DEAR PARIS...

Dear Paris, 

   Could you be any more perfect? You were everything I imagined and more. The rain in October made everything even brighter and more magnificent than I remembered it all to be from years past.

   The flower shops bursting with color and fragrance. A divine bakery around every corner. A felt sense of history with every step I took. You awakened my senses and made every bit of my day to day feel so grand and exciting.

   Getting lost in the Shakespeare and Company bookstore was a dream come true. That tiny shop seemed a thousand miles long while every book I picked up felt like an ocean of possibilities. I felt the shop’s invitation to stay a while as it stroked my curiosity and wonder as I rounded each new mountain of books before me. I didn’t like bookstores before you, Paris. But now I can’t get enough of them. 

   You hold the first art museum I ever went to. I was skeptical with modern art at first; but I fell in love with it all at the Musée d'Art Moderne. Halls and halls of eccentric pieces, overly simplified works, and shockingly obscure art all opened me up to a universe of art; and I can’t go back to the way life was before.

   By far you are the most romantic place I’ve ever been. As the Eiffel Tower lit up the night sky, it dug out every romantic part of my soul and reminded me what love feels like. It’s left me craving that feeling ever since.

   Your beautiful parks and gardens gave me a restful space from all of the stimulus of the streets.  The fall air in the afternoon meshed with the greenery of the scene created a sanctuary for me. Those afternoons reading and writing times may have been the most at peace I’ve ever been. 

   A healthy diet of caffeine and pastries fulled my adventure and has since exposed the inadequacies of my regular coffee and pastries back in the states. In fact, everything felt, tasted, smelled, and looked better with you, Paris. Though you’ve heightened my expectations for life and made the rest of the world seem a little bit smaller in comparison to your grandeur, I guess a “thank you” is still long overdo. So, thank you for the memories and experience of you. 


Sincerely, 

Ruined for all other places.