ethan had 'wild boar' marinated in citrus fruit and served with chestnut paste, which he had first read about in the Asterix comic books and was dying to try. We had a cold crab together and Elvi had his favorite, salmon. The desserts were just fabulous! Elvi had a house sweet white wine. Everywhere I went I did the British thing, and had my the au lait (tea with milk) to keep warm.

Ethan asked us to take him inside the once Imperial Opera House (and for some reason he wanted to see an opera, after he heard that his dad had fallen asleep during the production of Mozart's "The Magic Flute" in German (with English supertitles on a screen) in Wolf Trap in VA. What his intention was, I couldn't figure, but I wondered whether he would be able to sit through one. The critical Debussy once remarked about this opera house that it was like a railway station on the outside and a turkish bath on the inside. In some ways he's not far from the truth! This is where the audience would have walked during intermission or before and after a perfromance (see pic). The unexpected jewel in the crown for me, was the ceiling of the auditorium filled with depictions of various famous opera by Marc Chagall. Though not on our iteranary, this was a delightful stop.

We then walked past the Jardin de Tuilleries and naturally made comparisons to our beloved Central Park. The manicured, fountain studded, statue bedecked park was gorgeous, all right. Vaux and Omstead's wilderness feel was more up our alley. I'm sure though, that come summer, this place has a whole other feel. It was missing the chortles of children playing. One also has to be very 'proper', the grass being largely for decorative purposes. What?? You can't play on the grass??? says my little boy. Hmmm, I see his point.

(to be continued)

Buffalo and the Falls

We were at Panera Bread, when the idea for this trip was born. Elvi discovered that Ethan had two days off from school, when he looked at his school homework board ( www.evgschool.org/Homework%20Boards/Mizrak%20Homework%20Board.htm) . Elvi had a $400 airticket available and told us we should use it and go somewhere withen the continental US. We toyed with the idea of going to Orlando to Sea World, Hawaii, even California. Elvi got a brainwave, "What about the Niagara Falls, you always wanted to go and I never did? This is the perfect time." So he booked us a hotel in downtown Buffalo. Now we were decided, there was no going back. The air ticket voucher had some fine print that didn't allow us to use the tickets for this trip, so we booked Amtrak tickets. I read some blogs online and checked out some library books to get a sense of what to expect. Can't go unprepared with a seven year old, that expects you know everything that's going to happen.

So off we went, my son and I, on our first vacation without dad. We both felt the melancholy of someone important missing, but decided to not let it shadow the trip completely.

The Amtrak route was facinating! It was right along the Hudson river and then turned right at Albany, onto the banks of the Mohawk river and maybe we'd have a glimpse of the Erie Canal, who knows. As the Amtrak edged out of Penn Station, we saw Edgewater in the distance. We waved goodbye to dad. We followed an imaginary Half Moon along with Henry Hudson as the train skirted the Hudson River. We were discovering America like he did! (http://hudsonriver.com/history/halfmoon.htm)

Ethan took lots of video of the scenery with his new camera, to show dad on his return. He, captured the views and I, him and his enchantment with all things new. The first part of the Amtrak journey was great. We read books and had a marvelous chat in the dining car over our pizza. But then the engineer ran a red flag and the train was stopped for investigations. We waited 3 hours not knowing what our fate would be. Would we be parked out here in the wilderness for what seemed an eternity or would we be rescued. They transferred us from 63 Maple Leaf to another train. Ethan was all tears and was missing dad a whole lot more now!!! Still he hadn't lost his wanderlust entirely. He wanted to head straight for the falls. I on the other hand had just enough energy to crash the moment we had hot baths at our hotel.

(Ethan's Nature film from the Amtrak. Click to Play)

We headed out for the falls the next morning. Ethan was thrilled. The bus took 20 minutes to get there from downtown Buffalo and it winded through the city so we got a glimpse of the fort and some interesting buldings. The Art Deco City Hall which our shuttle driver told us was the tallest in the country was right outside our window and we were at the edge of Lake Erie. We got to the visitors center and met students from Malaysia who were there to visit too. Ethan had an agenda, so I just went with the flow. This was his trip. We headed straight for the American Falls for our first viewing of the great Niagara Falls. Ethan kept saying "Dad doesn't know what he's missing!!!" "I know, darling, I know".

(Click picture)

(Click to play video of the American Falls)

The Falls were spectacular. They looked smaller than I expected (especially after my viewing of the free movie on YouTube "Niagara Falls: Raging rapids"), just an example, of how expectations can ruin your pleasure. Ethan who is generally not the touristy sort, tends to stop to smell the flowers and play in the mud...but this time he wanted to do all the touristy things. So we went to the Aquarium of Niagara where he took a picture of the dolomite rock which held the top escarpment of the falls so firm while the river raged over it. He saw the sea lion show and blew kisses to them in plenty, and then the crowning glory, we did the gorge trip. An elevator took us to the gorge by the Bridal falls and that's where we saw the most beautiful sight. A rainbow straddling the river below created from the synergy of the mist and the abundant sunshine. This sight brought tears! Streaming tears. Was this possible! This amazing beauty! It brought feelings of longing. A longing to capture this beauty for prosterity in some way. To share it with everyone I loved. Wish I could paint, write an opera, a beautiful poem, something!!! Anything to capture this absolute marvel! Astride the gorge, the misty rainbow bridges the real and hazy, geological landscapes of the brain wither away, as beauty takes over. A line must do for now, till a Wordsworthian urge hits...

