We'll Always Have Paris: A Mother/Daughter Memoir

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Overview

How her daughter and her passport taught Jennifer to live like there's no tomorrow

Jennifer Coburn has always been terrified of dying young. So she decides to save up and drop everything to travel with her daughter, Katie, on a whirlwind European adventure before it's too late. Even though her husband can't join them, even though she's nervous about the journey, and even though she's perfectly healthy, Jennifer is determined to jam her ...

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We'll Always Have Paris: A Mother/Daughter Memoir

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More About This Book

Overview

How her daughter and her passport taught Jennifer to live like there's no tomorrow

Jennifer Coburn has always been terrified of dying young. So she decides to save up and drop everything to travel with her daughter, Katie, on a whirlwind European adventure before it's too late. Even though her husband can't join them, even though she's nervous about the journey, and even though she's perfectly healthy, Jennifer is determined to jam her daughter's mental photo album with memories—just in case.

From the cafés of Paris to the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Jennifer and Katie take on Europe one city at a time, united by their desire to see the world and spend precious time together. In this heartwarming generational love story, Jennifer reveals how their adventures helped vanquish her fear of dying...for the sake of living.

"Brimming with joie de vivre!"—Jamie Cat Callan, author of Ooh La La! French Women's Secrets to Feeling Beautiful Every Day

"Coburn proves as adept at describing the terrain of the human heart as she is the gardens of Alcázar or the streets of Paris."—Claire and Mia Fontaine, authors of the bestselling Come Back and Have Mother, Will Travel

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Editorial Reviews

From Barnes & Noble

As their transatlantic plane prepared for landing in Paris, Jennifer Coburn imagined a voice over the loudspeaker announcing, "On our flight this morning is a clueless American mother and her eight-year-old daughter who is counting on her to navigate their ten-day stay in the City of Lights. Good luck with that." If self-confidence was not her forte, pluck and a sense of adventure were. In summer after summer, this busy novelist (Brownie Points; Fields of Schemes) drops everything and takes off with her supportive offspring on improvised mother/daughter learning tours of Europe. This trade paperback and NOOK Book original has already been hailed as "a picture-perfect travelogue" and its "powerful, tender, and funny" passages. And what can be more joyful than a mid-life "bucket list" memoir?

From the Publisher
"I'm profoundly in love with Jennifer Coburn's memoir We'll Always Have Paris! From Coburn's picture-perfect travelogue to her hilarious observations, she's woven together a powerful narrative with a heartfelt and thoughtful examination of what truly makes a family. I was enthralled from the very first page and I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I want to read this again, tell all my friends about it... and then renew my passport." - Jen Lancaster, NYT bestselling author of Bitter is the New Black, The Tao of Martha, and Here I Go Again

"This book touched me in a profound way. I lost my beloved father a short time ago and I have been ruminating about all the trips we never took together. Before my sisters and I were born, he traveled the world and regaled us with tales all through our childhood. We planned to see many of those same places together, but fate intervened in the form of marriage and a child of my own. In the end I can say that I am grateful that we shared so much time together and that his stories will always live on in me. Thank you Jennifer." - Cayocosta72

"We'll Always Have Paris reads like a sweet stroll through Europe with a funny friend who shares touching stories of her parent-child relationships. A great escape." - Janice MacLeod, author of Paris Letters

"We'll Always Have Paris is simply brimming with joie de vivre! From the very moment I embarked on Jennifer Coburn's delicious Paris memoir, I wanted to travel back in time to when my own daughter was eight years old, take her by the hand, and bring her to Paris for the adventure of a lifetime. Well, until I have a granddaughter, I have the next best thing--Jennifer Coburn's gorgeous story of love, family and the ties that bind. I am recommending this to all my friends and family and especially to my own daughter. It's simply fantastique!" - Jamie Cat Callan, author of Ooh La La! French Women's Secrets to Feeling Beautiful Every Day

