Hans & Heidi in Paris
Paris
July 24, 2004
Not really: but when I mentioned to my dad that I was heading off on a business trip to London & Paris, he asked if I was going to see "Hans & Hilda" while I was over there. Claudia & Oliver were good enough to jet over from Germany for the weekend, so that I wouldn't have to sadly troll around Paris on my own.
Ollie hadn't finished The Da Vinci Code yet, so I couldn't go on about the significance of the structure behind them here.
I took them over to the touristy Latin Quarter on Friday night. "Watch your wallets," Claudia reminded us as we pressed in to listen to a pair of street musicians. I knew the Polly Magoo would be gone (someone who found my page on Google notified me in a panicky email a few years ago), but was also disappointed to see another favorite, Tango du Chat, boarded up -- maybe just repairs. We took so long making up our minds that in the end the only food still open was döner kebaps, which we ate along the river, taking in Notre Dame at midnight.
Next day we met up under the Eiffel Tower, then took the metro over to Montmarte, where we climbed up to Sacre Couer -- Ollie being the best of sports about the whole thing, as he was not feeling well. Taking in a late lunch at a cafe atop the hill, I asked where their next trip would take them.
"South Africa," Claudia said. "Where, I'm sure you've been, since, of course, you've been everywhere."
"No!" I said between sips of onion soup. "Africa? Wow. Never been to South Africa."
They looked at each other and raised their palms, slapped them in a high five, "Yesss!"
(Later, at home, I told this story to Em, who looked at me very seriously and said, "Dad ... we've gotta get to South Africa. Before them.")
