Bastille Day

It seems appropriate that Winnie and I should depart on Bastille Day to begin our revolutionary road trip to every Paris in the USA. On July 14, 1789, at the beginning of the French Revolution, an armed mob of Parisians captured the fortress and released its prisoners, a dramatic action that came to symbolize the end of the ancien régime. The Bastille was subsequently demolished by the Revolutionary government. Bastille Day (July 14) has been a French national holiday since 1880.

Our trip is shaping into a William Least Heat-Moon meets Thelma & Louise meets the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (minus Bill's van, Thelma's pistol and also there will be no driving off cliffs). A convertible (because of course Winnie drives a convertible) and lots of headscarves and flouncy skirts will be involved. No interstates and no backtracking.

We have this loose skeleton of destinations, designed just to give us structure and sort of force us to make choices at forks in the road (since neither of us particularly likes decision-making). Mainly, it's supposed to be about the journey. We learned, in our research, that there are not just six but FOURTEEN Parises in the USA (not counting Hilton), and we've wisely elected to save some of them for the future.

Here's this summer's itinerary: First we're heading to Paris, Texas; after that, it's Paris, Arkansas (with a brief stop in DeQueen since DeQueen was my stage name during a stint on the poetry slam circuit and you can't drive past a town with a name like DeQueen and not stop). Depending on time and inclination and gas prices, we might try to pop up to Paris, Missouri and Paris, Illinois, but we're definitely planning on Paris, Tennessee (with a brief stop in Flippin, just because you can't drive past a town with a name like Flippin...) and finally Paris, Kentucky.

If at any point an ashram/yoga retreat/Benedictine Abbey pops up out of the ether, we might stop and meditate. I'll also be on the lookout for a bridge to bungie jump off of and a tidal bore to surf. And since Winnie recently lost 25 pounds and I'm trying to lose the extra thigh I picked up by not running for six weeks while ingesting vast quantities of pasta, gelato and refried beans, we'll also be seeking out all the health food establishments, which are bound to be abundant on the back roads and in the small towns of the Deep South, don't ya reckon?

Me: "Ma'am, could I get that catfish grilled? And can I get those collards steamed?"

Win: "Do y'all have any herbal tea?"

They are gonna LOVE US in DeQueen!!!

Win & Deb sippin' cafe au lait in Paris, France, 2006.