ARROW - 104. Chapter 104

Boys were doing well in school, James’s friend was in a better mind when he found out he didn’t have to leave the orphanage when he was 18. Pat knowing that they were moving, made some rule changes of which that was one. The City Council cut her monthly stipend reflecting one less child, she didn’t care. I told her if she was running short to let Colin or I know. Between James and Marcel, there was always something special as well as a few cases of vegetables or juices that would be delivered. I think James was the go to guy. If the cooks were running low, the item would appear mysteriously.

The last day of school was a half day. Something the teachers had to do. For graduation, Colin gave Larry driving lessons and I knew a car would follow. Colin, talked to Charles our carpenter friend and Larry found he had a job. Now he had to know about the new place, he was told to keep it a secret. I was glad he had a friend, as he had to tell someone and it was James.

The boys were packing for our trip. My Mom and Dad arrived, they left their luggage for the trip with us. Colin packed his and my suitcases. I helped the boys. Again I saw 4 cameras siting on our dresser. Seeing those disposable cameras, I made a note to buy them a camera like Colin and I had for Christmas this year.

The big day came, excitement all through the apartment. Colin closed the club, paid the guards for the time we were closed. He said they would keep and eye on the place. Colin’s dad hired a van again, he said he might buy one if we continued to travel. He was joking but when Colin brought the second van, I wasn’t sure. One van was loaded with luggage, the other van was loaded with travelers. I road with Dad, Colin drove the second van. Arriving at the airport, the luggage van was unloaded, tagged and delivered to the check in counter. Dad had an attendant park the vans. He said we would need them when we returned.

Entering the terminal. The boys took Ivan in hand, and the four of them approached the desk. They showed their passport and ticket. The young lady at the desk asked them if they were to young to be traveling. Richie spoke up. “This isn’t our first trip overseas. We have flown before.”

I looked at Colin and we laughed. Then we had to explain to our parents why we were laughing. Richie turned and gave us a wink. That made me laugh more. Now Colin whispered, “Stop, people are looking at us.”

“Get use to it. Remember Paris.”

Our parents checked in, I think they were surprised to see business class, then Colin and I checked in. “Your flight is 30 minutes late, there is a storm over the Atlantic and they had to reroute. You can wait in the business class lounge. Our boys knew where that was, so we followed them.

“Your boys know the way?”

“Last year we flew to Italy. I suppose they remembered.”

My Mom and Dad were surprised how comfortable the lounge area was. “Dad, instead of driving over, you should fly. It’s faster and you both will have more time to spend with the boys.”

Then John said, “Yes you should do that, your son has more money than the bank, he can pay for it.”

“Dad, I wished you didn’t say that. You make more money in a week than Armand does in a month.”

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. And I don’t make that much in a week. He sells one painting and he makes as much as I do in a month.”

“Mom”

“John, please stop. Let’s enjoy our family vacation.”

“I apologize Armand.” I smiled nodding my head.

“Dad, you want a cup of coffee?”

“Thanks, Ivan. Maybe you and your brothers should ask the grandparents as well.” I knew saying that was going to lead to questions. John was about to say something, when someone kicked him. I laughed.

The boys brought us coffee, the Dads thanked them but the Moms kissed them on the cheek. I looked at them and they smiled. Ronny strutted to the snack counter.

We no sooner finished drinking our coffee when they announced our plane was ready to board. The boys walked beside us, business class boarding was called. I noticed our moms sat in the two row seats and so did our dads. Colin sat with two of the boys, Ronny and Tommy I sat with Richie and Ivan.

Now Richie wasn’t a novice traveler and so he took charge of Ivan. I watched as Richie was telling him what was happening on the ground.

When the coach section was boarded, you could hear the doors being closed. Our pilot came on indicating that our flight would take 12 and a half hours due to the storm over the Atlantic. He stated that seat belts must be fasten at all times.

As the plane started to move, Ivan became a little nervous. I held one hand and Richie the other. Then I heard Ronnie and Tommy, singing, “Off we go into the wild blue yonder” then laugh. I heard the moms chuckle.

Richie was telling Ivan that when the plane reaches altitude, they will come and offer something to drink and eat.

