My Secret Guide to Paris by Lisa Schroeder Read Free Book Online Page B

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    In each place, you will find a piece of my heart, as I have come to love each of them for different reasons. I hope you love them as well. Have fun and enjoy the journey!
    With love,
    Grandma Sylvia

I believe your brother fancies my sister,” the girl next to me said. Her British accent told me she wasn’t French like I thought, but English.
    I looked up from the notes I was reading. Justin was smiling like a crazy person as he talked to the pretty girl beside him. She was hanging on to every word he said, as if he was the King of England.
    “Do you believe in love at first sight?” my seatmate asked me.
    “I don’t know,” I said. “I’ve never thought about it.”
    “My sister was quite sure she’d meet someone in Paris and fall madly in love. After all, it’s the most romantic city in the world.”
    “That’s what I hear,” I said. “One thing’s for sure. People kiss a lot.”
    I turned to look at the girl with the red beret. I noticed she had on a very fashionable red coat to go along with the beret. “I’m Phoebe,” she said. “I’m from London.”
    I nodded. “I’m Nora, from New York.”
    Phoebe’s pretty green eyes got big and round. “New York? I’ve always wanted to go there. To New York City, I mean.”
    I smiled. “I live in Brooklyn, but we go into the city a lot. Both of my parents work in Manhattan.”
    She pointed to the notes in my hand. “What are you reading? If you don’t mind sharing.”
    “My grandma has made up a treasure hunt around the city of Paris for me. She gave me seven envelopes and a map with places to visit. I just opened the first envelope to see where I’m going.”
    “What a smashing idea,” Phoebe said with a grin. “What will you find along the way? Do you know?”
    “No, I don’t know what she has planned, exactly. But back home, there’s a locked box in my grandma’s trunk that I think is meant for me to open. Except I don’t have the key. I have a strong feeling the key is somewhere in Paris, and these envelopes are going to help me find it.”
    “You and your brother, you’re here with your grandmother, then?”
    I shook my head and told her how I came to find the box and the map and everything else.
    “I’m sorry for your loss,” she said. “But isn’t it wonderful that she planned out this adventure for you before she died? It’s like her last gift to you. Where are you going first?”
    I opened the note I hadn’t had a chance to read. “I’m not sure, but let’s find out.”
    Phoebe peered over my shoulder as I read the second note that had been tucked into the first envelope.
    THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE PARIS, PART 1
    Of course, Paris is known for its chocolate. Today, you will drink the best hot chocolate I’ve ever had in what I’ve come to think of as a chocolate-lover’s paradise. Take the enclosed money and visit Jean-Paul Hévin’s chocolate shop. Jean-Paul is a master chocolatier, as you will soon discover, and his hot chocolate was recently voted the best in Paris.
    On the first floor of his darling shop, you will find chocolates and pastries in a boutique-like setting. Upstairs is a tearoom where you can sit and relax and enjoy your hot chocolate.
    This chocolate shop isn’t far from the Louvre and is fairly easy to find. Please see the map and the enclosed note with directions. Once you’re seated, please ask to speak to a friend of mine, Annabelle, who works there.
    Enjoy your hot chocolate, my dear granddaughter!
    With love,
    Grandma Sylvia
    I looked at Phoebe and smiled. “Hot chocolate. My favorite.”
    She licked her lips. “Mmm, mine, too.”
    “Next stop is ours,” Justin called out to me.
    “We’re getting off, too, Phoebe,” her sister said.
    Phoebe looked at me with her eyebrows raised. “I wonder, would you like some company on your first little adventure?”
    Okay, honestly, it seemed like I’d known Phoebe for ten years rather than ten minutes. She was warm and friendly and easy to talk