Free My Secret Guide to Paris by Lisa Schroeder

boutique called Yamina and ask to speak to Marie. She’s a dear friend of mine. I’m sure by now you must be wondering what all of these special gifts are for. Do you like them? I hope so! Don’t worry, all will be revealed in time. For now, enjoy the journey!
    With love,
    Grandma Sylvia
    I looked at Phoebe as I leaned back and sighed. “Do I like the gifts? How can I answer that when I don’t even know what they are?”
    “Nora, I know you probably don’t want to hear this, but—”
    “Please don’t tell me I have to tell my mom. Please? Let’s go see what we can find out at the third place. Let’s just wait and see.”
    She smiled. “Whatever you say. Who knows, maybe third time’s a charm.”
    I could only hope.

W e met up with Justin and Alice right on time. When they asked what we did for three hours, we told them we drank some of the best hot chocolate in Paris and admired Monet’s water lilies.
    When we asked what they did, both Justin and Alice blushed. Justin replied quickly, “Just wandered around.”
    I was pretty sure that meant they’d found a romantic spot on a bridge somewhere and made googly eyes at each other. But I didn’t mind at all. In fact, I was glad, because if Justin and Alice liked each other and wanted to spend more time together, that meant Phoebe and I could hang out together some more, too.
    Alice suggested we grab some crêpes from a street cart for lunch, so that’s what we did. Grandma had taken me for crêpes at a neighborhood street fair in the city last summer, so I was curious if French crêpes would be much different. Here, the list of fillings seemed to go on forever. I couldn’t read all of them, so I asked Phoebe which one she liked the best. She said her favorite was Nutella and banana. I’d never had Nutella before, but Phoebe explained it’s a hazelnut spread with a fabulous chocolate flavor to it.
    “Chocolate again?” I asked. “I think my mother would kill me if she knew.”
    Phoebe smiled. “Don’t tell her, and simply have a healthy dinner tonight. Besides, you are in Paris, Nora! You’re supposed to splurge.”
    The warm crêpes were sprinkled with powdered sugar, the bottom halves wrapped in white paper to make them easier to handle. I couldn’t wait to bite into mine as I eyed the Nutella and bananas oozing out of the top of the thin, pancake-like creation.
    Phoebe grabbed her camera and had Justin take a picture of the two of us holding our crêpes. Then we found a nearby park to sit and eat. The clouds started breaking up, and tiny patches of blue sky popped out here and there. The sun even played hide-and-seek with us a few times.
    “Mmmm,” Justin said, his mouth full. “This is good.”
    I took a bite, and even though I’d had a crêpe before, I didn’t remember it tasting anything like this one. All of the flavors blended together and it was like a party in my mouth. It tasted incredible.
    It seemed to me, though, that in Paris, everything was simply better. The colors, brighter. The people, happier. The food, tastier. It could have just been my imagination. Or maybe Paris really was magical, just like Grandma had made it sound when she shared her stories.
    “What a good day this has been,” Phoebe said. “I’m so glad we ran into the two of you.”
    “Yeah,” Justin said. “Worked out pretty well, didn’t it? You girls want to go off on your own again this afternoon? Alice and I don’t mind. We can meet back here, Nora, and take the train to our hotel.”
    I was so happy he’d brought up the rest of the afternoon so I didn’t have to. I couldn’t have planned it better.
    “We’d love that, right, Phoebe?”
    “Right,” she said.
    “Cool,” Justin said, looking at Alice. “Then it’s settled.”
    I didn’t know what they had planned, but I didn’t care. Phoebe and I would be on our own again, exploring another part of Paris. I couldn’t wait!
    When we finished eating, Phoebe and I said good-bye to Justin and