Three years ago! I arrived in Paris on Thursday, March 5, 2009. It was surprisingly wintry—though the sun was bright, the air had that achingly damp chill every morning when I walked from the skanky Pigalle hotel to the swanky Champs-Élysées office of Ogilvy. It was the start of something beautiful. While I knew it at the time, and I couldn’t have been more excited, I didn’t know where it would all lead.
It was such an amazing first month. Practicing French. Meeting colleagues. Getting lost in the city. Discovering French bureaucracy. Eating beaucoup pastries. Reminiscing about my previous trips to Paris. Feeling lonely sometimes, euphoric at other times, but being totally wide open to anything and everything.
These are good reminders that so much can happen in one-two-three years. That you should never give up on your goals and dreams. That life has a beautiful way of surprising you. What adventures do you think are on your doorstep??
3 years can change the world indeed. :)
ReplyDeleteOn my doorstep, I'm looking forward to:
1) Being able to win an long-winded argument at the dinner table in perfect French!
2) Meeting more amazing people in Paris (both locals and expats)
3) Nighttime rollerblading across the entire city (I have the rollerblades, I have the city, but haven't put the two together yet)
4) Travels to a faraway land - something I haven't done in the last 2 years since I moved to Paris
5) And lastly, starting up a new language (I am thinking of Japanese!)
x Milsters
Yes, doesn't life do that when you least expect it? I sometimes reflect back on the past couple of years and wonder how I managed to do it all, while feeling directionless and uncertain and frustrated. But you do see the beautiful pattern and path in hindsight, don't you?
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm looking forward to lots of adventures. I hope I'll be able to tell you about them soon!
(P.S. - mmmm, street crepes...)
ReplyDeleteSuch as life, non? Never knowing where it's going to take you....the important thing is to follow the path and see where it leads.
ReplyDeleteCurrently on the verge of a cliff and getting ready to take a big leap into the unknown. Hoping it will be a fun ride. More about that later.... xo
Some of the most amazing things have happened to me without planning, just working hard and following that gut feeling:) And being open to everything and everyone. And Amy, I LOVED going back to the first month and rereading your first stories!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it amazing to look back at life and not have been able to guess what could have happened in the space of so little time... and what is yet to happen.
ReplyDeleteJust weeks after you began your Paris chapter I met my Italian and began my own...