Par Le Vu Sisters?

I have my eldest sister to thank for many things in my life including my fear of escalators, the loss of my first baby tooth and, most prominently, my love for Northeastern. That’s right, my sister is a husky alumni of the School of Journalism! She graduated in 2015 and is now a sports reporter/anchor for WDAZ in Grand Forks, ND (see maddiesattler.com for more details). My favorite red-headed sibling journeyed from the Midwest all the way to Europe to meet me, her favorite sister and the result was a Sattler-tastic 36 hours.

 Casual morning hot chocolate outside the Louvre

Photobombed by the Tour Eiffel

We got to spend last weekend in Paris, France eating more bread and cheese than humanly possible and even getting tattoos. Paris has always been close to our hearts because it is the most beautiful city in the world and it was our paternal grandparents’ favorite as well. Our familial association with Paris is rather unique, and connects with my co-op. My grandfather fought in the United States Army during World War II and was deployed to France. He had the opportunity to liberate a concentration camp and save the life of a Jewish Frenchman, Jean Dreyfus. My grandfather helped connect Dreyfus with his father and, in his novel about his time in the French concentration camp, he thanks my grandfather. Jean has a grandson that lives in the heart of Paris. Arthur Dreyfus is a very successful writer (he has his own Wikipedia page!) in France, publishing novels about the intersection of religion and politics around the world.

Arthur has repeatedly said that his family is forever in debt to mine and has extended multiple invitations to stay at his apartment. Unfortunately, this time around, the apartment was undergoing a two-story expansion (in which Arthur is adamant about installing a fireman’s pole to connect the floors) so we were not able to stay there. We were still able to have dinner and reconnect with our beloved family friend and his famous bushy hairdo. The love that Arthur has for his city is something I have never been able to feel for my place of residence. Boston is an amazing city, but I don't have an unconscious pull to spend the rest of my life there. My connections with places are associated with the people that live there. I love Paris because I got to travel there with my brother and, now, my sister. Traveling is not about the places you are going, but the people you go with and meet along the way. Exploration of culture begins with the culture’s people. And hearing Arthur speak about long last and ever-present histories of Paris, I become more and more captivated by this multifaceted city. I would not return to Paris as often as I have if it wasn't for Arthur and I would not have met Arthur if it wasn't for our grandfathers.

My grandparents loved to travel and did so every opportunity they had; it would be quicker for me to list the countries in which they haven’t visited. They gave Madeline and I the travel bug. We were fortunate enough to return to their favorite city in the world and I already can't wait to bring our double husky pride back to the city of lights.