Well, you can probably tell from the "one way" in English that we weren't really in Paris. But that street in particular always reminds me of France. It is the street where my daughter and I go every year to celebrate my birthday.
I've talked about this before, how it is my favorite thing (truly) to sit in the car, with breakfast and coffee and pastries and just watch the people walk past. Every year we try to get the same spot, on the corner! That's the best view and best for people watching. There is a Starbucks to the right and a very posh hotel to the left, doormen and every thing..la dee da! And a large city square, in front of the fancy hotel, with a fountain and lots of kids playing in the water and this year there was a violinist.
Most years we get right on the corner, usually because we are down there early and it's not crowded yet. Some years we are back a space or two and it's ok , but not ideal. Once my daughter "borrowed" two tall traffic cones and drove down in the middle of the night to "reserve" our spot...that, was cool! But this year we didn't get started until late, sleeping in was too much of a luxury to pass up. So lunch it was instead of breakfast. The most best lunch ever from a place called Lardo, their motto is, " Bringing Fatback". Get it? And Fat was delicious! If you ever go there - get the fries with pork belly, yes, do it, you won't regret it for at least two days. Double dark chocolate cake and ice cold milk - brought a cooler - ha - thinking ahead!
We knew we were only going to get, probably, far back, if we were lucky and maybe even a street or two away from Paris. All of a sudden Liz grabbed my arm, tight, and mouth open eyes popping, there the fuck it was. Two o'clock in the afternoon. Saturday. Some kind of Asian conference in town - god they're beautiful, forgive me if that sounds reverse racist, but I see something so serene and calm there. (they're probably just lost, there were a lot of heads together over unfurled maps...serene and calm heads). We pulled in and just sat there in silence for a bit. On the corner...! Every once in a while we would look at each other and open mouth laugh. Seriously, we were giddy.
Doing this is a very sweet and simple thing for me. I like simple. I like the warmth of the car, the sun roof open, good food and my daughter just a foot away from me. Icing on the cake, it was sunny. We talk about all kinds of things. Conversations that are different, more intimate in the coziness of the car. We've decided that it's our kind of picnic. No ant's, no wet grass, no too-cold breeze that sweeps the napkins away and keeps flipping the blanket up. No one listening to our conversations and no butt numbing from sitting on the too hard ground. Every year she say's, "Are you sure? You don't want to go to a restaurant, do something you've never done before?" I'm sure. I will always remember these birthdays as the best of my life.
We stayed a long time. Usually we are there for about two hours, this time we stayed for four. It was that perfect and that beautiful. About 1/2 way through we got out and walked over to the square and sat and watched the kids play in the water - sheer delight. There's nothing like a two year old fascinated by a little spout of water. It's mesmerizing for kids...and us.
We left around six, when the shadows are getting long and the sunlight gets soft. We looked at each other and sighed and said... "It's time." Liz snapped the photo and it brings it back every time I look at it. Special moments with my daughter on a simple birthday afternoon. The only thing that could have made it any better would have been a lemon-drop martini in a chilled glass. But let's not gild the lily. Simple was divine.
PS: I forgot to try to enlarge the type....ghezze. Emphasis on try, it just confounds me, so you'll have to do it yourself - you know how. And I wish to heck that I could figure out how to fill that blank white space at the top by "Slice of...". That confounds me too, as do so many things in life:)
