I love the change of pace from New York to the suburbs. I love the beautiful 20 minute walk from the house to the metro station. I love the 20 minute metro ride from Vanves to the center of Paris, the time to quietly observe the Parisians around me, and to eagerly anticipate my day. In the evenings it's nice to sit on the metro after walking all day and reflect, and look forward to dinner with the family.
I am taking this time to just be with myself. My time in New York was almost always given outwards and rarely inwards. Amid the fast pace of the city, my goal-oriented & list-making nature intensified exponentially and I found myself working very hard (which I do enjoy) but without giving myself much time to rest & reflect (which I also enjoy, but rarely make time for).
While I love the city of Paris, what I am most enjoying is the luxury of travel. I've briefly stepped away from my life and have no to-do list or any deadlines to meet. I'm following a walking-tour book of Paris for some general direction, but for the most part I conduct my day based on my own immediate desires. If I want to stop on a bench and just look around for an hour, that is what I do. Or linger over a cafe au lait and a croissant at a cafe and write pages upon pages in my sketchbook. Or walk for hours up and down cobblestone streets admiring the bountiful flowers in the windows, snapping countless photographs.
It is literally a far off dream that has come true, and I am savoring every moment.
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