Les Bises

by Zach Roberge, River Editor

Au revoir Le Mans. Au revoir France. I pause a moment before leaning in slowly and kissing your left cheek followed by your right. We embrace then I leave out the door, waving goodbye. I walk away, thinking about these 89 days we’ve spent together and all the experiences we had. Before I realize it, I’m in the Dublin airport, passing through customs. The security officer behind the bullet-proof glass waves me over and I approach, handing him my passport and boarding pass. He says, “Any countries you visit while overseas?”

I falter for a moment because I can understand his clear and natural English. I answer, “Just France and now Dublin, I guess.”

He says, “How long you going to be in Dublin?”

I say, “I’m just here for a layover. I’m heading straight for the plane after this.”

He hands me back my passport after a stamping and smiles. He says, “You don’t even get to see the best place!”

I take my passport back from him and smile. I say, “Next time, for sure.”

I walk away from customs, around a corner, and am greeted by a little magic. There’s a hallway in the Dublin airport where each of the windows on the side the sun rises are stained a color of the rainbow. So, there’s a red window next to a yellow and so on until at the end of the hallway is the purple window. The glass tints the light which transforms the hallway into a very colorful bridge. As a result, to get through customs in Dublin and to head back to the U.S, you have to walk through a rainbow. It was glorious.