As I write this, we are making our final preparations to leave for Paris for a nice four-day holiday.* Why are we going on holiday during some random week in November, you ask? Well, inquiring reader, we are going on holiday because that’s what people in Ireland do. They drink tea, they drink Guinness, and they go on holiday—often while drinking tea and Guinness. So really we are just embracing Irish culture and going to Paris because we feel like it. Just call us Teach Holiday or something.

When thinking about what to write about in this post regarding Paris, I thought: this should be easy, I can just go on strike halfway through the post and chalk it up to embracing French culture. Carolyn told me that that would not cut it. So I have to write a real post. Speaking of Carolyn, she has also been muttering “les incompétents” whenever she passes me in the house or office, which is cool, because I love that musical. Anyway, I’m really excited for our trip—especially after this weekend.

On Saturday, before starting our weekendly gauntlet of masses, I went in to town to watch soccer. I guess since I couldn’t watch Notre Dame lose, I felt like I needed to watch my favorite soccer team—Tottenham Hotspur—lose. And they did. 4-2. It was les miserables. Despite the result, it was still fun to watch the game with a group of like-minded fans at the pub. In any case, I guess a trip to Paris is a good way to get one’s mind off of sports, because as we learned at the last world cup, they don’t play them there.

Anyway, we leave in less than twelve hours, so it’s time to get rested up. I hope you’ll keep us in your prayers as we travel, and we’ll certainly hold you in ours as we make our way through Notre Dame, Sacre-Coeur, and all the rest. Que la fête commence!

*This is the Irish word for vacation.