France

My French professor suggested I spend a summer in France through the international study program of my Napa Valley college. My father said he would support me if I paid half, and my brother challenged me by doubting I could do it. I moved out of the dorm to become a caregiver in someone’s home. My statistics professor recommended me for a job in medical records at St. Helena Hospital (his wife was the director). I saved the money, I went, and I was so happy with my first international trip.

Every afternoon that summer, after French class, my friends and I hiked down the mountain, through the community of Collonges-sous-Salève, across the border, and into Geneva. I met a young man who sang Lionel Richie’s Hello to me as we wandered through fields (he wrote me letters in Portuguese for the next six months). The most memorable part of the trip was when Tammy and I skipped finals to make sure we had time in Paris. One day in Paris, I walked more than eight miles in high heels from our hotel near the Sorbonne, to the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs-Élysées, Notre Dame, and back to our hotel (Tammy wore more sensible shoes). On other days, we saw places that now have great online resources:

· Versailles has a lovely video tour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMI3jcgtEas

· The Louvre’s webpage has links to several interesting virtual tours and videos: https://www.louvre.fr/en/visites-en-ligne

· The Jeu de Paume, at the time of my visit, was the museum of Impressionism. The Khan Academy’s series of articles and videos on Impressionism is here: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/becoming-modern/avant-garde-france/impressionism/a/a-beginners-guide-to-impressionism. Many of these works are now in the Musée d'Orsay. Their virtual tour is here: https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/musee-dorsay-paris?hl=en

· The Musée Rodin is shown in this documentary on Auguste Rodin’s work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA6OIYW_PRU. I haven’t made it to the Rodin Sculpture Garden at Stanford University yet, but I want to go.

After returning to the Napa Valley, I was invited on my most expensive date ever to the restaurant at Domaine Chandon where every course was amazing and the French onion soup impresses me to this day. You might have made French food before if you’ve made quiche or crepes. The next level of French cooking can be found here: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/slideshow/french-recipes

Since college, I’ve spent plenty of time in France while staying at home with my children. DisneyPlus allows us to visit Paris in Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Aristocats, and Ratatouille. Ever After: A Cinderella Story takes us to the Dordogne region, Tangled to Normandy, and Beauty and the Beast to Alsace and the Loire Valley. One of our favorite versions of the French story Cinderella is the Rogers and Hammerstein version with Brandy, found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNm-wJPUea0

Phantom of the Opera was the first play I took my daughters to see. We sat in the second to last row of the highest balcony with our binoculars and we loved it. I remember Kristen’s sixth grade field trip where the whole bus was belting out Phantom of the Opera songs at Kristen’s direction. The movie version is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H_NExjbLa4

The film Les Misérables with Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, and Anne Hathaway came out on Christmas 2012. It was a debate with my girls and their cousin Andie on one side and Denise and I on the other on whether to honor our Christmas traditions and wait until the next day to see it. That version is currently on Netflix. The amazing voices of the concert at the Royal Albert Hall can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mP6CBpx8qc

If you want to be more serious about your virtual trip to France, you can find all that famous French literature on Project Gutenberg or at the library including the books Les Misérables, Madame Bovary, The Count of Monte Cristo, and many, many more. My favorite is the play Cyrano de Bergerac which you can read here http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1254 or watch the reimagined backstage version Cyrano, My Love on Hulu or Amazon Prime.

My experience in France inspired others in my family to go. My daughter Kristen visited Paris with my father, who had helped me go so many years before. It was cold and she treasures the gloves that he bought her at a Christmas market. My other daughter Kaitlin spent a year in France at the same school I attended. She and her friends took every weekend to travel and see as much as they could. My bonus daughter Andrea has also been to France, to visit Kaitlin while she was there.

For this week’s trip to France, besides revisiting my favorite places and movies, I went to Paris Pastries in Rancho Cucamonga. I called or Facetimed several friends and family members asking what they wanted and did a door drop for each. We give high recommendations for the croissants, the tarts, and the chocolate confections, especially the hazelnut one.

I’m also having a great time watching Huge in France on Netflix. I don’t have time to experience all the amazing virtual things to do in France that are available there, or on Kanopy, Hoopla, and Amazon Prime. In addition, there are 222 galleries devoted to places to visit in France on TheCrazyTourist. The main gallery is here: https://www.thecrazytourist.com/15-best-places-visit-france/

I would certainly go to France again and I would definitely check in with my local travel advisor, my France experienced daughter Kaitlin at Laura's Travel in Redlands. May the travel industry survive and thrive. May we all survive, thrive, recognize our mutual humanity, learn to deal with our conflicts, and allow peace and health to flourish in France and throughout the world.

Photo credit: Flavio Ensiki https://www.flickr.com/photos/flavouz/8400273206/