Paris: A Reunion of Best Friends

Postmarked Wednesday, March 1st, 2006
Topic: Travel (494 words, 15 images, 0 comments)

As I briefly mentioned in a previous post, John and I had already bought our tickets for Paris when I received an unexpected comment on this website! It was from my best friend from middle school, Ariane Bonin, with whom I had lost touch after moving back to America from France in the 8th grade. I could barely contain my excitement!!! Could it be? But how did she find me?? I had searched for her off and on for the past couple of years to no avail... could she really just appear out of thin air on this website??

Needless to say, I was ecstatic and nervous and relieved at the same time. After a couple of emails back and forth during the week, the greatest part was the serendipity of being able to say "Ariane! Let's get together next week, I'll be back in Paris!"

I couldn't wait to arrive in France. And on the final day of our Parisian getaway, that fateful moment arrived. John stayed back at the hotel to do some school work and give the two French-speakers some quality time on their own. We had decided to meet in Creteil (so I got to take another trip on the #8 line) and visit our school and surrounding area. I had not been back since, and her family had moved away as well, so it had been a while since even she had combed those streets!

Seeing her after all of these years (17!!) was unbelievable. She still had her same spark and vitality! She was still just as funny and warm. And most importantly, she was able to remember and share a communal history that I had packed away long ago, once I had made the move back to the States and retrieved my American "persona". It was quite extraordinary to find myself sitting across the table from someone who had adopted me into her family so many years ago, who took me along on family holidays to the coast of Normandy or to her grandmother's house in the southern wine-growing region of Macon. When I last saw her, I was essentially a little French schoolgirl: I counted and had dreams in French, I would feel funny speaking English, and my daily life was conducted solely in French. Years later, although I had to resurrect that part of me from ages spent "switched back" to English or Persian, we were still able to pick up as if no time had passed at all...

It would be impossible for me to express just how amazing it is to have been found by Ariane after all of these years, so I will cease trying. All I can say for sure is that a part of me feels whole again, and the fragments of a long-lost French childhood have finally found their way to the surface.

Here's to old friends. xo

Here's a silly portrait of us outside our old school. The sign to our middle school, College Plaisance. The front gates, which were locked because we visited on a Sunday. The main courtyard, where we would line up for the cafeteria and at recess.
People standing at my old bus stop!! Ariane's old street! She lived on the top floor, with the skylights. We would walk down this street together countless times.
Ariane pointing out where we are on the map! This was the "stade" or stadium across the street, where we would have gym class. We duck into a local Italian restaurant to catch up and have some food! A photo to capture this momentous event!
Pictures of Ariane's house in the country! John and I will try to visit her this summer! Another view of the house! A picture of Ariane on vacation this past summer!  

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