Return to the States

They say traveling to Europe will change you.  Maybe I forgot what living was, maybe I never knew.  But coming back was both refreshing and sad.

On my second to last night in Paris I sat outside a little cafe staring down a quiet street and I knew what I wanted to hold on to.  First and foremost I wanted to take care of myself.  Not only physically, but mentally.  I think too often we get  caught up in what everyone else wants and expects from us and we forget to take a second to relax.  Breathe. I would like to rush less and savor more.

Given the absence of my cell phone and large sums of time between talking to people gave me ample time to contemplate my reactions.  I was able to decide whether or not to let things affect me.  Too often technology can be a crutch.  We depend on it to maintain our connections with others and the world around us.  Paris allowed me to see and experience things without the constant distraction of technology.

I was thrilled to come home after spending so much time with two young children.  But the silence of my apartment turned deafening and I longed for the sound of the piano that wafted into my room in the mornings. I missed the melodic hum of the french tongue which I could either tune out or try to extract meaning from.

On one of my last days in Paris we had lunch at the children’s grandmother’s house.  I asked the young girl if she was “full.”  The grandmother looked at me rather appalled and said, “You do not say full.  In France it is not done.  You say I’ve had enough.”  She went on for a few more minutes and then asked me if that was what I said back home.  I confirmed it was.  She went on to say, “They don’t say it in France or England or New York.”  Well here in Minnesota we say full.

I cannot describe Paris in words, nor can pictures do it justice.

I will miss the simplicity, the beauty, the walking, the pastries, the romance, and the challenge of trying to order things or ask questions in French.

Farewell, Paris.  Au revoir!

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