Gay Paree

So, I spent the weekend in Paris, which had been a long-fermenting plan to celebrate my Mother's 60th Birthday. You see, she's always loved Paris and last year, just after her 59th, I asked my Dad what we were going to do to make her 60th special. He came up with this and went to great lengths to organise it. Of course, current events stood a chance of marring this event, but we got through it with no real disruption, more on my thoughts on that at another time, we're not here to talk about terrorism.

So she was told that she was going to be seeing me and my brother for her birthday and then two days before setting off, my Dad passes her a card that has her boarding pass for two tickets to Paris. My mother then starts trembling a bit and they fly out the day before her birthday. Me and my brother get the Eurostar and meet them as soon as we get off. Fortunately, no disruption to travel. We check into our respective hotels and have dinner. The next day, we do the Seinne boat tour of all the major sights in Paris and I exhaust my phone battery taking photos of them all.

But of course, that's my Mum's birthday. She deduces that we're going to The Bofinger, her favourite Parisian restaurant, despite my best efforts to convince her that we booked a table at McDonalds and pre-ordered her a Happy Meal. That was the best moment for us really, getting to the restaurant and being taken upstairs, my mum then saw the size of the room that had been prepared for us (19 seats) and as she put it 'had a bit of a wobble'. She teared up and it was very moving for us to see how genuinely surprised she was. I was hoping that we'd walk into the room to find all of our relatives there already, but I think that this was better.

So the family and friends all trickled in over the next half hour and there was much jubilation and then much food as we got our four course meal. My Dad reckoned that the whole thing came to about £80 a head (and considering that there were 19 people there...). We eventually staggered out of the restaurant after midnight and made our way back to our hotels. I made the most of the breakfast buffet the next morning and then we hit the Eiffel Tower for lunch. 3 of our guests from yesterday had to return early, but pretty much everyone else had decided to make a proper weekend of being in Paris and so we had two tables in the Eiffel Tower restaurant, which was good food and an awesome (if chilly) view outside.

After that, it was time to disperse. Travel the next day was impeded on the Metro due to huge crowds trying to attend the demonstration, but we got there in the end. Me and Jon had to get a 5pm Eurostar back to London (travel actually worked out ridiculously well for a Sunday) and my Mum and Dad flew back the next day. A pair of guests that left early (Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle Bill) we ran into again at the Eurostar boarding and got the train after them. Thus concludes our trip to Paris. Things of note:

1) On the way there, my Aunt Marion and Uncle John were on the same plane as my parents, and managed to completely conceal themselves from my Mum with the use of Speedy Boarding tickets, big hats and newspapers. Proper farce style.

2) I have 4 Aunts and 5 Uncles and have never before seen them all in the same room. This is an especial achievement because my Dad and his two brothers have a tense history and don't always get on. I got a picture of all three together.

3) Je Suis Charlie.

4) In the Metro tunnel on the way to the Bofinger, we actually walked past my Aunt Maggie and Uncle Bob. Not only did they not notice us, but it was only me that noticed them in our group, so I wisely said nothing. Which worked out.

5) There's probably more to tell, but all in all, it was a truly great weekend and I was moved by how much my Mother appreciated it all. Now, we've got my Dad's 60th coming up in June...

Here We Go Again

So, it's 2015 (Day 1), and I'm thinking... you know what I should do? Blogging again. Because clearly that's worked out for me in the past. I won't say any more until I know what I want to talk about, but I'll share with you my New Year's Resolution.

1) Get Better.

That's it for now.
Al.




Ah, who am I kidding, I'll probably just end up rambling about movies again, like I always do...