Louise Shea, who lives in Ogden House and will turn 100 on Nov. 2, was feted with a fabulous Mother’s Day gift from her two sons, Peter Shea of Redding and Jim Shea of Naples, Fla. They took her to Paris. They arrived on Mother’s Day, May 10, and stayed for a week visiting many of the major sights.
“Mom has lived in Ogden House on River Road since approximately 1994,” her son Jim said in an email to The Bulletin. “She still has her own one-bedroom apartment, takes care of herself and does her own cooking.
“Mom has always wanted to go to Paris,” he added. “You might say it was on her ‘bucket list.’”
The three stayed at the centrally located Westin Paris, which Jim Shea said was accommodating and wheelchair-friendly.
Although Louise got around the city primarily in a wheelchair, that did not slow the trio down.
They spent the first two days touring the town, visiting Notre Dame, walking along the Seine, Champs Élysées, the Jardin des Tuileries and window shopping, Shea said. The rest of the trip involved visits to one art museum a day — the newly reopened Musée Picasso, Musée du Louvre, Musée d’Orsay and Center Pompidou — Musée National d’Art Moderne — followed by an afternoon nap and then “an early but great dinner as only the French can prepare,” he said. “Great duck and/or fish, wine and fantastic desserts were enjoyed. We were usually among the first at every restaurant. As you know, they tend to eat late over there.”
He concluded by saying, “It was a trip that Peter and I as well as Mom will remember forever.”