(The Rainbow joining the Canadian and American Side. Click to Play)

Ethan wanted to stay to see the falls illuminated by night, but I was nervous. The bus had passed through unkempt neighborhoods on the way and I knew that, that wasn't a good idea. We headed back to our hotel where Ethan slept like an angel, while I packed to go home. Back on the Amtrak, we had a beautiful journey. We saw places this time; Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, etc ( http://tickets.amtrak.com/secure/content/routeatlas/index.html?urlroute=31) since it was night, we couldn't see much else. We headed for the dining car to get some dinner. The chief took a liking to Ethan and gave him a goodie bag, that the Canadian Train ( VIA ) gave out to the kids on board (they were lying around for some reason). There were beautiful paper trains to build up and a booklet in french (to my delight) about the wildlife on the route.

The best moment was, of course, the joy of seeing Ethan run to his dad's arms. The best moments can never be captured. They are too real. As real as the 'Velveteen Rabbit' came to be. It's hard to get back to the humdrum of daily living, now. It takes a while to sink in. We don't live at the falls. Still for now, our wanderlust is quenched...if only for a short while...

(Click on this picture for a better look)

Philatripping

We drove to Philadelphia this weekend. Elvi was supposed to do a half-marathon there. We made good time till we reached Phili. My brave husband feeling his way without a map took a wrong turn and we were in a ghetto. Not knowing whether to be facinated or afraid, we grabbed all the maps in the car and worked our way downtown.

We had just a day and our itinerary was pages long. We knew we would have to edit as we went along. We had read Back in Time with Benjamin Franklin - A Qwerty Stevens Adventure. Ethan was all excited about seeing the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed/created. The family was in a historical frame of mind. We listened to our audio tour to prepare for what to expect on the historic Constitutional Trail.

I figured we'd better go hands -on first, so we visited the gift shop and picked up a miniature Liberty Bell, a musket, a book about the life of George Washington and some paper money from the time of the Revolutionary war. Ethan was all charged up now! He had something tangible to hold on to.

Philadelphia is a beautiful blend of the old and the new. Art deco skyscrapers blend in with gothic buildings. Navigating the city's One Way's is an art in itself.

Once we settled in and grabbed our IPOD tour, maps and paraphenalia, Ethan settled on his 'moving patio' (Elvi's shoulders) and we were off on our explorations. Elvi, our guide, kept skipping things that didn't interest him or if he had no clue what it was.

We walked past Signer's Walk and saw the bronze- casts of the pictures and names of all the signer's of the Declaration of Independence set in the sidewalk. Ethan was thrilled to see his favorites; John and Samuel Adams, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. We made it, just in time (before it closed for the day) to Declaration Hall, where a park ranger told us what happened in the room on the fateful day when Independence was finally declared. Ethan answered her questions without batting an eyelid, to the amazement of some of the other visitors, who asked us how old he was! He's just a big history buff. It appeals to a boys sense of adventure and their need for heroes. Most kids latch on to something and then become experts at it. That kind of passion is so natural to kids. They're sponges.

It was a truly special moment to be in the room where history was created. Philosophical Hall with the statue of Ben in his toga was quaint. We passed by the First Bank of the United States, Signer's garden, the statue of Robert Morris who signed all the three important documents important to Revolutionary history.

We walked back to the hotel to dress for dinner. We met Elvi's greek colleague and his girlfriend at the Italian restaurant Portefino. It was nice to meet people who didn't have kids, for a change, and to have conversations that didn't revolve around kids activities and development. Crashing from exhaustion, we fell asleep the instant we hit our beds.

The next morning, Elvi woke up early to watch the marathoners doing the Philly Half-marathon from our 14th floor hotel room. He was so excited that he swept me up in his enthusiasm. Ethan was groggy from the late night dinner and couldn't share dad's excitement. All he wanted to do was curl up in his comfy hotel bed and go right back to sleep.

After breakfast at IHOP (still munching on my favorite chicken florentine crepe) we went to see the Liberty Bell. The power of a symbol (and art in general) on the human imagination is unfathomable. I saw pictures of Nelson Mandela and other famous dignitaries for peace and freedom at the site of the bell. One broken bell with a few words of inspiration! What amazing feelings it evoked!

We headed for the Constitutional Hall, but it was only going to open at noon, so instead we went to the Christ Church Burial ground to see Benjamin Franklin's grave. Talking about Ben Franklin; when I saw his wife buried next to him, I was amazed. Why men's infidelity sticks out, for me, more than their great deeds is a mystery. I love Paul Gauguin, as an artist, I have his paintings all over my walls. I look at them in admiration, yet I cannot help condemn the man who walked away from his family for glory, inspiration and fame. I hate that I cannot go beyond that. I keep trying.

