Dooley in Paris

 

by Gianna Cacciatore
Presidency and the Press

Marguerite Dooley, rising high school senior from Brattleboro, Vermont, remembers clearly her  three-week sojourn to Paris, France the summer before her junior year of high school.

Arriving eight hours delayed after a six hour flight that she claims was remarkably comfortable for a crowded plane, Dooley began a twenty-one day adventure in a city that she remembers as “always bright and alive, full of lights”.

The first night stands as the one she recalls best. Stiff and sleepy, Dooley, her mother, and her older brother stumbled off of their flight into the middle of Paris’s yearly Bastille Day celebrations, commemorating the day the populace of Paris stormed the Bastille prison and set off the French Revolution.

Dooley easily visualizes the extravagant fireworks that shook the city and filled the sky with color, bursting behind the Eiffel Tower in an awe-inspiring display of national pride. She sat on the lawn outside the tower with her family close beside, resting on luggage they had yet to place in the hotel, sleepy-headed but filled with joy.

“It was fabulous- the best day of my life”.

Many days followed this memorable display- days brimming with mouth-watering delicacies like ham and egg crepes; hours walking through the worn cobble stones of the city in search of the day’s next adventure; exhausting museum visits filled with original wonders, and fond memories of family bonding in a city they all grew quickly to love.

Dooley liked the city best as it was her first night- alive and full of color. “I mostly remember the lights” she recalls, “the lights of the tower, always changing, and the people buzzing around it with a contagious energy”. Dooley was also impressed with the museums of Paris. The sight of their priceless originals linger in her mind. A true history buff, Dooley enjoyed learning the stories behind the images.

It must be kept in mind, however, that despite the sparkling charm of historical Paris, Dooley stands as a true New Englander and Boston native, citing Boston, MA as the greatest city on Earth.

“I was born in Boston, and I’m a Boston girl at heart. Paris is great, but it could never change that”.