Why not! I have always hoped that my grandchildren would develop a love of travel and exploration. It is exciting to see (and hear) the impact of these places through their eyes while teaching history and language in a fun atmosphere. If you ask, “Where in the World would you like to go?”…the answer will usually be: Disney World, Cooperstown, Six Flags, etc. Persist with the questions, and I heard: Tokyo, Paris, Rome (like “Lizzy McGuire”) and Australia.

With this in mind, we decided to take 14-year old, Josh, to Paris, over Labor Day weekend….cramming in what he wanted to see in 4 days. It’s only an 8-hour flight from Chicago, you can drink the water, one of the most beautiful cities in the world with so much to see, and it wouldn’t cost more more than the two of us since he’d sleep in our room.

His dad bought a Paris guide book for him to work up an itinerary of his interests.

We took care of the essential details:

Air - United, non-stop and used miles to get a free ticket for Josh;

Hotel- Hotel Moderne on the Left Bank, thought the “Student Quarter” would be more interesting to a teenager.

Josh got on the plane with a 30 lb. day pack crammed with his essentials – PSP (with adaptors/converters), notebooks, homework (school had already started), DVD’s with player, gum and candy. (Ex-Marine and I travel around the world with less.)

plugged in

I got on the plane toting Peanut Butter, Cheerios and his favorite Cape Cod Chips.

What did he want to see in Paris? #1- the Eiffel Tower. Following that, the Louvre, Arc d’Triomphe, Notre Dame, Pere LaChaise Cemetery (his Dad told him to see Jim Morrison’s grave), and Napoleon’s Tomb (Les Invalides). And, there had to be enough time left to “souvenir shop” for his parents, sister, friends, lunch partners, classmates and teachers – including his entire French class.
This sounded like a plan to us…

More tomorrow….