Hello, Stranger

"Can you just hit the ground running?" a friend asked about my trip to Paris. 

"Yes.  Of course." Running being the operative word as I do want to get there, as fast as I can, to see. 

I went with a friend and we shared the philosophy of gobbling it up and sleeping when we returned home, though we did not know this until the first late night. We both worked while we were there. We tagged along with one another to offer perspective and support and loads of laughter. We are familiar with each other's worlds. While I work in design and she in lingerie, we both understand quality and detail, novelty and trend. An outside and un-jaded view, when it comes from someone smart, is often a good perspective.

She wordlessly tolerated my needing to snap pictures of the details of the city.  Lions have long been a favorite, but I have found myself drawn to snakes lately.  Once you become aware of something, you tend to find them all about you.

It was different to be in Paris this time.  It was the first time I was there without either one of my parents or one of my children.  Also, as I was there three years ago and again last July, it has become a bit familiar.  While I like this, I noticed that with the loss of some of the anxiety of the unknown, a bit of the excitement dissipated, too.  It did not make me love the city less, but our relationship has changed.

In addition, I had friends from the states who were also there.  It was a bit surreal for me to make plans in Paris with people whom I know from New York.  My world is bigger and smaller at the same time. And, frankly, better, not only because I had Blanquette de Veau for the first time, though it was a meal I will never forget.

 We stayed in Saint Germain, so I was able to visit several of the showrooms participating in Deco Off and will post about some of the new fabric offerings this week.