4. It is absolutely okay to eat ice cream twice a day while in Europe, while with children, well, while anywhere, with anyone, doing anything. I highly recommend this gem--the apricot sorbet was divine--on the Île Saint Louis.
5. It is also absolutely okay to take back all your pity for the four girls who puked on the bus this morning when you find out it's because they were out all night drinking. Fortunately, they weren't from our group. Unfortunately, the smell was atrocious.
6. Even though you've seen it far more than the average person, it's still okay to take photos of it, and let your jaw drop because it's so freaking beautiful.
7. This number seven isn't really a tip so much as it is a little story. I needed to exchange some cash near Notre Dame, and a young man from another group needed to as well so we ventured together. At first, he thought I was a student. And then when I said I'd been to Paris umpteen times, he decided I was old. (Sad day!) Anyway, we were chatting away, and he was very inquisitive as to why I wanted to be a teacher. I talked too much about myself, really, so I started asking him questions about his life...which led to a rather sad tale, which I won't depress you with, but we exchanged our money, and on the way out he said, "Ha! What a cool Buddha!"
I snatched that photo and on our way back to the cathedral, he continued his sad story.
Once inside, he told me he wanted to be a surgeon. He had it all figured out that he needed to spend 13 more years in school and residency.
At the time, I was taken away by the ethereal choral of voices that were coming from the altar of the cathedral, and my response to his surgical aspirations was a distracted, "Oh wow. Cool."
"Well there's my group," he said. "Thanks for walking me back."
I meandered a bit more and then decided to sit down within the nave.
With the voices in my ear, I watched one man, his head leaning on the chair in front of him, as though his prayers were so desperate they exhausted him.
I saw a woman, kneeling, looking up, tears streaming down her face.
Epiphany number two in a European cathedral: what a blessed life you have. Your DailyOM today told you to be a comfort for others. You can't help the distraught man and woman in front of you, but there is someone you can.
I glanced around for my friend, found him, and tapped him on the shoulder.
"I was thinking," I said, "What kind of surgeon did you say you wanted to be?"
Teacher, mother, guide, nurse, friend, source of comfort--there are many roles to cover on this adventure.
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