For the last two years my lovely daughter, Carrie, has been plotting, planning and saving to make her daughter’s 18th Birthday special and she very generously asked me to join in. When her son celebrated his 18th a few years ago her then husband organised the treat – a trip to stay with his parents for the weekend and his first legal pint in the pub his older half-brother drinks in. My daughter was not allowed to join them. As they are now separated she was free to do the celebration properly this time. Her ex’s idea of a good family holiday was camping at a Motorbike rally so the family had never been on holiday abroad. My grandson, S, had had a Girlfriend at one time who was Swedish so had flown there but G had never been on a plane.
So the idea was hatched to take her somewhere requiring a passport and by plane. It had to be a surprise but it became apparent that G would like to go to Paris. By chance she is due to go on a trip to Venice with College (She is studying Art) so the problem of getting her a passport without having to tell her why was solved. Her Birthday was last Thursday, I travelled to my Carrie’s on the Friday by train leaving the dogs and cats in Lindy’s care, and we set off for Gatwick very early on Saturday morning. Carrie’s new partner Chris very kindly got up equally early and came to pick us up and take us there by car. He drives a convertible which is not very comfy in the back so he even borrowed a bigger car to make the journey nicer!
I took the photo on the left and asked Chris to take one of the three of us – well he tried!
It is a very long time since either Carrie or I flew anywhere and the rules and systems have changed since then so we were all effectively rookies! But with good signage and helpful staff we managed OK and were on board the plane in plenty of time.
We even managed to navigate from the Airport to the station and into central Paris without mishap! Then walked to the Louvre. We hadn’t booked tickets to go in and seeing the queues G thought it would probably be too busy to see the artwork properly so were glad we hadn’t wasted our money. Instead we wandered round the outside admiring the architecture and people watching. G had borrowed a digital SLR camera from College and was happily taking photos. So many during the weekend that I think it will be weeks before they are edited and saved!
Then on towards the Eiffel tower stopping for lunch on the way. We decided to go right to the top but as we had already walked miles we took the lifts. It was very cold and windy and the queues were long but it was well worth it. Because it was a cold clear day, even though cloudy, the views were spectacular.
On the Sunday we debated trying to visit another ‘attraction’ but decided we needed a gentle day with a slow start. So we got up without any rush and wandered off in the general direction of the city centre and the Seine in search of a cafe. We found a lovely one and had breakfast. On one wall was a mural and G got out her new (Christmas present from Chris) notebook / sketchbook, a tin of watercolours and brush and began painting
Eventually we moved on, meandered around enjoying the city streets and parks making for Gard du Nord and the train. We managed to buy tickets from the machine that time! Chris was waiting for us in Arrivals at Gatwick to drive us home. Not a long ‘Holiday’ but some very special memories were made.