Rediscovering Paris

We are in the last few days of life in here in Mexico and sadly our time here will end in three short weeks. I will miss Mexico and all of its color and flavor and life. June will be a month of packing up the smaller things and organizing. We will be leaving the movers to box up the big things in July with Seb standing by to make sure everything gets packed the right way this time.

For the month of July we, meaning the two kids and I will be biding time in Florida with my family,--celebrating lots of missed birthdays and hopefully getting our feet wet in the Gulf, --a relaxed and wonderful month of zen both Little S and I are looking forward to so much that it's all we can think about. The anticipation is tough on a little guy.

In August for a few weeks we're on French vacation and also homeless for the entire month which will be an odd feeling. We won't have our new diggs until September, really okay actually because we have a quite few things planned for August and no one would be around Paris anyway. The city is empty in August! But we will have fun as we squeeze lots of adventures into three weeks time-- a week in our old house, (hopefully the renter will be on vacation and will agree to it), and then a week in the mountains with friends camping, and then perhaps a week in the Mediterranean swimming in the cool blue waters and eating small melons bought at roadside stands. Then finally after all that it's off to Paris!

We haven't found a place to live yet because we're really procrastinating but Seb has looked at a few things on his own and I have done some searches online. He really wants me to decide with him and we have to do a little budget weaving because Paris takes a big bite out of the finances and we hadn't really expected how much, but ouch! We had originally talked about living in the countryside or the suburbs, but it may not be possible since it's likely Little S will need to start speech therapy next year and we'll need to be in a more urban area with more access to a selection of doctors.

We are actually excited about living in Paris and starting this whole new adventure. It wasn't something we'd have chosen a few years ago but it seems like life has opened this path for us and we are going to follow it with as much enthusiasm as we followed the path to Mexico. I am probably going to be car-free but that´s fine by me. There is really no need and it´s such an expense to drive a car in Europe now that I am going to be saving a lot by going it on foot. I can't wait to explore all the Paris restaurants, markets and little cafes I've never had time to explore in the past. I may have a small companion by my side but she won't mind as long as she can coax some grumpy Parisians to smile at her.

A friend here said it will be interesting for me to discover Paris, but actually I have been unearthing the layers of this city for a long while now. Like most expats I've visited the city at least 20 times or more thanks to visiting relatives and Seb's work related travelling. I always tagged along with him before we had the kids, spending my days exploring the city while he worked, and in the evening we´d try a new restaurant together. In 1997 I spent a lot of time in Paris because I was a student on a semester abroad program. I lived in a dorm at the Sorbonne for over two months and took classes as a photography student. So I guess I will be delving deeper into Paris if anything, but the basics I already know pretty well.

The summer abroad in Paris was a funny experience. Like I said I was a photography student and those pictures are so funny to look at now. It was all so new! I fell in love with the city despite my claims to the department director that I was really disappointed that the Italy trip had been cancelled and I was being strongarmed into the Paris trip. He had my deposit held hostage and it would take forever to process the refund--too late to jump on another trip. It was Paris or nothing else. I´d already arranged the leave from my job and hired a temp to fill in for me so I had no choice.

Destiny likes a good joke along the way because I can remember rolling my eyes at all the Francophile girls who were on the airplane speaking to each other to practice their language skills before arriving. They seemed so bubbly and excited and in awe of everything French. Me I knew Italian! I wanted to photograph Italy. What was I doing on this trip? I was grumpy and homesick the first week and I called home daily because I wanted to end the trip early. I´m not sure what I didn´t like about France. And then a week into the trip something magical happened. I was smitten with it all. All at once this whole world opened up and I saw everything in color...Paris! Suddenly I was seduced by the charm and the flare and all the little shops and the food! I grabbed my camera bag and spent every day out riding the metro and shooting. I stuck my camera in shop windows, followed lovers through Les Jardins du Luxembourg and snuck my camera in to all my trips to the Louvre back when you could sort of get away with taking pictures inside as long as you were fast.

The following year I returned to Paris and the following year again for good, passing through CDG airport as a woman with a French visa, a black leather jacket and an overflowing heart. What a wonderful gift this city gave me--a signpost to a new path I could have never known I would follow, --the rest of my life in a teasing preview designed to get me to jump in feet first. It´s a good thing I stayed and let Paris seduce me, otherwise I would have never come back. I always say that to myself.

A friend suggested I would have met the Italian version of Seb if I´d gone on the Italy trip which is a funny way to look at it all.