Dreaming of the City of Love

I read French Milk Sunday night, recommended by Joanna. I've always been fond of Paris, but when I read the short graphic novel, I was instantly smitten. The story is all about Lucy, who lives in Paris for six weeks with her mom. It's...amazing. If I had my camera I would take pictures to show you. Just know that if you enjoy reading about magical places and adventures, and seeing cute little drawings along the way...this is 110% your book.

So, I read it. Then I thought, "why haven't I been to Europe yet?" I mean, there were many opportunities for me to travel throughout both high school and college. It would have been hard to swing in college (there aren't a lot of education classes offered abroad), but it was definitely doable. I've had completely irrational fears of getting on planes for...forever, so that has held me back. Not knowing the language (yes, even after four years of French classes in high school) has also held me back. But after reading French Milk, I thought, "you know what? I've gotta pony up."

So. I'm going to Paris. I don't know when yet. But I know so many people that have lived in France for prolonged periods of time, so I have tons of resources. I'll need to find someone with strong sedatives to survive the plane ride. But other than that, I just need to tie some loose ends up, make a ton of money, and book my flight a year in advance. And there have been tons of times (even on this blog) where I have said, "I'm going to do this! I'm going to make that! I'm going to post every day on a predetermined topic!" But I am so serious about that. The more I read about Paris, the more my heart just...aches for it. Is that weird? To be homesick for a place I've never been?

Because of my current love affair I've been doing lots of "research". Research is, to me, going to all my favorite blogs and typing "Paris" in the search bar, and looking at all the lovely goodness that has popped up. I think some of my favorite finds were Nicole Hill's Paris pictures. If you haven't seen Nicole's pictures, then you best get to her site and look at the pretties. Joanna posted about these awhile back.






The picture of the man on the balcony just gets me every time...le sigh.