Macaroons, Pranks and Belly Laughs in Paris

Well, the cat is out of the bag and I can finally blog about it.  And the timing was perfect, too!  You see, just last week, my school had a public slideshow of our trip to Europe, putting together dozens upon dozens of pictures the 41 kids and 6 chaperones had taken during the adventure.  It was the first time we had all been in the same room since we returned and the whole reunion just brought back so many fond memories, and a few belly laughs, too!

The topic of this post is macaroons and the person at the center of the story is my friend Joanne.  You remember Joanne, don't you?  She's the one who's wheel came off her luggage when we first left Amsterdam (check out Joanne's Broken Wheel).  As I mentioned in that post, Joanne is such a sweet person who also happens to be a little on the naive side sometimes, and she had us laughing and smiling all the way through Europe because of it.

Before I begin the story, I need to share two coinciding sub-stories at work here.  The first was macaroons.  Now like me before the trip, you may think that macaroons are those toasted coconut cookies that we have here in the United States.  I'm not a fan of the coconut, so when I first heard someone say they had to get macaroons, I thought to myself, blech, that is until then I saw them.

Macaroons in France are not what I had thought they were at all.  No, instead of those icky brown toasted coconut thingys, macaroons are actually Oreo-type looking cookies, creamy filling and all, that come in a wide assortment of delectable sounding flavors, like chocolate, hazelnut, key lime, coffee, etc.  Well, throughout our first 24-plus hours in France, many of my fellow travelers had partaken in the fantastically delicious confections.  I eventually even bought myself an assortment of six of them earlier while shopping at the Champs Elysees.  Joanne hadn't yet, but she wanted some...bad!

Now Joanne, like me, loves to shop, and whenever we had free time the two of us were always spacing out in our minds how many minutes we'd have to make the most of our shopping.  From what happened the previous Saturday in Amsterdam, we both knew that free time was precious, and in the backs of our minds, we worried that we would never have the time to get our shopping groove on before having to move on with the group to the next destination.  Joanne's strong desire to get herself some macaroons had become feverish, and that second day in Paris, during our time at the Louvre, she finally bought a little package of the precious cookies.

The second sub-story was the scene.  It was a busy Paris on a Monday afternoon.  The grounds of the Louvre were bustling with people, tourists, vendors, and the like, and our meeting spot after the museum was the mini-Arc de Triomphe on the grounds of the museum.  Ivan had previously warned us all of pickpockets, which are common throughout Europe.  Since I live in New York and I'd traveled through Europe before, I was already keenly aware of this and as such kept my guard.  Not so much so Joanne...

It was meeting time, and as I approached the group, Joanne was yelling to me...

John, I bought macaroons.

Aw, the smile on her face was precious.  She was so happy as she waved the little blue, tubular-shaped carton of macaroons for me to see.

Aw, congratulations Joanne!  You finally got them.  (I'd already finished mine by then, and I was hoping to score one or two of hers later on...)

For the next ten minutes as the whole group gathered little by little, she and I drifted from group to group chatting as we waited for the remaining stragglers to arrive.  It was about that time that I heard Joanne call my name again...

Oh my God John, I just got pickpocketed!  My macaroons are gone!

She lifted up her little blue bag to show me.  Sure enough, it was empty.  Wow, I thought, why the hell would someone steal macaroons?

I can't believe it!  Right outta my bag!  She was clearly in shock and a little angry, too.

As she was telling me this,, I could see way off behind her, laughing hysterically, were Kristen, Steve and Ivan.  I shot them a curious glance and as we began our walk to the next place, Kristen filled me in.  Ivan had taken the macaroons from Joanne's bag.  It was too easy.  Before you knew it, the other chaperones were in on the secret and gave knowing smirks to one another, laughing hysterically in our heads every time Joanne would bring it up.

Oh my God!  I still can't believe it.  

Classic!

