Gargoyles and Stained Glass, s’il vous plaît

We’ve established conclusively that Obama is one of the sexiest presidents ever, right? Right. Obviously. No question. So, in the hope that his spell extends beyond the US, and that it has coaxed the rest of the world into forgiving and forgetting the extreme lack of sex appeal that characterized the previous regime, I bought a plane ticket. I am going to Paris! And this time there won’t be that urge to apologize constantly for a hideous government, or the impulse to plaster Canadian maple leaf patches all over my suitcase.

Instead there will be cathedrals, cafes, and catacombs. There will be museum halls crammed with art. There will be trains! Most of all there will be my beloved niece Sophie, who is already over there for her semester abroad. I will definitely check in with her. Someone’s got to make sure she’s drinking enough wine and not studying too much.