Confessions of a Paris Pack-Rat

I confess. 
I "collect" Paris.
 Some might see my stuff as The Paris Trash Tour.
I just call it home sweet home.

  A few nice pieces, a random collection of posters & prints, jewelry,
cookbooks, aprons, towels, jars of foie gras & mustard  -- really anything that
speaks with a french accent -- Gallic gems that jog my memory
and bring Paris home to Tennessee.

It's mostly a victim-less crime (not counting my très tolerant husband).
 My latest "pearl", a gold framed portrait of Napoleon,
 is admittedly a bit over-the-top.
 
Friends amaze at the frequency of our trips -- yet it
sometimes feels like an eternity between visits.
 So I continue to squirrel away Paris treasures that keep me
happy until the next time I can call Paris home.

Visions of les bouquinistes and tastes of petit buerre cookies
upgrade the in-between days of my non-Paris life.
  I realize it's silly and a tad self-indulgent, but doesn't everyone need
  an unrestrained diversion or two to relieve the daily grind of
political chaos, social media idiocy and what to cook for dinner?

Reading and re-reading my journal entries and back
issues of french magazines help stave off
the threat of gray hair and mid-life.
  Who cares about sagging chins and swollen feet
when you have Paris at your doorstep?

I refuse to apologize for my Paris infatuation.
A crush on the City of Lights is no worse than going gaga
over a favorite sports team or Kylie Jenner's lipstick.
  It's a slightly delirious preoccupation, yes, but when it's something
you love to the ends of the earth..... who can argue with that?

  Paris is the world's most visited city, its attributes too many to count.
  Feeling thankful, stuffed to the brim with gratitude,
celebrating my favorite city offers an opportunity
to turn my house into a home -- one filled with beauty and pleasure.
  It soothes my soul and conjures up a bright future
filled with even more travel experiences and new-found friends.

I love being an adult and not having to ask for permission.
Reach for the stars and you just might get it. 
  Thank you, Paris, for this journey.
Thank you for your quiet unchanging landmarks, your great
cathedrals and museums, your stylish razzmatazz. 
Thank you for your unmissable skyline and river walks,
 for your bridges and cobblestone streets -- but most of all,
thank you for inspiring my life 365 days a year.

"Thankfully, dreams can change. If we'd all stuck with our first dream,
the world would be overrun with cowboys and princesses."
Stephen Colbert

I think my Paris compulsion is purely a case of being who I want to be.

"For what it’s worth:
it’s never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be.
There’s no time limit, stop whenever you want.
You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing.
We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it.
And I hope you see things that startle you.
I hope you feel things you never felt before.
I hope you meet people with a different point of view.
I hope you live a life you’re proud of.
If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the courage to start all over again."
F. Scott Fitzgerald

"The best of America drifts to Paris.
The American in Paris is the best American.
It is more fun for an intelligent person to live in an intelligent country. France has the only two things toward which we drift
as we grow older – intelligence and good manners."

–F. Scott Fitzgerald

Joy. 
It's all about finding your joy and gobbling it up.
 
My Paris "stuff" is a steady whisper to look for inspiration in everything I do.
Be it book, movie, family portrait, perfume or paper bag,
if it's a reminder of days well spent in Paris, it's a treasure.

"They Can't Take That Away From Me"

"Our romance won't end on a sorrowful note
Though by tomorrow you're gone
The song has ended but as the songwriter wrote,
The melody lingers on.

They may take you from me,
I'll miss your fond caress
But though they take you from me,
I'll still possess...

The way you wear your hat
The way you sip your tea
The memory of all that
No they can't take that away from me
The way your smile just beams
The way you sing off key
The way you haunt my dreams
No, no they can't take that away from me

We may never never meet again, on that bumpy road to love
Still I'll always, always keep the memory of

The way you hold your knife
The way we danced till three
The way you changed my life
No, no they can't take that away from me
No, they can't take that away from me."

Lyrics by George & Ira Gershwin

A glass of wine, a look around the house and I'm nearly "there".
Counting the days until the "next time" isn't quite so hard.

In the meanwhile, Paris, I'll think of you and smile my fool head off, dreaming
 up new adventures and fresh memories that I'm sure to bring back home.