I visited a new country with my 78-year-old dad. It made me realize I didn't know him nearly as well as I thought.

When I traveled to Paris with my 78-year-old father, he showed me a completely new side to himself.

Eryn Gordon

My 78-year-old dad has had a 15-year love affair with Paris. Every summer like clockwork, he and my stepmom escape their New England home and make their annual pilgrimage to the French capital.Even though my older sister and I have done our fair share of our own adventures, we had still never been to Paris. That was my dad's thing, not ours. However, that all changed in 2023, when my sister and I flew into Charles de Gaulle to see what all the fuss was about.The morning we arrived, we planned to meet our dad in the lobby of our hotel. It had been a few weeks since I saw him, and I almost didn't recognize him when he walked through the door.He had a breezy linen shirt, leather sandals, and a scruffy 5 o'clock shadow.For a man who wouldn't dare leave his New England house without a clean shave, my immediate thought was that something had gone wrong. He probably lost power, misplaced his razor, or found his way into a Montmartre absinthe bar.My sister and I joked, "Is customs confiscating Gillettes nowadays?"

"It's the Paris effect," he replied, as if it were obvious.He'd transformed into a Parisian local right in front of my eyes