of the return home

Knowing the end of the tour was near, the weather decided to make it easier for us to depart.  The gloomy skies, the drizzling rain, the wet walk to the metro.  They were all leading to a departure that might have been much harder in the sunshine.

check out December weather in Paris

The walk to the metro was wet and mostly silent.  Once again, I realize how much we walk when we are on vacation in Europe.  Our bodies grow stronger and straighter.  Our jaws relax and our eyes and ears perk up.  Leaving the different life will be hard on me.  Much less so for Charles my husband.  He is eager for American television and normal hours.

from the internet

Prior to our departure, we made an assessment of the room.  I longingly gazed at the Marriott the kind of hotel we save forever to be able to pay for stay and enjoy it.  It wasn't quite the same as staying with my daughter, who appreciates a good meal and a lovely dessert, but it was much appreciated that the concierge level had lovely wines to choose from and three English beers and lots of cheese to snack on.  They even had an equestrian magazine about Palm Beach to read.  Good bye 6 star life.

The good news about flying back is you fly all night and it is night when you get here, so you can go right to bed.  The weather was sodden in Tallahassee as well and we arrived back to a gray rainy weekend with miserable animals and more rain than measured in a few years.  The yard had turned a leafy compilation of moisture and sand washed from the hills above us.  The chicken coop cage floor was completely replaced with leaves and muck.  The pools of water around the house almost qualified as reflection ponds they are so long.

Wet, sodden, leaf laden, home is still home.  The bed felt fabulous, not because it is so much better than the 6 star hotel, but because it is mine.  All mine.  And there is something fabulous about going to your own spot.

www.boisemattress.com

Recently, a friend of mine lost his spot.

I don't know for sure, but I think he was living day to day.  Food might have been a luxury.  Then, he lost his car, his room, his bed, his spot.  It is very disconcerting.  Mostly, because the people who stay in that position long, tend not to recover.  They end up on the squares in Boston, Atlanta, Paris, San Francisco.  They end up near bus stations and highway exits.

So for me, coming home to appreciate my spot, allowed me a different perspective  with which to help him with a temporary spot.  And of course help climbing out of his position: a job, a car to borrow, a hotel to stay in for interviews in Orlando.

It is absolutely fabulous that we have the ability to travel to places of far away.  But, it is also important to cherish my earnings and help others who need a hand. No strings.  No judgement.

I hope soon that he has his own spot.  For I want him to feel like there is a special place all his too, at least his while he is getting back on his feet.

I am grateful for the gifts I have, for the ones given to me along the way, and grateful to have enough to share.

Happy New Year everyone.

Rising to the Occasion of the Daughter Waiting for me in Paris

Leaving the Hotel in Canary Wharf was kind of sad.  The staff was fantastic and the hotel staff could not be better.  Totally recommend the area and the  hotel.

The kind doorman escorted me and carried me to the platform for my train to the  Paris train.  Nice man. Made the DLR to the Paris International Train.  I did a really good job considering there were no lifts and I was dragging a suitcase.  I will tell you that chivalry is not all together dead as the men in England and in France carried my bag up the many many stairs.  But I digress.  The train was fabulous and the English woman next to me was fascinated by my New York Times Magazine (not the Europe version).  She was a great riding partner and did not interrupt me nor try to talk all the way to Paris.  Once I got to the Paris stop of Nord Paris where I skillfully negotiated the platform (secretly asking the help desk where to go) and made it to the metro for the St Michael connection to Billancourt.

I was quite surprised that all the black men on the train were sporting the Obed Dorceus look of the shaved head.  But maybe Obed was ahead of his time.  Or his Parisian roots are showing.  The other thing I noticed is that Paris is the divided country much like the red and blue states of the US.  Paris is a city of haves and halves and waiting for haves.  It is a busy flurry where people choose better not more...  something to ponder.  They also have the best children strollers I have ever seen with covers and even raincoats.

The women wear really good quality boots and shoes and maybe not so much for the pants, skirt and shirt.  Good coats and scarves, hats well optional.  The men are just the same.  Where Ted describes the women of Italy with a sultry I can take it or leave it attitude, Paris has the I have it and maybe you can too, maybe attitude.  Emphasis on the maybe.  They take the subtleties of the language to the exclusion of the "just learning".  My french being less than 101, most of the elder people make no effort to communicate.  The younger set much more so.  I have the feeling it would go much better if I was 25 and cute.

When I arrive at the Hotel an hour late, my daughter was there staring at a television like she had not seen one in a while, which she explained later, she had not.  We checked in the hotel and whisked off to look for food.  After walking up and down the main Rue which is for shopping not eating, we decided to go to the store and make our own.  A bottle of wine, lettuce, cheese tomato, avocado, olives, bread and pancetta later, we were back at the hotel smacking our lips and licking our fingers.  The bread crusty, the cheese flavorful and hard and the wine good.  Then topped off with peppermint tea and pastry!  Wonderful night and so nice to see my baby who is not such a baby anymore.  Thank you Paris.  And thank you Morgan for getting me here before I ever would have gone!

Tomorrow, the The Parade of the Horse then off to tour museums and have fabulous food and fun.