The World Can Be Accessible...... If You Let It

I’d love to tell you a story, it happened our last night in Paris.

We ended up in Paris because it’s been Jordan’s dream ever since we can remember, to visit the Eiffel Tower. So even though Europe can be extremely tricky to navigate in a wheelchair, we planned as best we could and arrived by train in Paris March 28th, 2023.

I thought I had thought of everything, I even had the hotel physically measure the hallways while I waited on the phone.  I had to make sure Jordan would be able to make the turn into the room.  Over 4 days we did our best to navigate Paris and see as much as we could.  

When we woke up the last day we were in a panic because through all 4 days we had just gravitated to any restaurant near us and enjoyed the wine and patio sitting, the problem with this technic is that not one of these bistros was serving frog legs. Not only was the Eiffel Tower on Jordan’s dream it do it list but so were frog legs.  

So my sister made quick work with Google and reserved us a table at an authentically French restaurant, Le Petite Flottes.

We arrived early for our reservation and quickly realized that the restaurant was very tight and crowded, every table was taken and I had to walk sideways to get to the back to use the washroom.  The lovely maitre d’, an elderly man who was so kind to my children was determined to find us a table.  As we waited we were becoming more sure that we wouldn’t be able to get Jordan in the back of the restaurant where the next table was opening up.  Remember we are a party of 6 with a wheelchair!

I expressed my concerns to the maitre d’ in my broken French and he looked at me took my arm and said “we will get her to the table”  Of course my reaction was, but how??  He only replied, “don’t you worry about it”.  How did this man get Jordan to the back through a completely packed restaurant you ask, well he grabbed onto the front of Jordan’s chair and while crouch walking, backwards I might add, asked every person to please stand and push in their chairs so Jordan could get through. Anyone not paying attention to him and his requests he simply tapped them on their shoulder and asked again.

It was something I have never experienced before and of course it brought me to tears.  We made it to the back of the restaurant and had the best meal of our trip, frog legs included.

It would have been the easier choice to decide it was too hard, that this place was not accessible and that we would be an inconvenience to the restaurant and everyone in it, but what I know is that Jordan had every right to be in that restaurant and to eat those frog legs.  So knowing it would be uncomfortable I put my trust in this man and he made it happen and now this is one of my most cherished memories.  

If you would like to see her reaction to the frog legs on tiktok, click here!