France

A nd finally we made it to France!!!! We took the Eurostar from London to Paris - a good 3 hours of train ride. The flat that we rented is right in the middle of it all - beauty and grime of Paris. We were able to walk to the Arc De Triomphe without panting and hyperventilating.
Kuya AJ picked up James from the Gare Du Lyon. He was taking the train from Clermont Ferrand France. The big brother didn't have difficulty understanding the train/metro map. I thought the whole thing was a maze.
Here are some pictures taken on certain turista areas of Paris. We have not taken a trip together for a long time. This is the first now that the boys are grown and we all savored the company.






We were all excited to see James. The changes were very subtle. He is taller and his biceps are more pronounced. He is the same yet he is not. He dresses different and has some mannerisms that I have not seen before. Worst - he is very fluent with the French language.

I totally enjoyed just watching him and Kuya AJ converse in this dialect not Tagalog. Kuya was able to practise his French twang with the younger brother. The latter had his so minutes of fame. It is is turn to shine. It is James' turn now to impress everybody.

He became our translator/tour guide. He had no qualms approaching strangers for directions. He had all the explanations about how different the French culture was from the Americans or the Pinoys.
He spent a year in this foreign country. I had all my fears then when he left last year. All of those thoughts were pretty much mental exercises. This young man did fine. He had a good time. He has grown. Did he miss us? Somewhat but not really. The home cooked food of nanay? Nah - the fromage, baguettes and nutella taste just as great.