And Aaron, Melissa, and Chloe Arrive!

The last of our brood arrived today.  Aaron, Melissa, and Chloe flew all night from Boston and were here at the apartment by 7:30 a.m. - exhausted from lack of sleep.  To their credit, they mostly made it through the day without a nap, and that's the best way to get acclimated to a new time zone, albeit one that is 5 time zones away from home.

After breakfast, all but Melissa, Chloe, Cheryl, and I went to a Wes Anderson exhibition.  He's a 55 year old American director known for his quirky, comical films with flawed characters.  I'm sure you've seen one or more of these such as "Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou", "Rushmore", "Moonrise Kingdom", "Grand Budapest Hotel", and many more.  The exhibit was filled with storyboards, costumes, posters, and other memorabilia and, I guess, it even held the attention of the little girls.

While they were gone, Cheryl, Melissa, Chloe, and I adjourned to a nearby cafe for lunch and gave Chloe her first introduction to snails.  At 15, I was surprised she said yes to trying it - even the name is a bit repulsive - but she liked them.  

Aaron returned from his experience with Wes Anderson and we set off for one of my "must do" items - a visit to show my respect to Marquis de Lafayette at his grave.  It was a moderately long metro ride and, when we got there, we had a really hard time finding the place as it is tucked into the Picpus Cemeterie behind a hospital.  Turns out when we finally did find it that the caretaker told us that he'd been trying forever to get Google Maps (which we used) to correct their location of it.  He said that nearly everyone has a hard time finding it.  Aaron volunteered that his 8th. grade girlfriend works for Google Maps so he promised he'd take care of it.  A text to her on the way home and it looks like it will, in fact, get solved.

I didn't know much about Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette (Marquis de La Fayette), known in the US as Lafayette, but I did  know that he was invaluable to the Continental Army both from a strategic standpoint as well as being a fist-pounder with the French government to send more money, troops, and supplies for our boys.  Initially not allowed to lead American troops in the Revolutionary War, he became a close confidant of George Washington who has said that we might not have won the war against the British if not for him!

Fronting the cemetery where Lafayette is buried is a mass grave of people guillotined in the French Revolution, and there is another similar area in the back.  Inside the chapel (which holds two Masses per day) there are two large marble walls that bear their names.  Amazing that so many died for little or no reason other than someone condemning them to treason.  Lafayette's grave is simple, but elegant, and has an American flag flying perpetually - very touching - along with an engraved brass plate (among many) from Woodrow Wilson thanking him for his contributions.   We weren't the only ones there, either, as I'm guessing he has a steady flow of visitors each day in the narrow window (2 - 5 p.m.) it is open six days per week.  It was moving to see the American flag honoring him.

We returned to the apartment by Uber and it took seemingly forever.  Paris traffic on a Saturday is nothing to sneeze at.  Cheryl went to Palm Sunday Mass at Our Lady of Victory and, after her return, we adjourned across the street to a restaurant for dinner for 9.  Everyone seemed satisfied with their meal and, as always, it is good to have our diverse little family together.  Jenny, Dave, and the girls leave tomorrow to return to the UK, and we're down to our last week here, this time with Aaron, Melissa, and Chloe.  No real plans other than a day at Versailles on Wednesday, and Giverny (Monet's home and studio) on Thursday.

Although we've had a wonderful time here the past 3 weeks, I can't help but think of our little dog Hope (or Hopi) and am anxious to see her again soon.  In the meantime, one more week of fun and frolic in the City of Light.

Bon soir!