Le Petite Garcon, aka Pierce, turned 2 today and in every little boy's dream fashion he got to ride a high speed train (TGV). Well, actually every big boys dream as well, since Mitch gets pretty ramped up about it too. Today was not only a day to celebrate Pierce's birth, but to reunite with an old friend.
Aurelie and her family are solely responsible for my knowledge of the French language. Had it not been through an exchange program that her brother,Laurent, participated in when he and my brother were 10 years old, my Dad would have never thrust the language upon us :) After a successful exchange at that tender age, my parents agreed to ship me off to France at 17 and into the home of Aurelie's family who are a warm, welcoming and overall amazing clan of people. Following my time in France with her family, Aurelie joined us in California for a few weeks of summer fun. So, in short, I gained a sister in 1989, who became a friend for life. Back to the future 20 years later and we find each other on facebook.
Aurelie, her fantastic boyfriend Sylvan and their two beautiful daughters, Malia and Loe, live in Verdun, accessible by TGV in 58 minutes from Paris. Pretty impressive, going about 300 miles per hour. Verdun is a famous WWI site, due to a very prolonged battle and importance of the victory in the end. It is one of those stunningly tragic areas that can take your breath away.
The 20 years apart faded immediately and we fell into familiar friendship. The children got along great and we spent a lovely day at their modern masterpiece of a home enjoying beers of the region and a delicious home cooked lunch, complete with birthday cake for Pierce. A couple hour tour of the town took us to some war memorials, which were fascinating, as it seems details, at least to us about WWI require a refresher. 
The quick TGV ride back to Paris and a short metro to our apartment afforded us the beautiful site of a clear full moon angled over the Bastille monument. One of those truly picture perfect Paris moments that seem surreal as you ascend the Metro steps.The perfect finale to our Paris adventure. We'll see where tomorrow takes us.
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