The next morning we were all on a train headed to Zurich.  It was a long ride of about four-plus hours, so all of us chaperones got comfy towards the end of our car, taking up adjoining compartments of four seats.  Then, not long into the ride, Joanne left her seat to go to the bathroom. Ivan took out the macaroons, grinning from ear to ear.  God, it was so hard to contain our laughter as he put them into her carry-on, and even harder as she came back to take her seat.

Someone, I don't remember who, said something to Joanne to make her look into her bag as we all watched out of the corners of our eyes.  I had my camera ready...

Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God!  Her eyes bulged.

What?  Someone asked.  She pulled out the macaroons from the bag and held them up.

Oh my God!  What the...?

By then it was okay to laugh, only what we were actually laughing at was not what she thought we were laughing at.  The real cat still hadn't been let out of the bag.

Later on that night, at our hotel in Switzerland, my room was going to be the gathering place for the chaperones.  Audrey, Joanne and I were the only ones there at first.  Joanne brought the macaroons to share, and almost as soon as she got to my room, she remembered something she had forgotten in her room and left, the macaroons lying on my bed.  I gave Audrey a knowing smirk as I emptied the precious cookies into another bag, leaving the container empty, but alas, this time Joanne was immediately on to my trick and it wasn't nearly as fun.

Throughout the rest of the trip, and even once we were back in America, we all joked and laughed about Ivan's trick on Joanne.  Then came the slideshow last week, just about the right time I was at that part of the trip, too.  As we sat in the dark, looking at all of the pictures and reliving the memories, I leaned over and asked Ivan if he'd ever told Joanne the truth.  He hadn't.  And so, once the slideshow finished, he finally fessed up.

One last fit of uproarious laughter pervaded our group as Joanne screamed (and laughed) and hit us all with her pocketbook.  To this day and for many more to come, the thought of Ivan's joke and those macaroons will provide us all with chuckles and smiles.

Check out the rest of my posts on this year's Europe trip and stay tuned for more...

Amster...dam, Part I

Gouda Cheese and Clogs

Amster...dam: The End

Joanne's Broken Wheel

Hello Paris: An Afternoon at the Sacré Coeur

Making A Memory at the Eiffel Tower

When You've Seen One Gold Ceiling, You've Seen Them All

I'd Take Paris...Again!

I'd Take Paris...Again!

Our second and last day in Paris began with that oh so boring bus tour that I spoke about in my last post, you know, the one that put us all to sleep.  Well the snoozefest part wasn't only because of the monotone-voiced tour guide, I have to admit.  We'd had a late night the night before as Ivan allowed the kids to have some comfort food...AKA McDonalds...after seeing the Eiffel Tower and we chaperones were probably up a bit too late, as well after having dinner so late.  Anyway, once the that long tour had finally finished, it was time for the rest and the best of Paris...fast and furious!

This is why I must visit Paris...and Amsterdam...once more.  Our visits to these awesome places now seem but a blur to me, but still I wouldn't have traded any of it for the world.

By the time we'd gotten dropped off from the bus tour, it was time for some free time along the Avenue des Champs Elysees (pronounced "shom-ee -lezay").  Think Fifth Avenue in New York.  This beautiful thoroughfare was lined with shops and eateries, department stores, and more shops, and it was framed at one end by the iconic Arc de Triomphe.  We were lucky to  have a couple of hours to explore here, and it was the first time I went off on my own.  Other than enjoy the cool atmosphere, and of course the cool le Arc, the shopping was really the best thing to see and do here, and soon enough we were off to the Louvre.

Now, the Louvre was one of the places I had kind of dreaded.  I am not now, nor have I ever been, an art aficionado, and this place has got a lot of art!  With over 35,000 works of art, it is said that you could spend about three months, 24 hours per day, looking at each piece for about a minute or two. Well that's great if you like that sort of thing, but as for me, I'd rather be exploring.

Francesca and Joanne outside the Louvre

The grounds to the landmark museum are gorgeous, with gardens everywhere, and a mini-Arc de Triomphe at the center.  The building itself is a former palace of Louis XVI, and a cool glass pyramid sits at the center of its U shape.  Though I could've skipped the museum altogether, I opted to check out at least some of what it had to offer, and it was indeed a cool place.  I probably would've regretted it anyway if I had not seen the Louvre's most famous work of art, the Mona Lisa.

