Un weekend avec grandmère...

This weekend, my Mum and my Aunt brought my Grandma to Paris.

It's a trip which has been in the making since Christmas, when my mum made the suggestion. Not two days later, my Gran was down the Post Office picking up a passport form! She was quite well traveled when she was younger, but is less mobile these days and so this weekend was very special for her, because she never thought she'd go abroad again, and she never thought she'd ever see Paris. 

With that in mind, me and my mum sat down with our laptops when I was at home for Easter to do some planning and with a bit of perseverance, we managed to come up with a plan that covered the 'Paris Basics' if you like, and even though I've done them all before, there's something to be said for doing them again with a person who never has and thought they never would.

Enthusiasm, as they say, is infectious.

After my TD on Friday, they all trouped into a cab and came over to my apartment. We walked down to the Jardin du Luxembourg for a stroll, and may I say, now that we are in May and experiencing some decent weather, it is looking beautiful there.

For practicality purposes, they hired a wheelchair for my Gran which we've been pushing around all weekend in quite a workout. Paris is quite a flat city, Montmartre aside, until you need to wheel someone around it. Then you notice slopes and cobbles and hills that have never existed before, kind of. (Muscles I didn't know I have are hurting). 

Anyway, after that we headed back to my apartment where I cooked Coq au Vin, which is rapidly becoming my french specialty dish, and provided pudding on the form of Tartes aux Framboises. I don't know if I have ever mentioned this before or not, but the tarts from P. Plané patisserie at 53bis Boulevard Arago in the 13e Arrondissement are to die for. If you're in Paris, it's totally worth going a little bit out of your way to buy some. If I'll miss anything about Paris after I leave, it will be those raspberry tarts.

And some other stuff. Obviously.

Saturday morning we really got exploring, despite the rain, covering the Arc de a Triomphe, Champs-Élysées,  Jardin de Tuleries (again, really coming into its own as we move further through the spring months), the Louvre and Notre Dame - the obvious stuff.

I had never actually noticed this plaque before - it's just in front of the obelisk in Place de la Concorde

I finally got round to taking a 'look-I'm-touching-the-top-of-the-pyramid' pic...

...And there was a Fête du Pain in the square outside the Cathedral, which smelt amazing.

Sunday morning we went up the Eiffel Tower - I did this all the way back in 2007 or 8, I forget the exact year, when I went on a school trip with my senior school to Futuroscope, near Poitiers, but obviously that was quite a while ago now so I'm glad I did it again while I was here.

And after a crêpe and a chocolat chaud a l'ancienne, they all headed home again, having had, I think, I nice weekend.

Next time I see my Mum, my time here in Paris will be over, which is a weird thought.

Vicky xx