"Jennifer Coburn's We'll Always Have Paris takes us on two journeys. One is a trés entertaining mother/daughter travel tale in which Coburn brings their evolving relationship, and Europe, to life with such vibrance, humor and insight, it made us want to pack our bags and hit the road again tomorrow. She also takes us on an internal journey chronicling her deep love and longing for the adored hippie/musician father she lost to cancer as a teen. In passages powerful, tender and funny - often in one sentence - Coburn proves as adept at describing the terrain of the human heart as she does the gardens of Alcazar or the streets of Paris." - Claire and Mia Fontaine, authors of the bestselling Comeback and Have Mother, Will Travel

"We'll Always Have Paris: A Mother/Daughter Adventure is a funny, honest, sometimes kooky memoir by San Diegan Jennifer Coburn...to read the book is to experience Europe anew, and relive all the wonder that travel brings." - San Diego Magazine

"Jennifer's narration of their adventures is laugh-out-loud funny, warm and touching-I thought of Nora Ephron and Anna Quindlen." - Presidio Sentinel

"This poignant and very funny memoir chronicles their summers in cities like Paris, London, Barcelona and Amsterdam, where they overcome fears and challenges, journey off the beaten path and make mother-daughter memories that will last a lifetime — however long or short that may be." - Midlife at the Oasis

"What made the book especially riveting, though, is how Coburn interweaves the tales of their travels with memories of her late father. She deftly ties in themes from their experiences to memories from her childhood, and I marveled at how skilfully she wove together the joyful and the difficult strands of her past.

I shut the book and began dreaming about where I'd love to take my kids." - 4 Mothers 1 Blog

"Anyone can keep a travel journal but it takes a special talent for crafting an engaging travel story worthy of inviting others on the journey. We'll Always Have Paris: A Mother/Daughter Memoir by Jennifer Coburn is not a flowery travel memoir about eating croissants, sipping coffee in Parisian cafes, and wearing matching berets in Paris. It's a lesson in living life and well worth the read." - Solo Travel Girl

From the Publisher
"I'm profoundly in love with Jennifer Coburn's memoir We'll Always Have Paris! From Coburn's picture-perfect travelogue to her hilarious observations, she's woven together a powerful narrative with a heartfelt and thoughtful examination of what truly makes a family. I was enthralled from the very first page and I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I want to read this again, tell all my friends about it... and then renew my passport." - Jen Lancaster, NYT bestselling author of Bitter is the New Black, The Tao of Martha, and Here I Go Again

"This book touched me in a profound way. I lost my beloved father a short time ago and I have been ruminating about all the trips we never took together. Before my sisters and I were born, he traveled the world and regaled us with tales all through our childhood. We planned to see many of those same places together, but fate intervened in the form of marriage and a child of my own. In the end I can say that I am grateful that we shared so much time together and that his stories will always live on in me. Thank you Jennifer." - Cayocosta72

"We'll Always Have Paris reads like a sweet stroll through Europe with a funny friend who shares touching stories of her parent-child relationships. A great escape." - Janice MacLeod, author of Paris Letters

"We'll Always Have Paris is simply brimming with joie de vivre! From the very moment I embarked on Jennifer Coburn's delicious Paris memoir, I wanted to travel back in time to when my own daughter was eight years old, take her by the hand, and bring her to Paris for the adventure of a lifetime. Well, until I have a granddaughter, I have the next best thing--Jennifer Coburn's gorgeous story of love, family and the ties that bind. I am recommending this to all my friends and family and especially to my own daughter. It's simply fantastique!" - Jamie Cat Callan, author of Ooh La La! French Women's Secrets to Feeling Beautiful Every Day

"Jennifer Coburn's We'll Always Have Paris takes us on two journeys. One is a trés entertaining mother/daughter travel tale in which Coburn brings their evolving relationship, and Europe, to life with such vibrance, humor and insight, it made us want to pack our bags and hit the road again tomorrow. She also takes us on an internal journey chronicling her deep love and longing for the adored hippie/musician father she lost to cancer as a teen. In passages powerful, tender and funny - often in one sentence - Coburn proves as adept at describing the terrain of the human heart as she is the gardens of Alcazar or the streets of Paris." - Claire and Mia Fontaine, authors of the bestselling Comeback and Have Mother, Will Travel