By the time we'd gotten to the Louvre, there was not a lot of time left in the day.  We had dinner reservations sometime in the early evening and so we only had a couple of hours left in Paris.  The next morning we'd be leaving for Zurich, Switzerland, so this was pretty much it.  I followed most everyone towards the entrance of this immense museum, and my pal Joanne, myself, and a group of about ten to fifteen kids set out in search of Mona.  Poor Audrey got stuck with one of the girls, who just happened to get sick...poor things!

From the maps and the various markers we looked at, it seemed as if she wasn't too deep into the halls of this ginormous place, but she was.  Ugh, having to push through and maneuver around the crowds of people seemed to take forever, and finally, after about another ten or fifteen minutes, we finally reached the room where she was.

I've said it before and I'll say it a thousand times over again: what the heck is so special about the Mona Lisa?  I'm sure somebody knows the answer.  To me, it isn't that special, really, but it is famous, and so there was a wait and I had to patiently wade through throngs of people just to get near her.  By the time I was close enough to take a quick pic, I was done!  I mean really, there were so many other pieces of art that were more beautiful in this place, but ah well, I got my shot.

By the time I'd seen the great Mona Lisa, our free time at the Louvre was up, and the rest of Paris that I got to experience that evening left me wanting more.  The Bridge of Locks was a cool thing...that, we had learned about on our bus tour earlier in the day, and we paid a visit, as some of the kids wanted to leave theirs in addition to the many that had been left by lovers past.  The guardrails of this particular bridge is simply covered with padlocks, those which people have left to profess their undying love for another. Though I'd never heard of it, the tradition has undoubtedly caught on, as we were told that the bridge had to be reinforced because it became too heavy.

Me n Audrey on the Bridge of Locks

Other than a short walk around town by the Opera House, which I enjoyed, that was it for Paris.  Our next stop would be Zurich and Lucerne in Switzerland, but I left Paris with a yearning to do it again...

Check out other posts on my trip to Europe and stay tuned for more:

Amster...dam, Part I

Gouda Cheese and Clogs

Amster...dam: The End

Joanne's Broken Wheel

Hello Paris: An Afternoon at the Sacré Coeur

Making A Memory at the Eiffel Tower

When You've Seen One Gold Ceiling, You've Seen Them All

  

When You've Seen One Gold Ceiling, You've Seen Them All

sevilla

One of the downsides of the trip to Europe, admittedly, was the educational tours we had to endure. Being a school trip, our itinerary was peppered with guided tours of several places we had visited, including the Doge's Palace in Venice, the inner towns of Lucerne and Florence, and a bus tour of Paris. Now I've never been the kind of traveler who likes guided tours.  No, I've always been an explore-it-on-your own kind of guy.  With the exception of one very unique and interesting guided tour of the Vatican Museums in 2000, I've never been on one I really enjoyed, and the ones I experienced on this trip were no exception.

As a person with an aptitude for writing, I have my own unique point of view, and so my observations of an experience are usually different from most.  During these guided tours in Europe I paid more attention to the guides themselves rather than the things they were pointing out, and I can say with certainty that there is a common thread to what brought these individual people to their jobs.

Ever since I've been a teacher, I've learned that different personality types draw teachers into their content areas.  There's no doubt that people's natural attributes make them well-suited for one job or another, not only in the teaching world, but in every vocational area.  I often brag that I can tell what type of teacher a person is after just  a few minutes of talking to them.  ESL teachers, like me, are nurturers first and foremost, and they love culture.  Social studies teachers tend to like to speak...a lot, and are pretty opinionated in their views.  English teachers, of course, love literature and their manner of speech is impeccable, and so on and so forth.