When the plane reached altitude, the steward came and gave the safety talk. Richie repeated everything he said. He wanted to make sure Ivan understood, so he said.

Then the service began. Coffee for the adults, milk for the boys, I heard Richie say there is ice cream in the milk. John asked if they served alcoholic beverages, Mom leaned forward and slapped him on the head. “I was just asking.”

I looked at Colin, he just shook his head.

Dinner choices were a puffed pastry filled with chicken, spinach and artichokes or puffed pastry filled with goat cheese and smoked salmon or pigs in a puff pastry. These dishes were served with a puff pastry vegetable strudel.

Richie looked at me, I suggested he get the pigs in a puff pastry. “What are you getting?”

“I’m going to try the smoked salmon.”

I knew what was going to happen. I saw Mom looking over at me. The steward came with table cloths and eating utensils wrapped in a cloth napkin. Richie had his tray up and helped Ivan with his. I was the last to pull my tray up.

The steward placed a table cloth and a napkin on our tray. He was followed by a stewardess who offered coffee, tea, soda and milk.

The steward came back with a cart which contained our dinners. Placing our dinners on our tray he said, “Enjoy”

Richie tried one of his pigs in the blanket, he smiled. I watched Ivan, he did the same thing. Then it came, “Dad. Can we we taste yours?”

I gave each of them a piece of my salmon. I saw Richie’s smile, and then Ivan’s.

”Dad, what is that?”

“It’s a fish called salmon. It’s very good.” Mental note have salmon when we get home.

Richie strikes again, “Dad, we’ll trade you.”

I heard laughter, the Moms looked at me as to say what are you going to do. The dads were laughing as well.

I took my salmon, divided it in half, took half of their pigs in the blanket and made the switch.

Colin, laughed. He offered me a bite of his salmon. I offered him a pig in the blanket. He didn’t take any but Tommy and Ronny took one.

Dinner over, plates picked up, coffee pot came around. The movie on, then desert which was apple pie with ice cream. I asked for plain apple pie, the boys asked if they could have Ice cream. I asked for an apple pie to be split between the two boys. The stewardess smiled, handing the boys a dish of ice cream and a half of apple pie serving. I felt good, I didn’t have to share my apple pie.

Dinner over, I sat there as they played a movie. I had my coffee, I was happy even though I missed my salmon.

I tilted my seat back, the boys followed and soon I was asleep. GG came and said there was a surprise waiting for me. We talked about the orphanage. She said I was doing the right thing. Then she said, those children are God’s children and they are protected by his angels. Then it came to me, a name of the new building, Home of God’s Angels. I woke up, I tapped Colin on the shoulder. “I have a name for the new building,”

He turned around, which meant he was on his knees, looking over tie back of the seat. “What is it?”

“Home of God’s Children”

“Where did that come from?”

“Guess?” “GG” “Yes” “So it shall be.”

For some reason, I had the feeling that this would be a great vacation. Everything will be okay.

I fell into a deep sleep. Next I knew someone was poking me. I opened my eyes and saw four eyes looking at me. “Dad, you were really sleeping. We tried to awaken you for the last 10 minutes.”

I grabbed them and kissed their heads. “I haven’t been sleeping well and so I really needed that. We are going to have a great vacation.”

Landing at the Paris Orly Airport, which was 17 kilometers from Paris, we proceeded to clear customs. Heading to the baggage area, Colin went and got a trolley. So far the boys didn’t say anything in French. Clearing luggage check, headed to the cab stand. The first cab to stop, I placed the Moms, Richie and Ivan in the cab. I told the driver where to go. Told Richie to make sure he was going to the right hotel. The next cab, the dads got in with Colin. I gave the cab driver the name of the hotel, Colin had the address and the third cab, the boys and I went. It was strange, all three cabs arrived just as they were loaded. I got out, helped the Moms, Richie and Ivan out of the cab. The cabbie set their luggage in front of the hotel, I paid him and he left. The next cab pulled up, the Dads and Colin had gotten out. They had their luggage, I paid the driver and he was on his way. Our cab pulled up, the boys got out, I paid him and he was gone. Turning, ready to walk into the hotel, one of the staff had our luggage on a cart following our dads. I walked in and John was telling the clerk he had a reservation. The reservations were in my name. The clerk kept saying he did not have a reservation. I made my way to the counter and before Colin’s dad could say anything, in French, I told the clerk the reservations for three rooms were in my name. He looked, found the reservation. I signed and gave them my credit card to make a copy. I told the young man with the luggage to follow me. I had the keys to the rooms. Colin’s dad looked at me, I smiled back. “Show off” then we laughed.

