I Miss Paris !!! Oh the things I love about Paris…shared anew *

Posted by: justmebethb on: December 3, 2009

• In: Travel
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* If your feet have never danced down the street…deliriously happy to be alive…you must never have been to Paris.  Feel free to enjoy the many photos in my albums which display only a fragment of delight your eyes and ears can take in and enjoy for free.  The following little article was written upon leaving Paris…on my fourth and final trip last year.  The act of departing from this magnificent city I love well enough to call it home… tugs firmly on my heartstrings.  This was one of the first blogs I ever wrote …and is being shared as part of a "best of" series.  I hope you not only enjoy the visual images conjured within these passages …but also make it a point to go see Paris for yourself.  You may find yourself forever enhanced by the most amazing experience of your life.  
"Oh The Things I Love About Paris" …I
returned last night from Paris and as I began my trek through the
airport…I found myself pondering why I so very much love the city
that sparkles, dazzles and shines.  I travel almost constantly…find
myself exploring virtually every corner of the world.  Discovering some
tiny new glimpse into relatively unknown secretive little spots fills
me with sheer delight.  I am not a traditional pioneer…or a weathered
and worn pilgrim on a mission of sorts.  I am just an old
girl…seemingly built with wheels on the soles of my feet…and wings
that extend ever so slightly beyond the tips of my fingers.  I suffer
from wanderlust and longing for the unfamiliar…smitten by the travel
bug…plain  and simple.  Paris is the kind of city where artists
struggle to compete with the immense wealth of stunning art forms that
stretch before you for miles and miles on end.  Buildings ever so
thoughtfully decorated in the finest colors any palette could hope
to offer… glimmer in the soft sunlight…and brazenly refuse to have
their spirits dampened by occasional sprinkles.  I watched laughing as
throngs of startled tourists frantically ran to escape the pouring rain that
soaked me to the skin…and left me resembling a drowned rat.  It was
the first ever shower I have seen in Paris despite many trips in varied
times of year.  This brings me to the first item on my list of what I
have come to know and love.  People…on the sidewalks, admiring famous
landmarks, taking pictures, lining the streets sitting in cafes sipping
wine and seemingly not even noticing the hustle and bustle that
envelops them.  People…kissing their children, holding hands,
making good use of every darkened corner where love might be made and
romance born.  People whose lack of language skills might leave them
feeling inept but not alone as they instinctively seek out one of their
own.  People draped in fashion of every style and sort…whose shoes
give them away despite how hard they try to appear…sophisticated or
European…or perhaps embody the mysterious essence known to be
French.  It is the people whose love of this fine city gives hope in a
hopeless world…and brings joy to everyone’s lives they touch having
experienced Paris and the magic it has to share.  It makes one
ponder what their stories might be…who they have loved and where they
have lived before today.  All of which makes you want to talk to them
at length…hoping to discover their secrets.  Secrets…wrapped quite
carefully around their hearts and souls…waiting for a chance to be
shared on a winter night…or during a stroll in midday’s sun.  Secrets
about the love they just lost…their sorrow tucked away within…the
thin lipped resolve to never be hurt or broken again.  Secrets that
reflect like an invisible mirror who they truly are…and who they wish
to somehow become.  Secrets of restaurants so incredibly perfect they
are only meant to be shared by someone immensely special.  Secrets
learned by trial and error…victory and defeat.  Secrets that light up
their eyes like mischief they have known and plans that have yet
to unfold.  Passion…unbridled raw inspiration…driven from within. 
Passion as natural as unconsciously dancing to the beat of a distant
drum…reacting without thoughts of consequence.  Passion that so very
much divides the French from the rest of the world. 
Passion experienced as a yearning that simply must be fulfilled…an
itch that desperately needs to be scratched.  Passion for food and
drink…quality of life that must never be compromised…bread,
pastries and wine that are as much a necessity to survive as air is to
breathe.  This is only the first in a series of blogs about Paris...