By 
I subscribe to several travel and photography newsletters, and Eye Prefer Paris is one of my favorites. Its genteel and gentle tone, straightforward photography, and glimpses of a Paris life consistently charm.
It’s a glimpse into a life that is definitely close to how I think of as Ideal, a vision that guides how I plan and walk through my own life. I’ve already told my children that I may end my days in Paris.
Though not as ancient as the cities around the Mediterranean Basin, humans have walked the land Paris for over 2000 years. And yes, that is also true of the land under my feet as I sit at a table in a small house in the land on the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, at 6200 feet above sea level. But my body knew and deeply felt the impact of those humans as I walked through Paris in 2016. To walk on streets planned and inhabit buildings built by people gone for centuries expanded my own sense of being, deepened it in a way I had never experienced.
Should I feel this same way when I walk the land my people stole from indigenous tribes? Maybe. Somehow, though, I sense the spirit of the land more than the people. And maybe the people would want it that way? I don’t know; I will ask my Native American friends.
But in Paris, for over a week, I had nothing to do but walk amidst human-built structure. (It was the same feeling walking through the ancient market of Marrakesh, but that’s a story for another day….)
I can imagine being a “little old lady” who wakes every morning, swipes on red lipstick, walks down her street, greeting friends, buying espresso and a little food (bread and pate, every day!), sitting in the sunshine or braving the rain, writing (probably poems), being interrupted and laughing, walking home for a nap, rising to make dinner for a neighbor, then sleeping, at peace.
Maybe my little city of Colorado Springs will grow into a walking city by the time I’m ready for that ideal. But here, I simply can’t feel those centuries of human feet and hands like in Paris. And so I dream and plan.
And I read Eye Prefer Paris. In today’s issue, Richard Nahem tells the beautiful story of his lifelong love, Vincent, on their 45th anniversary. I hope you’ll read it and tear up like I did. Squeeze your heart in the best way. And make the time to explore the blog’s photography of Paris, imagining how it might feel to touch stone shaped over a thousand years ago. I’ll join you there.
love, moi
p.s. You can wear Paris on your legs with my Paris collection on YoniFlower Collections leggings. Yum and fun!
