Because it’s all about lists these days, right? In no particular order:
1. Walking the streets of Paris – the entire city is a work of art. I love to simply stroll along the avenues, people watch, gaze at the architecture, find unique spots in each quartier, inhale the scents, leading to #2…
2. The smell of a patisserie. I’ll never forget the time I was strolling down a narrow street and was stopped in my tracks by a rich, buttery scent pouring out a patisserie door. I stopped, whispered, “Oh. My. God.” Closed my eyes, and stood there inhaling deeply, unselfconscious until I paused, looked inside, and saw the pastry chef watching me with an amused, and pleased, smile on his face.
3. Flower boxes on windows.
4. Fields of lavender right next to fields of sunflowers in Provence.
5. Provence. For its beauty, its romance, its cuisine, its otherworldness.
6. Riding a bike through Bretagne.
7. Eating galettes and drinking cool apple cider on a hot day in Bretagne.
8. The French language. For all the grief it causes me, I love the sing-song beauty of this romantic language.
9. The Impressionists.
10. And Paris. I really love Paris. Cliché? Perhaps. Still, to me, she will always be romantic, mysterious, something I will never quite touch nor truly understand, yet a place where I come alive and life beats forward at a quicker, more exciting, more beautiful pace.
I love Paris in the spring time
I love Paris in the fall
I love Paris in the winter when it drizzles
I love Paris in the summer when it sizzles
I love Paris every moment
Every moment of the year
I love Paris, why, oh why do I love Paris
Because my love is here
I love Paris every moment
Every moment of the year
I love Paris, why, oh why do I love Paris
Because my love is here
She’s there, she’s everywhere
But she’s really here
-Cole Porter