The first room we came to, I gave the key to Colin’s dad. He opened the door, picked up his luggage. “Let’s meet downstairs in an hour.”

The next room was Mom and Dad’s. I gave Dad the key, he picked up their luggage, “If I don’t come down. Give me a call.”

The last room was our room. There was a smaller room attached. Colin and I took the small room letting the boys have the large bed in the main room. I thanked the young man and gave him a generous tip. He smiled and in English, thank you.

I knew the boys were tired but I didn’t want them to go to sleep. I knew from my experiences, if they did their body clocks would be screwed up for several days. “Let’s go for a walk. The famous Champs-Elysees is just a walk away. Take your cameras.” I wanted to keep them awake until at least 4 or 5 o’clock, Paris time.

We walked, the Gramps had to rest. I thought what better way for the boys to learn about why they are awake. We stopped at the Arc de Triomphe, the boys stood under the Arc, they took pictures of each other and I took a picture of the four. “When we get back to the hotel we can check if they have a brochure on the Arc de Triomphe. This structure honors those that fought and died in the French Revolution. When you get in High School, you might study about the French Revolution and you can tell them about this structure.”

“Dad, what are those steps for?”

“We can climb to the top. Want to go?” I knew after this we would need to take a rest. Even though they slept on the plane, it wasn’t the deep sleep they needed. There were two staircases, Colin took two of the boys and I took the other two. At first it was a race to the top, that ended at the fifth step. We eventually got to the top,

“Dad, is that the Eiffel Tower?”

“Yes, and tomorrow we will go and check it out.” They had their cameras taking pictures. I took one of the four of them with the Tower behind them.

“Armand, let’s stop and get something to drink and eat. Then I think they should get some sleep.”

Walking back to our hotel we passed a patisserie. “Let’s stop here.”

Walking into the shop, one could smell the bakery. I looked at Richie, “Do you want to order a coffee for Pop and I and something for your brothers to drink? He didn’t hear me, they were looking at the pastry in the display case. They looked at me, I nodded yes.

The boys ordered, except Ivan, Richie ordered for him. I was surprised that Tommy and Ronny were learning French, thanks to Richie.They brought their food over to the table, I went and ordered two coffees and sodas for the boys. The tables sat 4, the boys were at one table, I sat their drinks on their table. Then Colin and I sat at a table so we could keep an eye on them. They all looked to see where we were.

They finished their rolls walking back to our hotel. On the way we passed a street artist. We had to stop and look. He asked if they wanted a drawing. Looking at me, I nodded yes. Richie asked him how much, he gave Richie a price, Richie looked at me, I nodded yes. Now we had to wait for the drawing.

Colin and I sat and watched. The artist drew a tree with four branches. On each branch he drew one of the boys, Ronny had a small body but he was showing an exaggerated muscle and of course the figure had a big head. For Tommy he was holding a small bird, Ivan was holding a sword as if to protect them all and Richie was dressed as a king with a crown on his head. The caricatures were funny, and the kids laughed. Street artists have develop their abilities to create caricatures of subjects very quickly. They can do a drawing for an individual in 20 to 25 minutes. He sprayed the drawing with a sealant, I had used something similar for my pencil drawings when I was first in Paris as a student.

Entering the hotel, the desk clerk said we had visitors. He pointed to a lounge area. “Armand, you go and see who it is, I’ll take the boys up to our room so they can have a little nap.”

The boys got a hug, I watched as they went into the elevator as I headed to the lounge. There were our dads talking to Jean and Andre.

“I expected a call.”

“We just arrived this morning. I took the boys out for a walk. Arriving in the morning, the last thing we want to do is go to bed.”

“Where are they now?”