We then headed to the waterfront to do something for Elvi, whose ennui with all the history was beginning to show. There was a Russian festival going on there. The boys tried out some of the dancing first hand.

My Cossaks (Click to play video)

We took a ferry ride across to Camden, NJ and saw the battleship USS New Jersey to Ethan's (and Elvi's) delight. The waterfront wasn't spectacular. It was more the grime of port. It was still nice to be on the water and to see the Philadelphia skyline. Skylines get a little jaded after you see the NY skyline. Each city has it's own character, though and I like to fight the desensitization and experience things afresh. The drive and the late night dinner had worn out Ethan, who now was functioning on automatic, so we headed back home, travel weary and glad to be home for a short respite, before we head for Atlanta on tuesday.

Exploring 'Freedom' in Boston

Traveling to Boston with the family on a historical expedition for Ethan, brought some unexpected delights...











Paul Revere's Statue near the North Church

I discovered a new freedom, myself. While reading Johnny Tremain, Esther Forbes' book about the American Revolution in Boston through the eyes of a young boy, and listening to the audio tour of The Freedom Trail, I went back into history, like I was there. For a week or so I was living in the past. It had such a liberating effect on me. A liberation of the spirit. I often remember a childhood friend, Ananda, who once asked me why I imposed so many limits on myself, and why I didn't consider myself limitless, I was faced for the first time with the scary belief that indeed, I had my fate in my hands...now all I needed was the vision and passion to go where I wanted to go. I still remember that day when he spoke to me. It was right next to Sagar Vihar, our local ocean front. I love the waterfront. It broadens your horizons in more ways than we can see...

Paul Revere's House in Gaslight
We went by the Peter Pan bus to South Station in Boston. Rode the "T" into Cambridge. We loved staying in Cambridge around Harvard and M.I.T. It was truly inspiring for us all. Our dreams seemed to come alive again. Our little son was formulating his own dreams...

The first day we took a walk through Harvard. The buildings were imposing and the architecture gorgeous. Most of all, I liked the inscriptions on the buildings, they read like a modern ticker except that it was cut in stone...truly a great place to learn, explore, and discover...

Here is a guide for those interested in details:
http://www.hno.harvard.edu/guide/to_do/to_do2.html

We walked "The Freedom Trail". The 2 and 1/2 mile trail was filled with places with historical significance so powerful to an American. We were thrilled to be able to bring Ethan here. We want him to feel both his Indian and American heritage...he has the best of both worlds. Elvi loves to walk and do runs so this part of the trip was exciting to him too. He was totally exhausted by the time we were done, as he had carried the 40 lb Ethan on his back, almost the whole way. I loved the history of the revolution and the passion behind the history. It sparked my imagination, to where I was feeling those intense feelings of adolescent patriotism and passion, I thought was long gone.

There was this funny moment, at one of the crossroads. We stopped to have some tea, when we saw this homeless guy with a stack of sheet music, singing oldies with a mike and an amp...acapella...He sang one verse of each song and went to the next. But it was his voice that most earned him the shocked expressions of passers by, who couldn't fathom how a guy that sang like that, could be so serious about his craft...It was an interesting moment...and a hilarious one too! I hadn't laughed like that in a long, long time. Ethan didn't like us laughing at him. We weren't really laughing at him, though. It was just funny how serious he was, and how funny he came across to everybody else. Human Foibles!!




Street musician singing Perry Como's And I Love You So (Click to play video)

I found some wonderful impressionist art prints at a local store which was one of the highlights of the trip for me. I loved the ride on the "T" across the Charles River.On the first day, when it rained, I did the Trolley Tour (with Ethan as Elvi was working in the hotel). It was a pass by tour (not recommended unless you hit bad weather) but gave me a good overview of Boston and it helped plan our hands-on tour, the next day. The tour guides were good and sometimes funny. They talked about the 'molasses tragedy' that killed 21 people and how it was described by some funny guy in the headlines as the "The Boston Mollasicre" (for those who don't know American Revolution History, they were punning on The Boston Massacre). Well the funny thing is, more people died in the 'mollasicre' than the actual massacre. Only 5 people died in the so-called Boston Massacre, so you see the irony.

You learn a lot of trivia about the place, that would take a while to learn otherwise. So the Trolley tour was a good thing to do on a rainy day in Boston.

The Old Statehouse with it's lion and unicorn, symbols of the British crown.
Replicas of the ones torn down by rebels during the revolution.

I wanted to go to the Museum of Fine Arts and to visit all the wonderful places of interest, that I had read about, or seen glimpses of on the trolly tour. I wanted to explore them in more depth, but that will have to wait for another visit. It must suffice to get just a whiff of all that's good in Boston, for now and that will keep me for some time to come...

Elvi's doing a half-marathon in Philadelphia come September. So there's another historical place on our itenary, this summer/fall. Can't wait!!! Till then, it's back to watching the John Adams mini series again. This time with more understanding, from having visited Boston.