All pretense of being seasoned travelers aside, Natasha and I only started to make regular trips abroad in 20021. Our first voyage was to France, with almost a week in Paris followed by a jaunt around Loire Valley castles and French Riviera destinations.
We fell in love with Paris on that first trip. A large part of that, no doubt, is its exalted place as the very first European city that we came to visit. We’ve been back a handful of times in these less than 7 years, falling in love with it again and again. No other place in the world comes close in terms of its wanderlust pull on us.
Hearing Joe Dassin Les Champs-Elysées (it happens frequently enough – Dassin collection is often in one of the car CD-changer slots) always stirs my Parisian memories. Which never fails to put a smile on my face.
It’s a favorite of Kimmy’s, as well.
I was mightily surprised to hear this song at the conclusion of The Darjeeling Limited. Beats the hell out of me what the reason for that might have been, but it was a bit of a redemption for a movie that I did not rate too high on balance.
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1 I first came to London on business in 2000 and managed to get quite a lot of sightseeing into my week-long stay. Besides that, our only international border crossings prior to 2002 consisted of a visit to Toronto, a couple of trips to Russia and a couple of holidays in Puerto Rico, if that even counts.
What’s a CD-Changer? What’s a CD? 😉
I’m very old-fashioned, Brian. 🙄
Beautiful city, and an excellent song.
I have CDs, about 300 of them. Happily retired in two huge binders.
Bozhe moi, I learned to sing that song in HS freshman French class. Brings back memories of HS girlfriends…
I hope you put it to good use, John 😉