When I was younger I did a lot of babysitting. It was a great way to make extra money and I really liked little kids. I became pretty close to one family in particular and have kept in touch with them over the years. Their daughters now have facebook accounts (proof that we are all getting older!) and so we've been able to check in now and again to see each others' lives.
Not too long ago I got an email from the oldest daughter, M, telling me that she would be coming to Paris for her high school graduation trip and that she would be traveling with her friend Z. She asked if we could meet up. I started babysitting her when she was probably 3 or 4, last time I saw her she was probably 11, now she was 18 and graduating and traveling to Europe toute seule! How's that to make me feel old?!
I met up with a jet lagged M & Z near their hotel at Montparnasse with a gift of my favorite Huré baguette, and took them to a restaurant that serves savoury crèpes for dinner. They were so excited to be in Paris and it took me straight back to my first trip to the City of Light - my pride in having ordered an omelette all by myself : Une omelette s'il vous plait.
Two days later we met up again, this time with Copain, and we enjoyed the ambiance at Odéon on rue Buci followed by a falafel in the Marais on rue des Rosiers. Then, Copain asked them if they had already seen the Eiffel Tower lit up at night. Non, non they had not - but would they like to go right now, he asked. Bien sur! Off we went on line 1, all the way to the Tour...the crowd let out a universal OOHHHHH when the lights started twinkling for the first time that night. Even 14 years after my very first trip to Paris, I still felt like I'm pretty sure they did:
M & Z take photos of the Eiff
