It came up quite unexpectedly as John just happened upon a fantastic seat sale that gets us there for a ridiculously low fare. Good thing because we’re blowing the budget on the hotel. I have loved Paris for as long as I can remember, certainly since far before I ever set foot on her beautiful streets. I have vivid memories as a child, imagining myself there, strolling the boulevards, sauntering into the fromageries or bakeries, enjoying a coffee while sitting at a café, and writing… always there was writing in my imaginary visit.

I have been fortunate to visit Paris many times; this will be my sixth visit since I first traveled there on a solo trip in 1998. In the 20+ years since then, my trips have always been with friends or family. And on those trips I have always acted as a makeshift tour guide, a role I love.

This trip is different

This time, John will be there with me for four days then I will have five more days in Paris on my own. We checked off all of the classically touristy things on our previous trip so this one will be about just being there. No frantic schedule to keep, no long checklist of places to see. Once John is off back home, I will imagine myself again, living the Parisian lifestyle as a writer. Except it won’t really be my imagination this time. This is as close as I’m going to get to the reality of it, I believe. So, I plan on enjoying every moment of it.

I’ll reread (for the umpteenth time) A Moveable Feast and make note of Hemingway’s neighbourhoods and haunts. My plan is to hang out there and soak in the atmosphere that inspired the man to write one of my favourite books ever.

I’ll drink wine on patios and I will probably tear up when one of the restaurants inevitably plays La Vie en Rose, just for tourists like me.

And I will write. I’ll work on my book but I’ll also share thoughts and observations here with you. We’ll see if the city has an impact on my writing; I’m thinking it will become more wistful but only time will tell. But most of all, I’ll enjoy the one “hobby” I love more than any others. Travel.

If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.

Ernest Hemingway