Discoveries in Paris

There’s nothing quite like the feeling and sound of the wheels of your stroller hitting the cobblestone pavement in Paris.  I fell hard in love. Every morning, we would wake up, stroll down the bustling little town of Le Marais where we would go down and start with our morning ritual of croissant and coffee..Three is such a fun age to travel with.  They ask questions.  They take it in.  We get to explore together.

My son would beg me to take him to the park and I never refuse especially while traveling.  Parks are where you can people watch.  Playgrounds do not lie.  There is something really pure and honest about watching a mom and child at a playground that allows you to take a further glimpse into their culture and lifestyle.  That morning, I witnessed two little sisters trying to sing in harmony to their mom.  On another side of the playground were kids playing with old school tops.  Oh how fun are those things!  Where do I even get one back home?  I spy on a mother and son in matching New Balances.  She is so effortlessly cool.  Her Parisian understated elegance makes me want to become her best friend.

I quickly took note that New Balances are popular shoes in Paris and that children are almost always strolled around in Maclaren strollers.  Most of them don’t look perfect, they look worn and used.   I also took account that there wasn’t anyone holding a coffee on the go like most Americans do as our daily routine. An instant gratification of a starbucks cup in your hand sound familiar right? Sure, I did see the occasional to-go espressos, but they were a last minute option in which they were placed in clear cups with out tops or anything.  This was when I realized…this is it.  This is what makes people different here, is that they appreciate moments longer.  Coffee is meant to be drunk sitting down amidst a conversation or a read. Clothes are meant to be worn over years and years and not because they are trending but because they have never let you down and they become apart of you.   Entertainment is meant to be seen before your eyes and not on a computer screen and flowers are meant to be smelt on the way to your destination.

I asked myself, why do we fix or reinvent things if it’s not broken?  All those old carousels around the Eiffel Tower that go 2 miles per hour, they still bring children so much joy.  The slower it went  also meant that the longer I could spend spotting my son’s face as it came around and the fluttering in my heart would extend to a point where I couldn’t breath anymore.  No words could bare to come out.  Just my laugh, and a big stretched out smile electrified by gratitude…These are the moments we live for.  Life is just that much more richer in Paris when wealth is measured in memories.