OK, maybe I can't exactly talk or walk yet (hey, I'm working on it!), but I did take Mom and Dad on an international adventure to Dublin and Paris recently -- how many of you can say that?
The Dubs!
My Grandma Elizabeth was a Dublin girl, and a lot of our family is still there. We stayed with Dad's cousin Lisa, who treated us like royalty, as did her husband Pat, and my new best buddy Kelly!We're sweet on each other -- she helped give me my bath, and we played on her sand table, too. Love you, Kelly! Thanks for helping me work on my squealing technique. I'll ask dad to mail back the fish, and the comb.
I got to meet Dad's aunts and uncles -- Charlie and Tesie, Michael and Bernie (Dad calls her Bernadette!), and Billy and Kay. Not to brag, but I think I charmed them . . .
Plus, I got to hang out with cousin Lynda! She lives in Malahide, which we visited, and where I got to do some galloping with Dad.
We drove to County Westmeath one day (stay on the left, Dad!) to see Charlie's daughter, Dad's cousin Mary and her 3 kids Maria, Christopher and Sarah, and we got to go to a castle for lunch. Amazingly, they happened to have mashed bananas on the menu, just like every place we go -- what a coincidence!
Mom and Dad and I strolled all around Dublin City Centre, and spent time meeting people and playing in Dublin Parks like St. Stephen's Green and Merrion Square.
We even swung by Trinity College (where I may decide to matriculate), and caught a little cricket "action" (if you want to call it that -- though frankly I prefer the action-packed game of baseball).
I already miss Ireland -- but Mom and Dad say we can go back in a few years so I can show my little brother around! Love and big thanks to everyone in Ireland -- especially the McGuirk Family and Lynda Heather!
La Vie Parisien
After Dublin, we jetted off to the continent to take Paris by storm. I'd been warned that the Parisians can be a little, well, above it all, but let me tell you, I had no trouble charming the pain au chocolat right out of them (sometimes literally). Dad says babies are a great social lubricant, but I just think they know style when they see it.
What did we do in Paris? Beaucoup! We visited Notre Dame, the Picasso Museum the Pompideau Center, and the Rodin Museum. We had a too-brief visit with Uncle Erik from S.F., who came to our neighborhood, the Bastille, to see us. We took a boat ride on theSeine,
and made a little video of it, too. Walking through the Latin Quarter, we stopped by Shakespeare & Company, where Dad worked when he lived in Paris for a while way back in the 20th Century.
My favorite museums were the ones where they let me crawl around for a while, or even try to walk (see me in action). At the Orsay, they made me get down off Dad's shoulders, can you believe it? Mom and Dad liked Monet's Water Lillies at the Orangerie, but I found it a good place to take a nap.
We took the train out to Versailles -- nice crib, know what I'm sayin'? It was a beautiful day, so we had a yummy Versailles Picnic and I got to try foie gras, great pastries, and some cheeses I can't pronounce.
Of course we went to the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa and some of her friends, but it was a bit cramped for my tastes. I prefer the wide open views of places like Montmartre, the broad boulevard of the Champs Elysees (the pastries!), or climbing into the sky up the Eiffel Tower. The Jardin du Luxembourg was great, though we left before the puppet show since I started my nap at the park. One of our last stops was the Arc de Triomphe, where we looked out over Paris together and recalled our memorable visit to the City of Light.
Paris is indeed a moveable feast -- you can have your bottle just about anywhere. It sure is a long way away, though. Mom and Dad and I are just about over our jet lag, and we think we'll just take it easy at home for a bit. Probably. Maybe. We'll see . . .
