Renvoi à Paris

After an incredible weekend in Belgium, we are back on the train to Paris. Before we retired, we all watched a fabulous reality show, Over The Rainbow the search for a new Dorothy.

The roosters began crowing early, but I managed to go back to sleep. However, Rosemarie decided to wake up at 6 a.m. Now as my roommate will attest, the mornings are not my favorite time of day, I don't like to speak until I've at least showered or brushed my teeth. It was futile to try to shush my mother, so I tried my best to get another hour's worth of shut-eye. But with the roosters back in action and Cookie scratching at the door, it was futile to resist. As I made my way downstairs, poor Winston didn't recognize me, and as he had done every morning of our stay, he barked and cowered away before he figured out I was the same person from the day before. It's tough getting old no matter what your species.

Once again, our hosts had the table set and we enjoyed fresh coffee and bread before Serge drove us back into Antwerp to catch our train. I promised to not let so many years go by before my next visit and I really hope I stick to that schedule. But, from the second we disembarked on Saturday, the years we have not seen each other didn't even exist. Never underestimate the power of letter writing. It may be a new age of Facebook and Twitter, but nothing beats the friendship that the two of us have cultivated and maintained through the post.

Naturally, we had to have one more waffle before leaving the country and as luck would have it, there was a stand right inside the train station. They're like Dunkin' Donuts, the aroma is just too hard to resist. Unlike the ones we had on Saturday, the treats served from the carts are warm and soft and you can get them with a variety of toppings. We settled on a plain one that was laced with enough sugar to keep an entire elementary school of children wired for a week.

Then, my mother decided to throw the waffle paper away, which required her to move more than five feet from me.

"Oh my God," I exclaimed. "You left my side!"

"I was just thinking that, you funny face," she said. "I made it back."

"So, I see."

Our train was surprisingly, fifteen minutes late and we'll be in Paris within the hour. It's quite crowded and there is a feisty quartet of German boys one row over. I don't speak the language, but it seems teenagers are, no matter where you are - teenagers.