I Remember...

After a 42 year-absence, I recently had the great fortune to visit Paris, where I had spent my junior year in college. As Audrey Hepburn observed, "Paris is always a good idea.”

I Remember...

Schoolchildren laughing as they unpacked lunches in a small square at the base of the Eiffel Tower.

Tasting the caramelized sweetness of a Tarte Tatin in a café on the grounds of Versailles.

Watching an icicle melt off a gargoyle at Sacre Coeur.

The mulled scent of a fireplace in an 11th century Abbey as musician played Mozart.

Gazing at the bluish snow in a Monet painting of a Norway winter at the Musee Marmottan.

The staccato roar of motorcycles along the Seine.

The spongy goodness of a baguette from the boulangerie at Clayes sous Bois outside Paris.

The aroma of a cafe noisette near the Palais Royale and home of the writer Colette.

A small bouquet attached to wall of a school on the Rue de Vielle Temple where 40 students had been deported to Auschwitz.

The sound of boules clanking in the Jardin de Tuilleries.

The musty smell of sculptor Antoine Bourdelle’s studio in Paris.

Touching the smooth stones of the labyrinth in Chartres Cathedral.

The smile of a small child captivated by a street musician at the Versailles Market.

Seeing an older couple holding hands, the only remaining customers, in a restaurant near the Seine.