Paris, January 2020

And the final leg of my journey to bring in the new decade takes place in Paris, the City of Lights.  Paris, that remains to this day, my favorite City in the world.  It will take something akin to a shift in the solar system to dislodge this City from where it is deeply ensconced in my heart. 

I arrived late at night with plenty of time for a lengthy conversation with the cab driver who picked me up at Orly to take me to my hotel in the third arrondissement.  And since the world is a much smaller place than our minds can comprehend, I learned that his daughter, after having studied in one of Frances’s “Grandes Ecoles”, (the most prestigious colleges of France) was now working in the High-Tech World in Silicon Valley, California.  Like so many immigrants, the man had toiled hard driving a cab in Paris for years, pouring all his energy and earnings into his children’s education.  All four of them had gone to the best universities of France and were quite successful.  They were his pride and joy.  His wife was in Real Estate; and after I agreed that he would pick me up and drive me to De Gaulle for my return trip to the US, I got a chance to speak with her on the phone for she wanted to invite me for dinner the next time I would be in town.  I felt blessed.  

I got up early the next morning to do what I love doing best around Paris.  I embarked on a walk down Rue de Turbigo to Les Halles and the Church of St Eustache and bifurcated to the Boulevard de Sebastopol and Rue du Louvre to reach the first arrondissement.  I made one stop in a little bistro, the Café St Amour on my way to the Louvre, where the owner cooks from scratch with lots of butter, because, according to his Parisian Chef wisdom, a meal is not a meal without lots of butter.  He cooked me a sole, preceded by a homemade foie gras, with plenty of wine to be tipsy and keep me warm in the January weather.  During my entire time at the restaurant, he talked about the States, about the visit that the Obamas paid to France at the beginning of their mandate and how much Paris loved playing the ultimate host to Michelle and Barrack Obama.  He shared with me an article in the Winchester Star, written by Carl Exberg, a journalist who covered the Obama’s European trip and stopped to dine at his establishment one late evening.  He wanted me to read it so I would understand the importance of the alliance between the United States and France, and how, as a nation, they were all rooting for America and the new leader of the free world.  The article is titled “An American in Paris” and is inserted below.  

This is what excites me about traveling and visiting foreign places: the tidbits of history, the chance encounters and surprising exchanges with strangers, and the productive and enriching escapism that travel affords.  

Before long, it was time to leave the café and burn the fuel from all the butter I had just consumed.  I walked to the first arrondissement to one of my favorite bookstores, Librairie Galignani on Rue de Rivoli, where I would purchase a few books for my trip home,  A special treat was “La Mere Morte”, by Blandine de Caunes, daughter of  one of my favorite authors, Benoite Groult.  I devoured the book.  Poignant and tender, Blandine retraces the story of Benoite’s final months, the unpredictable decay that awaits many of us as we age and life’s unpredictable outcomes.   I discovered that I enjoy reading Blandine almost as much as I enjoyed and still enjoy reading Benoite.  Benoite Groult who, in my view and limited expertise, has always been a stronger archetype of the French feminist movement; more so than Simone de Beauvoir. 

But, I digress.  Leaving the bookstore, I walked towards the River Seine to my hotel via l’Ile St Louis and l’Ile de la Cite, where I witnessed the dark ruins of Notre Dame De Paris in the gray winter sky.   I continued meandering the City streets until I reached my destination.  By then, I had visited and walked through Paris for over 14 hours enjoying my last precious hours of vacation.  

It was time to return home. And so on January 11, 2020, I caught a plane at de Gaulle and returned home ready to leave the past behind and start a new decade filled with Joy and Purpose.