This morning I put my friends Sarah and Jim into a cab to the airport, since the RER was not running properly because of some electrical problem. They had come in from Terre Haute, Indiana for the week, and their visit was most blogworthy.

Sarah and Jim arrived last Saturday. We did some walking around in the afternoon, at Notre-Dame and the Shakespeare & Company bookstore. Then we had a nice late lunch/early dinner. On Sunday they were planning to go to the Louvre and I thought I wasn’t going with them, but then in the morning I decided I really wanted to go to the Louvre again after all. I was glad I did. We rediscovered the flying monk who breaks some debtors out of prison, and the grisly ax-in-the-head depictions of St. Peter the Martyr and St. Angelo.

On Monday we tried to go to Père Lachaise Cemetery, but there was much consternation around the entrance. It turned out that the cemetery was closed, because the previous day had been windy and rainy and several tombstones had been knocked over. An excitable gentleman wearing a silk-screened Jim Morrison jacket explained this to us. So we made our way to the Eiffel Tower instead, then wandered a bit. We ended up finding some Irish pubs on the Left Bank, as well as a plaque on Rue de l’Odéon explaining that Sylvia Beach published Ulysses in this building (Jim is an Irish literature specialist, and holds a special place in his heart for James Joyce).

Tuesday we got up early and went to Bayeux, from whence we took the bus to the American Cemetery, as I had done with my parents. Only it was windy and rainy, so the experience was completely different. Once back in Bayeux, we headed to the Tapestry museum. That was definitely a highlight. There is an audio-guide that goes along with the tapestry. The French version was hilarious. The guy really moves you through there quickly. My favorite moment was when the soldiers were loading the horses with provisions; the narrator pointed out a large cask and said, “Don’t forget the wine!” Sarah said that the English narrator enjoyed using the phrase “No matter,” as in “They can’t find William? No matter. The fighting continues apace.”

Wednesday was the Musée d’Orsay, followed by outdoor wandering in Montmartre. There was a large group of children at Sacré-Coeur, and their chaperones did not do a good job of getting them to be quiet before entering the church. This angered the security guard immensely. We then made sure to be on our best pious behavior so as not to get yelled at.

The Longest Day was on Thursday, when we got up at 6:00 AM to take the train to Arras and then go on a full-day tour of the Somme battlefields of WWI. Our guide, Brian, met us at the train station in a blue minibus. He was impressed with Jim’s knowledge of military history, and slightly put out by my ability to speak French. I should explain. We went to the Canadian Memorial at Vimy Ridge. There are tunnels there, which were used for both communication and combat operations. You could only see the tunnels on a guided tour, but the next English tour was not until 1:00. I said that if it was OK to translate, we could go on the French tour and I could translate for Jim and Sarah. And, in spite of having to get used to the guide’s Canadian accent, I understood everything and managed to get much of it across. Sarah said she understood some of the tour because of the guide’s excellent hand gestures, but my translation was helpful. Brian apparently said something like, “I guess you don’t need me.” Anyway, it ended up being a very long day, but definitely educational. And definitely something I would not have done on my own.

Friday we made our second trip to Père Lachaise. This time it was open, but I had forgotten the printout map at home. So we had to estimate based on the posted maps in the cemetery. We found Jim Morrison’s grave in section 6, Molière’s and La Fontaine’s in section 25 (they are buried next to each other), and Oscar Wilde’s in section…89? The section numbers were only a little bit helpful, because they are not laid out in a user-friendly way. Also, we had spent much of the previous day in cemeteries, so we decided to get through there as quickly as possible.

Then we did more walking and wandering, and in the evening Sarah and Jim went out for a romantic dinner while Laura and I went to K.’s going-away party. And this morning was the crazy trip to the RER. We were all glad I went with them up to Denfert-Rochereau, as the complications would have been more difficult to negotiate without me.

All in all, we had a really great visit. I was sad to see them go.