Eddie!!!

Eddie (a foreign-exchange student with Craig and Marcia, 2006-2007) is the most wonderful person, and I had really been looking forward to meeting up with him in Paris. Today we made arrangements to meet at a little cafe near my metro stop. This evening I sat at a little round table, drinking a beer as I waited, and when he came in and we hugged and kissed hello, it was so wonderful to see him that I just didn't want to let him go. He ordered a beer and we conversed in French for a while; but when conversation became too complicated for that, we switched to English and he talked pretty much non-stop the entire evening.

We headed over to Au Vieux Paris (a couple of steps from Notre Dame), one of the oldest restaurants in Paris, for dinner.

Over wine and dinner he updated me on all his news about his studies and prospects for his career, and the news of his brothers, parents, and grandmothers, and I updated him on my news, telling him of the family, particularly grandchildren Sarah, David and John. We recalled with happiness his amazing 18th birthday party that Craig, Marcia, Carrie and I attended in 2008. I told him I'd never been to a party like that before or since. (The French really know how to throw a party!)

After dinner he asked if I wanted to take a walk to see the oldest buildings in Paris, so we headed north over one of the bridges across the Seine to the location of a couple of 13th-century structures that somehow escaped Baron Haussmann. 

Hmmm, I thought, "older, oldest, and old." (One of the oldest restaurants, the two oldest buildings, and an "old" friend.)

Night-time in Paris: Eddie, with me (wearing my trusty green raincoat, new beige hat, and "sofa scarf")

Then he suggested one of his favourite bars, also right in the neighbourhood of Notre Dame, and so, merrily we trudged back south, passing Notre Dame and across the river, along the busy streets, dodging traffic and tourists, and chatting non-stop all the way.

It was a bar on a corner and we went in and sat down, Eddie, happy because we were at "his" table right near the door. He told me that the bar doesn't close until 5 a.m., and spoke of all his exploits with his friends. I said, "oh just like in the song" and hummed and sang a bit, "those were the days, my friend, we thought they'd never end." I told him it had been a Mary Hopkin song from the 60's, and he said he thought it had originally been a tune by Edith Piaf. He spoke with great warmth about an "amazing American girl" whom he met one night and talked with for hours upon end. He told me of his disappointment when he realised he had lost her number. With the sounds of people talking and playing and singing around us, we spoke of other lost loves as well.

Eddie's favorite piano player, and a favorite chanteuse