Paris je t’aime | gooollysandra

How many times I’ve sat down to try to write this… It’s been on my mind more as of late since it’s been a year since the trip. My mom and I went to France for two weeks last Summer. We went for a family friend’s wedding in the Bretagne region on the northwestern coast. It was our first trip to Europe since 2014, and it was our first trip abroad since my dad died. I was in high school the last time we went to France, and my dad there that time. So it was a trip of both revisiting and remembering our last trip there, and a new kind of journey for my mom and I on our own without my dad. For my mom it was also a pilgrimage, since she was born in Paris and has lived in France at a few different points in her life. It was fun to see her excitement, visiting her old apartments and favorite spots when she was a local – like returning home.

I knew I loved Paris the first time I was there, and this trip certainly re-awakened that love. It was love at first sight for me, again. It made me think – the ability to fall in love with a city, no matter how many times you visit it and fall in love with it, always feels like the first time. Or at least this is how I imagine it. I’ll see if it rings true the next time I go to Paris!

We did all the sites the first time I was in Paris. But this time we wanted a more intimate, less touristy experience. It was nice to have the freedom to simply do what we wanted, rather than feel obliged to go to the must-sees. Wandering, perhaps feeling more like a local, but most certainly still a tourist. I suppose we don’t have the luxury of doing much wandering in our daily lives at home, or at least we just don’t make the time for it.

The beauty of Paris is overwhelming – beauty everywhere you look. I felt almost completely at home. I didn’t miss but a just couple of things about back home (although two very important things – my partner and my cat). If not for these two things, I would have stayed in a heartbeat. But I suppose everyone says this about traveling. And, of course, being on vacation.

A few highlights from our trip – a jewelry exhibit at L’Ecole des Arts Joailliers, morning pastries with mom, shopping at print stores, strolling around Jardin du Luxembourg, the Musee du Luxembourg, perusing a ceramics art fair (which we also went to the last time we were there 17 years ago!), walking around Le Marais at night, seeing friends, going to a French wedding, spending some time in Saint-Brieuc in Bretagne immersed in a French home (which wouldn’t be complete without a crepe-making station in the kitchen!), exploring the old Medieval towns of Dinan and Saint-Malo – Dinan, the prettiest Medieval town with steep cobblestone streets, colorful timber houses, and a charming meandering river – and Saint-Malo, a port city surrounded by an impressive wall (I loved seeing Saint-Malo represented historically in the new Netflix All the Light We Cannot See miniseries!), the Musee des Arts Decoratifs, clothes shopping to dress and feel like a Parisian, the Jacobus Vrel exhibition at the Fondation Custodia, and dinner our last night there – beef bourguignon at an outdoor café with the most kind waiter!