Library Journal
★ 05/01/2014
After a family tragedy leaves novelist (The Wife of Reilly) and columnist (salon.com, Huffington Post) Coburn terrified of death, she resolves to make as many happy memories with her daughter, Katie, as possible. Coburn plans a European adventure that over the course of several years takes them to beautiful places such as Spain, Italy, and, of course, Paris. From one amazing adventure to another, as she and Katie explore what the world has to offer, Coburn learns the most important life lesson of all: to appreciate every precious moment with the ones you love. Part travelog and part touching memoir, this book is perfect for readers who enjoyed Judith Fein's Life Is a Trip; Jennifer Baggett and others' The Lost Girls; or any of the volumes in the "Best Women's Travel Writing" series. VERDICT A book for all readers, but especially mothers and daughters, this fun, inspiring, and spirited journey will have you scrambling for your passport and calling your mom just to say, "I love you."—Melissa Culbertson, Homewood, IL
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781402288630
  • Publisher: Sourcebooks, Incorporated
  • Publication date: 4/8/2014
  • Pages: 400
  • Sales rank: 73785
  • Product dimensions: 5.50 (w) x 8.20 (h) x 1.20 (d)

Meet the Author

Jennifer Coburn is a USA Today best selling author of six novels and contributor to four literary anthologies. Over the past two decades, Coburn has received numerous awards from the Press Club and Society for Professional Journalists for articles that appeared in Mothering, Big Apple Baby, The Miami Herald, The San Diego Union-Tribune and dozens of national and regional publications. She has also written for Salon.com, Creators News Syndicate and The Huffington Post. Coburn lives in San Diego with her husband, William, and their daughter, Katie. We'll Always Have Paris is her first memoir.
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Read an Excerpt

Introduction

"Jail?!" my husband William shouted through the telephone.

"We were never actually in a jail cell," I explained, now safely back in our hotel room. "It was just a warning."

"A warning?" His incredulity was clear despite the crackling reception of our overseas connection. "From a police officer?"

"Yes."

"After you and Katie were arrested?"

"Detained," I replied.

He sighed audibly.

I probably should have known that climbing over a playground fence was illegal, but other families had jumped first, I explained. "I was trying to be one with the culture, do as the French were doing."

"Was there a lock on the gate?" William asked.

"Kind of."

"Listen, in any culture around the world, a locked gate means don't enter," he said. "It's universal, got it? Locked gate equals go away. It never means hop over. How is Katie?"

"She's relieved they didn't get her name," I said. "She was concerned about having a record at eight years old."

William laughed at how similar he and his daughter were. "Did they book you? How did you get out?"

"One of the other...prisoners started yelling at the officer, and I think I kind of annoyed him by making a stupid reference to Jerry Lewis. I think he just got tired of dealing with us and decided to let the whole group of us go."

"Jen, I've got to tell you, this is not inspiring a lot of confidence."

This sentiment was one we had in common.

***

A trip to Paris had sounded so adventurous when I was first talking about it a year earlier. People spoke about the city with dreamy longing, as though Paris possessed a magic that could not be found elsewhere. I'd never heard anyone talk about Paris without sighing. The city was a Promised Land that held appeal for most everyone: artists, lovers, even people who just liked cheese.

Sitting across the table from the French police officer, though, I wondered what made me think I could handle an overseas trip with a child. I didn't speak French. I had practically zero travel experience. And clearly I did not understand the local customs.

It wasn't as though we had money to blow either. When I told William I wanted to take this trip, he gently reminded me of a few things. Both of our bathrooms were in serious need of repair. In one, we couldn't use the shower because the water leak would further damage the sinking floor, which was covered with a board. Our forty-year-old kitchen looked like it had parachuted in from the set of a sitcom like The Brady Bunch or The Partridge Family, complete with a mysterious metal appliance attached to the aqua blue formica splash wall. No one has ever figured out what this thing is or does, but some have guessed that it was once used to cook meat. Our oven had two temperatures: hot and off. The dilapidated louvered windows let in more air than they kept out.

