Brothers grow up together. Brothers fight together. Brothers laugh together. And brothers romp around France together.

I don’t think my parents could have given a better high school graduation gift to my little brother, Justin. A summer flight to France is pretty good in my book, especially as we were his vacation destination. Here he is chilling at the park like a good uncle. Not a bad looking guy, is he?

2012 is quite the year for this young man. Fresh out of high school, he’s moving into the dorms at my alma mater as I type this. It’s hard to believe that he’s the age I was when I first met Emily nine years ago at a luau my first weekend away at college. Who will Uncle C meet his first weekend at West Virginia’s number one party school? Go get ’em, tiger!

We had Justin up and out and hiking the tallest peaks around by the second day, but not before he could have a nice cuddle with his niece and nephew.

Here we are at the tallest peak around. Down below is the apartment we call home and the French school we call difficult. Speaking of difficult, try hiking several miles with a three year-old strapped to your person. No wonder Justin led the pack by a few dozen yards, distancing himself from the cries of a distressed and fatigued niece Poppy.

Uncle Justin’s first several days here were spent in the wild, whether at a nearby park or out in the Alps like you see here. On the Friday of his visit we set out early in the morning into a different type of wild, the urban wild: Paris. We grabbed a 6:30am train straight to Paris, arriving just under three hours later. You can’t, after all, come to France and not visit Paris! That’d be like visiting the USA and not stepping foot in West Virginia. Unheard of!

We first visited Notre Dame and then headed to the Louvre. Lots of sights to see!

Once inside the Louvre, Justin had an unexpected encounter with a very famous and very beautiful woman named Venus. I think the reason why he and Ms. de Milo hit it off so well is because he, too, knows well what it’s like to break two arms. He’s still waiting for her to accept his Facebook friend request. Courage, bon homme !

He later ran into Venus’ boyfriend. They exchanged a few words, but the conversation was a nonstarter as Justin’s competitor was simply petrified by his presence.

Later, a certain work of art led us to reflect further on what it means to be a man. Here we are, brothers in search of manhood.

For Justin, manhood entails stealing my camera and taking awesome pictures of the Eiffel Tower from atop the Arc de Triomphe.

Our second day in Paris, Justin was convinced he could return to the Louvre to woo the enigmatic female figure he had grown fond of. Here’s the heart of his failed effort:

It’s going to take more than a smashing hat to woo the woman with the smashed arms, little brother. Thus, little brother reflected outside another famous ecclesiastical landmark while I made friends.

After a period of reflection, we did the next logical thing and visited a man who knows more about manhood than most: Napoleon.

This is all it took to raise Justin’s spirits.

Returning from Paris with Saturday already spent, we got some rest for our Sunday trek around Mont Blanc, the highest point in Europe. What’s more, Unky even tried his hand at toting a tike. Here was Justin’s chance to impart his manly wisdom to the next generation. I hope you were listening, Henry.

And just when we thought that Sunday couldn’t get any better, our neighbors invited us to play pétanque. Justin dominated. They couldn’t believe that that was his first time playing. I guess my little bro is growing up.

Monday, we took the bikes to the lake. We’re mighty proud of our lake. It holds the title of largest natural lake in France. How about that action?

Tuesday was sadness. We had to say goodbye. Poppy was particularly saddened by Uncle C’s departure. She loved playing with her uncle, and what a good uncle he is! Thanks for coming, Justin!