My Special Place

I’m planning my next trip to Paris.  I leave in a couple of weeks.  You may be wondering why I would go to Paris since I’ve already been there - I would be wondering that.  The answer is that I have an unexpectedly strong connection to that city.  I’ve been there twice and stayed for a month the last time I was there.  It was the strangest experience getting off the train and walking to my airbnb.  Have you ever had a good friend that you haven’t seen for years and when you meet up it’s like no time has passed?  That’s how I felt walking through Paris.  I’ve never experienced that with a place before.  Walking down the street felt surreal, almost like I had never left.  

I’ve always had a preoccupation with France and French culture.  I remember taking a summer class in elementary school about France.  I was enthralled.  I tried so hard to mimic the accent when our teacher taught us a few phrases.  I wanted to sound like a native French speaker.  I took French in high school and my best friend and I would speak French to each other so no one knew what we were saying.  In 9th grade, my English teacher told me how she and her husband were going to stay a month in France over the summer and it immediately became a goal of mine.  Sometimes I wonder where this love came from.  Am I destined to live there?  Are my people there?  Did I live there in another life?

When I was in Paris a couple of years ago, I met a woman from Scotland.  I told her about my fascination with France and she told me she felt the same way about Japan.  Maybe most of us have a place that feels special even if we’ve never been there.  I don’t have an answer, but I hope that if you have a place you make it a priority to go.  It’s magical.  Since I was in Paris for a month, I lived like a local.  There were many days that I opened my windows, looked at the rooftops, and let tears of joy stream down my face.  I was finally in my special place.  ♥️