Like teachers, tour guides are all strung together by the same personality type as well.  First of all, they all have an affinity for history or art, or a combination of the two.  Most of them probably wanted to be teachers of some sort, and for whatever reason they were swayed into this particular vocation instead.  They are all extremely passionate about their subjects, delving into the most minute details that not many other people would find interesting, and they don't seem to have any empathy for the tourist experience when they're giving their tours.  They continue on in their passion without much regard for how their 'student' are enjoying the experience.  Thus, sadly, they can be very boring.

I can't really say which of our European tour guides was the most boring.  They all had their own individual quirks, but they all exhibited the same personality traits I describe above.  Perhaps I'd give the prize for the worst guide to the lady in Paris, who, sadly, put each of the chaperones, including me, to sleep.

Ah, I see I've put all the chaperones to sleep!  Perhaps we should wake them up so we can get up and walk around, heh? She said to the kids.

Startled awake by her comment, we were all jolted from our slumber to return to the monotony of the tour.  It was here, though, that it got a little better as we left the bus to check out a park and get some fresh air.  That didn't last long, however, as the boredom set in soon after as we boarded the bus once again to continue the tour.  I'm not sure if it was the monotone sound of her voice or the fact that we were sitting and not walking that put us to sleep.  I only know that I was quickly in la la land almost as soon as the tour began, and fidgeting the rest of the time that I was awake.

Ugh, these tours were absolute torture!  I can never understand how anybody can find such thrills in the tiniest minutae about the Medici family or a gold paneled ceiling in the Doge's Palace, or even the map gallery in the Vatican Museums.  God, when you've seen one gold paneled ceiling, you've seen them all!  Though there were moments of interest during some of the tours, like the Lion's Carving in Lucerne or the Bridge of Sigh in Venice, but overall...ugh!

So if you should ever find yourself on vacation in Europe, or Asia, or any other place for that matter, I highly recommend you stay away from guided tours, that is, unless you actually enjoy minutiae and monotone voices.  Trust me, you'll be happy you did!

When you've seen one gold ceiling you've seen them all!

This way to the Doge's Palace

Check out previous posts on my Europe trip below and stay tuned for more...

Amster...dam, Part I

Gouda Cheese and Clogs

Amster...dam: The End

Joanne's Broken Wheel

Hello Paris: An Afternoon at the Sacré Coeur

Making A Memory at the Eiffel Tower

     

    

Making a Memory at the Eiffel Tower

Continued from here...

After spending an afternoon in the vicinity of the Sacré Coeur, we headed on over to Paris' Latin Quarter for some dinner.  The dinners throughout the trip were not exactly five star, and this night was no exception, but the sights and sounds of this seemingly trendy neighborhood of eateries and gathering places definitely whetted my appetite to want to come to Paris again.  At one point on the walk to our restaurant, we passed an outdoor food fair and oh man, so much scrumptiousness!

mastroianni

After dinner, it was off to the one place that is most iconic in this city, the Eiffel Tower.  I tell ya, this was the one site I had looked forward to seeing, and for some stupid reason, I expected it to be much like the replicas found in two amusement parks I've been to, King's Island and King's Dominion, but those replicas in no way prepared me for the real thing.  We arrived at the iconic monument via subway, and man, it was huge!

We were probably about a quarter of a mile away from it when we came out of the station and I couldn't take my eyes off it.  The tower is magnificent sight to behold, standing there at more than 1,000 feet tall in all its golden splendor.  As we walked towards the monument, I was reminded of that other famous iconic structure in New York, a gift from France as a matter of fact, just by the throngs of people waiting to climb.

The lines were two to three hours long, depending on which observatory you wanted to ascend to.  I probably should have gone up, but I wanted to check out the area, and besides, just like in Amsterdam and the Anne Frank House, it was either wait the two hours to climb or use the precious time to explore, and I don't regret my decision.  The tower was spectacular and so were the many views I had of it from exploring the surrounding areas with a couple of my fellow chaperones.