And yet overseas travel was, somehow, my economic priority.

I know why, of course. My father died when I was nineteen years old. He was forty-nine, and after years of getting high with fellow musicians, lung cancer finally did him in. Marijuana was his drug of choice, but as he often said, he never met a buzz he didn't like. He also managed a two-pack-a-day cigarette habit.

Since my father's death in 1986, I've been checking my rear-view mirror to see if the Grim Reaper is tailgating.

When William and I started dating, I warned him I was kind of psychic and knew I was going to be killed in a car accident two years later. He said he'd take his chances. Whenever my doctor tells me I'm perfectly healthy, I lament the state of the American health care system. I shake my head, saddened that doctors are so inept that they haven't yet diagnosed my serious illness. Early detection is the key to survival, and these guys are clearly missing something in all the perfect blood work, the spotless MRIs, the immaculate lung X-rays I regularly request.

William says my only illness is neurosis, nothing a few monthly gab sessions with a therapist can't fix. My mother, on the other hand, becomes frenzied when I articulate my fear of dying young. "You cannot say things like that aloud!" she shrieks. "You can't even think them. The universe hears everything and manifests our thoughts." Then she demands I say, "Cancel, cancel," and affirm, "I am healthy and vibrant. My body is prepared to live a long life of abundant health."

As much as I love my mother, her New Age style of health insurance grates on me because at its core is the notion that people who are seriously ill caused their condition with negative thoughts. If only they would adopt a can-do attitude and chant the right fortune cookie wisdom, their cancer would run scared, like Satan from a cross. My mother argues that the power of positive thinking has helped millions of people, but it's a bit hard to swallow when you've watched someone you love be ravaged by disease and know that no positive thoughts would have saved him. When I challenge my mother's beliefs, I keep it light, telling her that I think about winning the lottery all the time. "I affirm that aloud," I tell her. "I creatively visualize all kinds of cool things I'll buy, and it hasn't happened yet." After these exchanges, my mother shakes her head pityingly. "That's not how it works, Jennifer."

But what if by genetic predisposition, or past habits, or just bad luck, I meet the same fate as my father and never live to see fifty? Which would Katie remember more: a trip to Europe with me or beautiful tile work in our bathroom?

My friend Evelyn was given the choice between a trip to Paris and a Rolex for her birthday. She took the watch. I thought she was out of her mind until she reminded me of her history. She was one of nine children in a working-class Puerto Rican family in Michigan. Having that watch was a reminder that she was successful. It was a symbol that she had made it. When the choice was given, Evelyn and her husband were both attorneys living in a home so well appointed that then-presidential candidate John Edwards chose to host a fundraiser there. "The trip would be over in ten days," Evelyn said, "but I will look at this watch every morning and it will make me happy." She says she'd make the same decision today.

There are no right choices. There are only our choices. As for mine, I'd take Paris.

My plan was to jam-pack Katie's mental scrapbook with beautiful memories of us walking hand-in-hand through the sepia-toned streets of Paris, stopping to listen to an accordion player whose monkey in a red beret begged us for tips. We would ride bikes, me holding a baguette, Katie a red balloon. We would see a mime and find him charming.

Whether I met my father's fate or lived a long life, I wanted to look at Katie as I lay on my deathbed and tell her it was wonderful being her mother. And with my last breath of life, I'd tell her that we'll always have Paris.

