ARROW - 110. Chapter 110

Saturday morning Colin woke me in time for lunch.

“If I ever say we should meet up with my friends again, remind me of yesterday. I have a headache. I never drank so much wine before but the cocktails after was way to much.”

“Here, drink this.”

“What is that?”

“According to the bartender it will clear away the cobwebs in an hour.”

I wasn’t sure what it was, I gulped it down.

I ate some food but I wasn’t really hungry. “Colin, we need to go and pick up our tickets for the boat ride tonight.”

“Where are the boys?”

“They are with Marie.”

“Let’s go now and then I can take it easy and hope this headache goes away before tonight.”

Walking to the dock on the Seine was helping with the headache.

Arriving at the place where we had made reservations for tonight, they had our tickets. “Are there any special foods you would like tonight or wine?”

“No, but we will have four boys with us.”

“They must be 10 years old or older.” Colin said they are.

Walking back to the hotel, we stopped at the park.”Feeling better?”

“Yes, the walk helps. Do you remember those children playing with that dog.”

“Yes, you wanted to get a dog when we got home.”

“Yes, I’m glad we didn’t get a dog. A dog in our apartment wouldn’t be right.”

“I told Richie about selling his house.”

“And”

“He wasn’t happy but I explained that by the time he would be old enough to live in it, the house will deteriorate with time. I also mentioned that he may not want to live there in 12 to 15 years. I told him I had two offers, he agree to sell it to the doctor. I will handle that when I go back.”

“Promise to bring back photos of the Home.”

“I will. I may take Pat out to see the construction.”

Smiling, “I love you. You are like my genii.”

Walking back to our hotel, Armand was smiling. He was feeling better.

“Where did Marie say they were going this afternoon?”

“I think she said the Luxembourg Gardens.”

“Let’s go, I know of a nice family type restaurant in that area. We’ll buy them lunch.”

Looking at Armand, he is definitely feeling better. Hailing a cab, we headed to the Gardens.

“I wonder where they are? “

“Listen. There are voices coming from over there.”

Walking toward the voices, “Marie, will this plant thrive in America?”

Laughing, “That is where this plant came from. Look at the tag.”

“Can we buy this plant?”

“You need to ask your dads.”

“They can put it on the roof with the other plants. I’ll ask Dad.”

“You ask Dad and I’ll ask Pop.”

“What plant are they talking about?”

“I think it is that red rose plant. Let’s check.”

“Hello boys.”

“Dad, Pop, we didn’t know you were here.”

“We came to see if you wanted to have lunch. Are you hungry?”

“We want to watch the puppet show, right Marie?”

“What time does it start, Marie?”

“In 15 minutes. We were headed that way when the boys saw these flower plants.” Laughing, “Now you will be adding more planters to your roof.”

“It’s been a long time since a saw a puppet show.”

“I have never seen one.”

“Good, Now is your chance.”

The puppet show was part of the entertainment for children. They had an old, old carousel, pony rides and a pond where children can float toy sailboats and remote control boats. I knew before leaving, the boys would experience them all.

The Gardens are located as a part of the Luxembourg Palace which now is a government building. The Gardens were created under the direction of Queen Marie de Medici in 1612. They contain several statues of notable European women and French queens. In the various tree, one can see parakeets. The flock is free to wander the Gardens.

Watching the puppet show, the boys seemed to be enjoying the antic of the puppets.

“Want to bet the boys will be creating their own puppet show when we get home.”

Laughing, “And I know who will help.”

“Who?”

“James, and the older boys at the orphanage. Colin, be sure to take pictures.”

When the puppet show was over, “Pop, can you make a box like that?” I started to laugh.

“Yes, I’ll ask our carpenter friend to make a box like that and you can get Dad to paint it.”

Now the boys had a project. “Are you hungry?” Every time I asked them that question, Colin starts to laugh.

There was a street close to the Gardens, that catered to families. I had eaten there on my first trip to France and now I headed the group there for lunch.

The Cafe was a family place and as we entered, we could smell the aroma of fresh bread.

“When I ate here, I bought a loaf of bread and I ate it as I walked through the gardens. Between the birds and I, the bread was still warm when I finished it.”

Sitting at a table, a waiter came to take our order. Colin ordered a wine, I ordered bread and cheese, Marie ordered a casserole dish for herself and the boys. The waiter brought the wine, Colin added about two tablespoon to the boy’s glasses and then added a little water, this diluted the wine. My bread was fresh from the oven, I shared the loaf with Colin.

“This reminds me when I was here the first time. We would buy bread and wine, sit in the park and enjoy it. I think that was when you drew that sketch of that little girl. Did you sign it?”

“No”

The boys watched as we drank our wine, they tried to copy and I knew what was going to happen. Leaving the Cafe, they pretended they were drunk. It was funny to watch. Marie mentioned the pony rides and carousel, the boys stopped acting like they were drunk.

The rest of the afternoon, they fed the birds with the piece of bread I still had from lunch, took pony rides and rode the carousel. Taking a taxi back to the hotel, I told them about our dinner cruise on the Seine. Marie told them they need to take a nap. I laughed as they didn’t argue, they were tired.

John, Colin’s dad, told us he was going with Colin. “I want to check on a few clients and since you are going back, I’ll go with you.” I looked at Colin’s mom and she seemed to be grateful that he was leaving for a few days. Colin later told me that Dad missed his golf tournament and didn’t want to come on this trip. “Maybe going home for a few days will do him good.”

The boys took a nap, Colin and I reviewed what he was going to check when he was home. “Colin, check with Pat and see how the orphanage is managing. With us gone and Marcel and James gone, they may need some help.”

“I’ll check. I gave Pat some money for supplies if they needed anything and are falling short. I’ll make up any difference.”

“You need to check with Roger. He is handling the gallery while Mom is gone.”

“What are you going to do while we are gone?”

“There are a few more tourist sights and we might go and see Marcel and James again. It’ll be the last chance until they are back at the club.”

“See if you could get Marie to come home with us. You are going to be busy with the Home and getting the boys ready for school.”

I thought that might be a good idea. The boys will like that.

“Colin, take that paper Ivan’s grandfather signed and see if the judge would approve our adoption without us being in court.”

“Why? We can do that when we get home. What name would he chose?”

“I don’t know but I’m sure he will take his grandfather’s name as his middle name. Maybe we can wait until we get home. But I want to do it as soon as possible.?

That evening, I sent the Grands and Marie to the dock in a cab, Colin, the boys and I walked. We stopped at Madame Lavigne’s home. She lived relatively close and the last time we took the river ride, we walked. Richie went and knocked on the door, he got the hug and kiss. Then she had to hug the rest of the boys giving them a kiss, that included Colin and I.

Approaching the loading dock, the boys became excited. The boat had tables along the side, seating four to a table. The boys sat so they could see out of the window. The Grands sat with them leaving Marie and Madam Lavigne sitting with Colin and I.