The area surrounding the Eiffel Tower is as cool as the tower itself.  Directly across from the structure sits the hilltop area of the city known as Trocadéro, home to the beautiful Palais de Chaillot. This was our destination as most of the kids waited to climb the tower with Joanne and Audrey.  Ivan, Steve, Francesca and I, headed up and across the Seine to this trendy neighborhood of eateries and shops to grab a quick bite to eat and walk around a bit.

On the way up the hill, we stopped at the big traffic circle in between the tower and the Trocadéro to admire some cars.  Oofah, there at the circle sat not one, not two, but five Lamborghini's, all of a different color and their owners were offering drives around the city for the bargain price of just 80 Euro for twenty minutes.  Ivan and I thought about it for a hot second, but since we'd have to do one at a time and each pay that amount, we just posed for a couple of pictures of the wicked wicked vehicles.

For the next couple of hours after that, we casually dined on some meats and cheeses in the restaurant of a hotel.  It was cozy and comfortable, and to make matters even better, our server was beautiful...and kinda flirty.  Once the time neared to meet the rest of the crew at the tower, we paid the check and headed back.  By then it was nightfall and with some good fortune, there was a full moon out that frame the tower perfectly.  That, coupled with the twinkling of a gazillion lights every hour on the hour, gave the whole evening a extra sense of wonder.  The views didn't capture good on camera, but it was a magical sight nonetheless that I won't ever forget...

Check out my other posts on my Europe trip, as well as a few more photos below, and stay tuned for more...

Amster...dam, Part I

Gouda Cheese and Clogs

Amster...dam: The End

Joanne's Broken Wheel

Hello Paris: An Afternoon at the Sacré Coeur

Hello Paris: An Afternoon at the Sacré Coeur

Paris was probably the one destination on our European trip that I was looking forward to the most.  I mean, who hasn't ever dreamed of visiting the City of Lights with all of its sites and romantic, cosmopolitan reputation?  Paris now seems like a big blur, and like Amsterdam, I want to check it out for myself more in depth, someday...

We arrived in Paris on the Thalys train in the early afternoon, and from the bus ride from the train station to the hotel, I could plainly see that we were in a city much larger than Amsterdam.  This city is sprawling, seemingly the size of all the boroughs of New York in one gigantic tract of land, and as surprisingly diverse as my home city. Our hotel was in one of the outer districts of the city, and so much of our two-day whirlwind through Paris would find us on its subway system.

The Paris subways are pretty easy to navigate.  I can say that now only because our tour guide Steve lead the way and the experience wasn't as harrowing as I'd heard it would be.  Our first destination in the city was one cool place...

As you might guess from the looks of it, the building in the picture above is a church. It's called Sacré Coeur, or The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris. The basilica sits atop a hill offering spectacular views of Paris, and the surrounding area, towards the bottom of the hill, is a quaint neighborhood full of great eateries, shops and more.

It was Easter Sunday and the place was bustling with people. In fact, the basilica was so crowded I didn't have the energy to fight my way inside, opting to enjoy the scenery from below the church and above the city. We had only about two or three hours here, and I spent it with my fellow chaperones Joanne, Audrey, Kristen and Francesca. We had a nice lunch in a French restaurant, walked around a bit, and took a few selfies...

Looking back, this particular afternoon was one of the more enjoyable afternoons spent on the entire trip, especially being a place I hadn't anticipated, or heard of for that matter, within the city of Paris. It was relaxing, amazing, and oh so enjoyable, and I had a taste of some authentic French food, which I'd never tried before.  

   

 Real French onion soup, only they just call it "onion soup"





Steak and real French fries, only they called it fried potatoes.

Some kind of dessert...cheese and sugar!?!?

Should you ever find yourself in Paris, France, you definitely need to check out this beautiful, quaint little area.  Just look for the Sacré Coeur, and spend an awesome afternoon taking it all in.  

Be sure to check out my other posts so far from this great adventure in Europe, and stay tuned for more... 

Amster...dam, Part I

Gouda Cheese and Clogs

Amster...dam: The End

Joanne's Broken Wheel