“Colin took them up to the room. They will take a nap and hopefully they will be awake for dinner.”

“What is your schedule?”

“Tomorrow, we are going to the Eiffel Tower. I have arranged for having lunch there. Then I want to stop at Madam Lavigne’s home to say hello and introduce our family. In the evening, if everyone isn’t tired, maybe dinner on the Seine. If they are tired, we will have dinner here.”

“Are you planning on visiting the museum?”

“Yes, I want to see the lady and see if you have improved her appearance.” The dads looked at me.

Jean to the rescue, “When Armand and Colin were here, Armand declared that the Mona Lisa was a fake. He pointed out the painting’s error and demand to see the original. I had to take him to the vault to show him.”

“I didn’t think you believed me, at first.”

“Why did you have a fake on show and the original in a vault?”

“Dad, the painting is one of the most valuable paintings in the world.”

“Jean, if someone did steal it, what would they do with it? The publicity would make it a hot item, who would buy it?”

“I would.”

“Why would you do with it? You couldn’t put it on the wall in your gallery.”

“Just knowing I had it would be enough.”

I looked at Jean and smiled. He could give him the faked one. “He knows” Then we laughed. Our dads must of thought we were crazy, he didn’t know these gentlemen and certainly not what we were talking about.

Colin came into the lounge, I saw him before the others. “Here comes the boss.”

They turned and saw Colin. Jean leaned forward, “The boss?”

“I learned that from my mom.”

They continued to catch up, as the phrase goes. Andre invited them to his home for dinner. “Armand, I would like you to paint a portrait of my son.”

“Are you talking about a head portrait or a full body portrait?”

“A full body portrait. Like you painted Colin.”

“No, he will not paint a portrait of your son like he painted my portrait.”

That caused Colin’s dad to laugh. “When I first saw that painting I had to buy it. I didn’t want a painting of my son being shown around the city.”

“Why what was wrong with the painting?”

“It was a naked painting of Colin.”

They laughed, “No, I do not want a naked painting of my son.”

We sat there and chatted.

“Armand, if you are going to be gone tomorrow, how about dinner the day after tomorrow?”

“I promised Richard that we would go and see Marie and I want to check on our apprentice chef. How about Thursday evening?” “Maybe you can join us Jean.”

So it was decided that Thursday evening we would have dinner at Andre’s home.

“Colin, go and check on the boys. We should get something here for dinner.”

Colin left, “Andre, Jean you will join us, right.”

“Are you paying? Your father-in law said you have more money than a bank.”

“Dad, you keep saying that and people will believe you. But yes, Andre, Jean, I’ll pay and if I run out of money, Colin will pay. I understand he also has more money than a bank.”

We were laughing when Colin joined us with our mothers and the boys.

Walking into the dining room, they suggested we use the confrere room. I agreed and they said they would call us when it was ready.

Richie sat between Colin and I, Tommy sat on the other side of me and Ronny sat on the other side of Colin. I looked and Ivan was seated between our mothers. He had a smile on his face, I winked at him. Andre insisted on ordering for us. I chuckled as the boys all knew what he ordered, except Ivan. What he ordered was small stuffed chickens with a side salad and and a vegetable medley in a puff pastry. When the waiters brought our food, Jean whispered something and it turned out to be wine. Even the boys had a glass. I watched as Andre welcomed us to France and Paris. Everyone took a sip of their wine, I watched the boys. They took a sip like they weren’t sure they would like it. I think all they did was wet their lips. Richie looked at me, I smiled and shook my head no. Richie said something in Italian, “Don’t drink it.” All but Ivan understood but since the other boys didn’t drink theirs, he didn’t sip his either. It is customary for young adults to drink wine with their meal, but young adults are usually in their mid-teens.

Dinner was excellent. The boys rubbed their stomach after they finished, I noticed the dads finished what the boys didn’t eat. Except Ivan, but Mom took his plate and passed it to Dad. Colin did the same thing with Richie’s plate.

After dinner we decided to go for a walk, Jean and Andre left to go home and we would see them in a few days. We decided to take a walk, a small stroll as the Dads called it. They were getting tired. So we returned to our hotel and turned in for the night.