I have spoken previously about my experiences in France (found here and here) and about my great love for the country, specifically for Paris. It goes without saying that I was very much looking forward to returning to a city that has meant so much to me on the final stop of our honeymoon. I had spent months planning out what I most wanted to do and see in the two and a half days we were to be there and created three very different jam-packed itineraries. I was ecstatic over the prospect of sharing special places and traditions with my husband!
Unfortunately we were only able to do about 10% of what I planned on. Due to the knee injury I sustained in Prague and the subsequent swelling that went along with it, I found myself unable to use stairs which really put a damper on the activities we planned for Paris. An afternoon in Montemartre? Out. The belated birthday extravaganza I planned for my husband? Out. Riding the Metro? Basically out due to the fact that Paris only has down escalators at about five of the city’s Metro stations. Almost as soon as we got to our fabulous little hotel and I realized that I wouldn’t be able to take my husband on the surprise adventure I had planned for him I burst into tears feeling completely defeated.
My husband of course reassured me that we would find activities that I was able to do even if it meant never once setting foot in a Metro station. Ultimately we spent two and a half beautiful days criss-crossing the city on foot, popping into cafes along the way for espresso and rose, eating more Pierre Herme macarons than I previously thought possible, and feeling very much in love in the City of Love. I showed my husband areas of the city I had previously spent time in that he had never been to, we celebrated my 30th birthday in a grand fashion at Les Ombres overlooking the Eiffel Tower, and I was reminded once again how much happier and more comfortable I am in France.
Paris was a dream and imparted upon me some very important lessons as it always does. This stay in Paris was about letting go of the structure and planning I hold so dear in lieu of going with the flow. It was about making the best of a less than desirable situation. It was about realizing that I can be anywhere in the world, doing anything or nothing at all, and as long as I’m with my husband I’m happy and I’m home.
Paris, je t’aime. It looks as if I will be returning to you in just seven short months (!!!).