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Customer Reviews

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Tue Apr 08 00:00:00 EDT 2014

    This mother and daughter adventure was a delightful escape from

    This mother and daughter adventure was a delightful escape from my everyday world.  With wit and biting charm, 
    Jennifer reminds us about what really matters.  You won't be disappointed when you choose to travel with Jennifer and Katie
    to explore Paris.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted Sun Apr 20 00:00:00 EDT 2014

    more from this reviewer

    Jennifer Coburn¿s travels with her daughter, Katie, are fueled b

    Jennifer Coburn’s travels with her daughter, Katie, are fueled by the desire to avidly appreciate every moment one has, while one has it.  The loss of her father, Sheldon Coburn, is the source of her fear of losing to death and of an unspoken ambivalence about his life.  For he chose to immerse himself in smoking and pot and a free lifestyle that caused his young demise; although he tried to be all he could be to Jennifer, she perhaps didn’t really “get” his message of grasping every moment for its special qualities, a gift.  She and Katie are now, without both realizing it initially, on the journey to “get it!”
    Throughout this memoir, they travel through Europe, to Paris, Italy, Spain, England and Amsterdam.  Sometimes they do the tour thing, usually with disappointing results, but their best moments are had in totally unexpected ways that are funny, poignant, frustrating, precious, and deeply memorable.  
    Yes, they are the victims of scams, meet some nasty hotel personnel, get motion sickness on planes and trains, sleep in a famous “Shakespeare” room that is more like a New York City shelter full of homeless people, cope with skyrocketing temperatures, get caught up in the Italian version of a train strike, and other not so fun events but they handle them with humor and their “European shrug of shoulders” manner.
    However, there are innumerable beautiful moments when they visit museums full of gorgeous art they fall in love with, climb up the Eiffel Tower, listen to opera and symphony concerts in Vienna, meet a famous actress on their trip from Europe to London, eat at simple but delicious restaurants and bakeries, walk along the banks of rivers and streams in every country, and so much more that carries the essence of this mother-daughter journey!
    Interspersed into these descriptions are the memories Jennifer shares about her father’s life, from its early beginning as a briefly famous musician and singer to his eventual coping with his lung cancer and death.  One senses Jennifer trying to understand his life, and therefore her own, as she shares these memories, treasuring the moments she had with him and yet somehow finding something elusive about him as well.  Somehow her husband, William, captures it best toward the end of the account, but we must wait for that wisdom until she is ready to really “get it.” 
    The tone and style of this memoir is so comfortable, relaxed, honest, raw and beautiful that words themselves feel elusive to grasp the very heart of this MUST read book.  The reader is touched not only by each step of this heart-warming story that shows this author’s best writing to date.  Highly recommended!

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Fri Apr 18 00:00:00 EDT 2014

    I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy a "travel guide", b

    I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy a "travel guide", but We'll Always Have Paris turned out to be so much more!  
    Jennifer Coburn beautifully paints the feel and magnificence of the sights, sounds, and feelings of the villages and cities,
    but what I really liked was the flash backs to her past and her memories of her father.  Having recently lost my father,
    I could identify with her internal feelings of loss and appreciation for the relationship she had with her father.  
    I also loved how she described her interactions with her daughter.  
    Thank you Jennifer for allowing us to join you on the journey to Europe.  I can't wait to your her next book.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Tue Apr 08 00:00:00 EDT 2014

    Jen's books are always fun, but this is her best so far. The mem

    Jen's books are always fun, but this is her best so far. The memoir has aspects that resonated with me as a traveler, as a mom, and as a lover of a good story. She captures the ups and downs of traveling with a child with insight and humor... the fun, the exhaustion, the adventures that came from what, in hindsight, weren't the best decisions. If you've ever traveled, or wanted to travel, with your children then you'll enjoy this romp through emotions and adventures as you accompany Jen on her travels.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Tue Apr 08 00:00:00 EDT 2014

    Reading the introduction had me alternately laughing, crying, an

    Reading the introduction had me alternately laughing, crying, and reflecting, already... and the book only got better from there! This is a look inside a mother's mind that has much to offer - even to us non-moms - as we all grapple with who we are and what's best to do with the life we are given. A fun read that is entertaining, poignant, witty, and profound. The more you get to know Jennifer, Katie, and William, the more time you'll want to spend with them. Pick up the book, and see.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Tue Apr 08 00:00:00 EDT 2014

