Bonjour de Paris!
Finally back in one of my favorite cities in the world and I couldn’t be happier. We’ll be living/working from here for the next month, practicing our French and doing our best to convince Parisians to adopt us. The past two times we’ve been to Paris its always been in the fall so I am excited to experience the city in the summer. Outside of the abundance of tourists, I’ve heard it’s wonderfully magical.
Paris has always been one of those places that, in a way, feels like home. Almost in the same way that Southern California feels like home. It’s oddly familiar even though up until a few years ago I had little no experience with it. The light (it almost twinkles), the architecture, the history on every corner, the joie de vivre oozing from every shop and cafe – there’s nothing quite like it in the US. I’ve also found the people very friendly contrary to what others say about the French being rude.
Perhaps it reminds me of the semester I studied abroad in Copenhagen. At the time I was so young, lost in a relationship and unsure of the path that I had chosen. Looking back on it, more than 10 years later, I can see how transformational that time was for me though. In a way it awakened a part of me that I had shut down for many years. The part where the fearlessly independent littler girl that I once was lived and resided. As corny as it may sound, it was the very beginning (unbeknownst to me) of me coming back to myself.
I’ve always preferred the European lifestyle. Europeans seem have a better grasp on the assignment of ‘life’ compared to the US – they work to live, rather than live to work. My sense is that what one does professionally and how much one makes in a year is less important here than in the US. Traveling in Europe, anywhere really, always puts things in perspective for me. It pulls me out of my own drama and daily grind. Whenever I’m here it reminds me that there are many ways to do life; reminds me to to enjoy the sweetness of life, or perhaps, as Eat, Pray, Love told me a few nights ago, ‘dolce far niete’ – the sweetness of doing nothing.
xx
S
Intention
One thing I’ve learned about myself over the years is that I get tremendous inspiration from traveling. It’s also rather healing to me. I’ve found that I often uncover limiting beliefs or have ah-hah moments about my life and where I want it to go when I’m living somewhere else or on vacation. I want to spend some time this month understanding what it is about traveling that sparks this and hopefully figure out a way to cultivate the same thing at home.
On The Calendar
We’ll be in Paris for the whole month of July – pinch me! We’re currently on our way back from a long weekend in Loumarin, Provence. A trip we spontaneously booked after seeing the heatwave in Paris. We realized that if we have to be in 95+ heat that we’d rather be a pool or a river. I’ve got a few other day trips on my mind for the rest of our time in Paris: definitely the Champagne region as we didn’t make time for that last year and perhaps a trip out to Versaille. I’ve also got a few exhibits
Things of Note
Naturally I’ve been doing a little window shopping while here…these are a few things on my mind!
I’ve been on the hunt for good cateye-esq sunglasses for a few months now. I tried this pair and this pair (this pair is also in the running) on and loved them both, but naturally can’t decide.
I have a thing for brown/tan bags, they’re pretty much all that I wear in the spring and summer. I recently added this Celine bucket bag and Saint Laurent crossbody to my list.
Love these crochet shorts for a vacation. I’d wear them with a bikini and my linen shirt that I never go on vacation without.
I’m usually pretty picky with my perfumes, but I just so happened to try this one when I popped in the Chloe store and fell in love with it. It’s from their “natural” line so I don’t believe it has alcohol in it.
