ARROW - 105. Chapter 105

We woke late as compared with when we where home. I guess we were more tired than we thought. The boys didn’t want to get up until, “Colin, I guess we won’t go to the Eiffel Tower today. The boys need their sleep.”

“Dad, we’re awake.”

Laughing, “Take a shower, get dressed and then we will go and get breakfast.”

“I’m going to check to see if our parents are up.”

“I’ll stay here in case the boys need help.”

When the boys where dressed and ready to go, we went to meet Colin in the dining area of the hotel. Walking into the dining room, I saw my mom and dad but not Colin’s mom and dad.

“Colin, where are Mom and Dad?”

“Mom said that Dad had a little too much to drink last night, so he’s a little slow this morning.”

“Good morning, Mom, Dad.” As the boys approached them they got a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“You haven’t had breakfast?”

“No, we were waiting for the waiter, but no one came.”

‘Breakfast in Europe is generally a self-serve. I think the only hotels that have waiters are those that cater to Americans. Follow, Colin.”

I laughed as Colin led the boys to the buffet, they had eggs, which were suppose to be soft-boiled but I knew they were hard boiled by the time the boys would get theirs. They had rolls, sausages, glasses for juice, which was in a pitcher. As the boys filled their plates they headed to our table. Colin followed with glasses of orange juice. When the person who was stocking the buffet saw them, he brought a pot of coffee. Mom and Dad made a comment about the eggs were over cooked. I told her they are soft boiled but wrapped to keep them warm which results in them becoming hard boil. “If you want soft boiled, you need to be here when they open and the first one at the buffet.” Dad asked, “They don’t have pancakes?” I shook my head no.

“Can we go back for seconds?”

“Sure, as many times as you want.”

“The coffee is strong.” I smiled.

The boys wanted another glass of juice, Colin told them to leave their glass. He got up and went to get the pitcher. The person who brought the coffee, took the pitcher and filled the boys glasses. Dad held up his cup, a fresh pot of coffee was brought to the table.

While we were having our second cup of coffee, Colin’s Mom and Dad arrived. Colin’s Dad looked like he wasn’t hitting on all 8 cylinders. Colin’s mom went and got a cup from the next table, filled it with coffee and sat it in front of Colin’s dad.

“Mom, there is a help yourself buffet. The eggs will be warm but hard boiled.”

With her plates, Richie and Tommy got up so they could sit at our table. The boys ended on Colin and my laps.The other two were seated next to us.

“Dad, are we going to the Eiffel Tower today?”

“Yes, we will have lunch there. But, we will walk there. Pop needs to walk off all the breakfast he has eaten.” The boys laughed when Ronny reached over and patted his stomach.

“We are going to walk to the Tower, it’s be about 15-20 minutes, a little over a mile. It will help to get you awake and work off our breakfast.”

“How far is the Louvre museum from here?”

“You could walk it easily. If you check at the desk they can give you a map, just asked them to mark it.”

“I believe Jean said something about you making a comment about the Mona Lisa.”

“Yes, the painting is highly prized. During World War 2, they hid the painting in a safe in the wall of the underground sewer. If you want, you can see the safe. They have marked it.”

“I’m not going Into any sewer.” I laughed, “Dad, in the evening certain ladies can be found there.”

The Moms almost in unison, “We don’t need to go to any sewer.”

Colin looking at me, “I didn’t know that. How do you know that?”

“It is common knowledge. Spending a little over 3 months here, you hear all about these places that a tourist doesn’t know about or see. And for the record, I have never been in the sewers of Paris. Nor do I ever want to go there.”

I whispered to Tommy and Richie, “Before we leave, go to the bathroom.” They knew what I meant.

Breakfast over, Colin took the boys to our room. “Mom, try and get Dad to rest a bit before you go to the museum. There is a lot of walking.”

“What time will you be back?”

“We will be back by dinner time at 6.” Now I need to think about what restaurant to take them to for dinner.

Colin brought the boys back, “Ready to go?”

Smiles all around. Colin has been there but we have never had lunch there. I told Colin’s Mom that there was a cafe close to the Louvre where they can have lunch.

Walking toward the Tower, Colin held Ronny and Ivan’s hand while I had Tommy and Richie. The weather was perfect for a walk. We came to the park where Colin and I would sit for lunch. “Armand, let’s sit here for a minute. We have plenty of time.”

So we stopped and I think we sat at the same bench. Colin proceeded to tell the boys about when we were here and how we would sit here and enjoy lunch.

“We aren’t going to have lunch here are we?”

“No, we’ll have lunch at the Eiffel Tower. But it’s early.”

“We could walk to the river.”

“Let’s do that.” We walked to the Seine, the boys wanted to know if there were fish in the river.

I didn’t know but being there reminded me of the dinner cruise. We watched a boat, Colin nudged me, pointing to his watch.

“Are you hungry?”

Arriving at the Tower, there was a stall at the bottom that sold souvenirs. The boys had to stop. I stood back as they looked at the various items for sale. Richie saw a book about the construction of the Tower. He showed Tommy and they must have come to an agreement as Richie wanted to buy it, Colin paid. Now they had to show me. Tommy saw a snow globe which Richie agreed. Now it was Ronnie and Ivan. Ronnie saw a 3D crystal Tower and Ivan, at first didn’t want anything until Colin told him if he didn’t pick something out he would do it for him. Colin picked up a musical globe for him. His smile when Colin gave him the gift was payment enough.

Ivan hasn’t accepted that he is now one of the boys. He’s not our son as the other boys are. Colin and I had discussed this, we thought eventually he will accept us as the other boys have.

“When we go home, we should adopt him. Being his guardian isn’t the same. He needs to feel he is part of the family.”