    This was a delightful book about the tough and not so tough choi

    This was a delightful book about the tough and not so tough choices we make everyday as parents all wrapped up in a trip to Paris. With great humor, it describes the joys and challenges of parenting, the nagging concerns about one's ability to parent well, as well as the reflection and appreciation for one's own parents. A must read for parents and non-parents as well as those who love to travel.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Tue Apr 08 00:00:00 EDT 2014

    We'll Always have Paris is a charming and adventurous true story

    We'll Always have Paris is a charming and adventurous true story of a mom and her young daughter experiencing several summers
    of travel in Europe.  Through Jennifer's humorous, insightful and descriptive moments, one explores the environs of Amsterdam, breathes 
    in the aromas of Italy, the excitement of Spain and the wonders of Paris.  It also blends her wit and keen ear for dialogue with poignant
    flashback tie-ins of Jennifer's early years with her own mother and of sharing time with her musician father and his ill-fated connection with
     his drug of choice.  I was more than drawn in by her honesty, introspection and assessment of life's challenges, from childhood into the 
    present.   I truly wanted the last page to read:  "to be continued" for at that point, I was craving the next chapter, for as we know, life is a 
    journey, after all.
      

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Tue Apr 08 00:00:00 EDT 2014

    I have read several of Jennifer Coburn¿s fiction novels and coul

    I have read several of Jennifer Coburn’s fiction novels and couldn’t wait for this next round of impending belly-laughs. To my surprise, one of the first emotions I experienced was a deeply profound connection with Jennifer as a mother. Different from her Chick-Lit adventures, this memoir touches on the insecurities we feel about “doing it right”, our fear of time moving too fast and out of our control, and yes, of course the humor, that comes from being a mom in this day and age.

    Like the roller coasters Jennifer describes enjoying with her father on Coney Island, this book took me on a ride from snorting giggles one moment to tear-filled eyes the next with few paragraphs in between.

    Jennifer shows the reader her anxieties about everything from motherhood to being an adept traveler in a foreign land to worrying about not measuring up as a daughter to two eccentric, yet seemingly inspiring and loving parents.

    At times, her travels mirror the stories of her parents’ actual, and sometimes unfulfilled, histories and challenge her to accept life as it comes, as difficult as that often proves to be. Her daughter, Katie, serves as a calming (and hilarious) influence that help Jennifer overcome some of her fears: an early death, loss of control and even veering from her carefully (perhaps obsessively) planned itineraries.

    What I took away from this book was an unquenchable desire to plan a European adventure with my own daughters and to never pick up another cigarette, again. Thank you, Jennifer, for that.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Tue Apr 08 00:00:00 EDT 2014

    Jennifer Coburn, you had me at "Paris." In the introd

    Jennifer Coburn, you had me at "Paris."

    In the introduction to this engaging memoir, Jennifer remarks that she has "never heard anyone talk about Paris without sighing." I'm no exception. As a francophile and lover of memoir, I was delighted to receive an advance review copy.

    Jennifer was still in her teens when she lost her father, and, she writes, has spent her adulthood "checking my rear-view mirror to see if the Grim Reaper is tailgaiting." Despite excellent health, she was convinced she too would die young, so was determined to jam-pack her daughter Katie's mental scrapbook with beautiful mother-daughter memories.

    To that end, she and her daughter spent several summer vacations traveling overseas. I suspect many of us will recognize ourselves in this description: "I don't need to be this happy at once, I thought. Can't I save some for later? A better part of me admonished that I should enjoy the experience now and stop searching for life's doggie bags."

    In thoughtful, frequently hilarious detail, Jennifer writes about letting go of that fear of death and learning how to enjoy her life. "Katie instinctively knew what I had struggled my entire life to grasp," she says. "And I still hadn't gotten it. Eluding me was the ability to focus on what I had, rather than what I had lost or could lose."

    A meditation on the meaning of family and memory, this funny, poignant memoir will have you reaching for your own passport.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Tue Apr 08 00:00:00 EDT 2014

    Not since Marjorie Hart's New York Times bestselling Summer at T

    Not since Marjorie Hart's New York Times bestselling Summer at Tiffany have I been completely and utterly charmed by a memoir. Jennifer Coburn's We'll Always Have Paris is a wonderful travelogue of her adventures to Europe with daughter Katie over a span of about eight years. After Jennifer's father died when she was only 17, Jennifer feared that she, too, would succumb at an early age, so when she had her own daughter, Katie, Jennifer vowed to make the most of whatever time they would have together. And that's exactly what she set out to do with travels to Europe, starting and ending in Paris. Jennifer's smart, observant, heartfelt, humorous and, yes, slightly neurotic, memoir will make you laugh, cry, and give thanks every day. You may not always have Paris, but Jennifer reminds us that you should!

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Mon Apr 07 00:00:00 EDT 2014

    This book was amazing! The Author fused the storyline of herself

    This book was amazing! The Author fused the storyline of herself and her daughter going on adventures together with the storyline of her father and her younger self very well. I found it reaffirming as a mother to follow her through her journey first as someone's daughter then through her own experience of motherhood. I appreciated being able to bear witness to her honest and hilarious report of her own trials and tribulations, relating to the emotion, and watching her grown through the book as the memories she makes with her daughter slowly make her "baggage" seem less heavy. Truly a good read.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Mon Sep 29 00:00:00 EDT 2014

    Sam

    Walks in and orders a kids meal then goes to a table

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Sun Sep 28 00:00:00 EDT 2014

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Sun Sep 28 00:00:00 EDT 2014

    Dante

    Nvm im gonna go to the Effle tower

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Sun Sep 28 00:00:00 EDT 2014

    The Cafe

    Take a sit and dine at the Cafe

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  • Posted Tue Sep 23 00:00:00 EDT 2014

    more from this reviewer

    I Loved this Book

    This is a great travel memoir and clearly was cathartic for the author, to work through her issues with her father and ensure it did not control her own life. I started it thinking it was the usual "I'm having a great time in Paris" book, and it turned out to be much, much more. Finished it a few days, and already have passed it over to my daughter, who devoured it. Read this book if you are a mother, if you have a daughter and if you are working through an issue with a parent. That covers just about everyone!

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Fri Aug 15 00:00:00 EDT 2014

    I LOVED this book! I highly recommend "We'll Always Have Pa

    I LOVED this book! I highly recommend "We'll Always Have Paris". It is a bright and engaging read that details he authors ' experiences as she travels through Europe with her daughter. The book delivers the message about what is truly important. The author chose lasting memories with her daughter over home improvements. Eventually a new kitchen will become dated, but "We'll Always Have Paris". 

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Tue Apr 22 00:00:00 EDT 2014

    With her customary wit and breezy style, Coburn regales readers

    With her customary wit and breezy style, Coburn regales readers with tales of her romps through Paris, London, and other European capitals, her daughter by her side. Their escapades will have you laughing out loud. But this is more than a lighthearted travelogue. Beneath the humor are explorations of a deeper kind, as Coburn grapples with what it means to be a daughter, a mother, and a human being facing her own mortality. "We’ll Always Have Paris" is a heartwarming and rewarding read.

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  • Posted Tue Apr 08 00:00:00 EDT 2014

    Jennifer Coburn's new book "We'll always have Paris" r

    Jennifer Coburn's new book "We'll always have Paris"
    recounts her trips through Paris, Italy and Spain with her young daughter. Touching, heart-breaking at times as we learn to know her relationship with her dad, who died at the age of 49, through flashbacks, very funny at other times. Reading this book is, most of the time, like breathing laughing gas while reading comic books. I laughed out loud and imagined these two gals (mother and young daughter) treading their ways through Paris and places in Italy and Spain. Jennifer making fun of her own insecurities, while still hopping on trains, buses, faking accents, playing charades when unable to find the correct words, etc... I so totally enjoyed this book. Great read!

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Mon Apr 07 00:00:00 EDT 2014

    No text was provided for this review.

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