In the spring of 1972, my grandparents ventured off for a trip to Paris for the very first time. My grandfather being the ever-curious traveler, loved spending his days exploring the cobbled streets that he could walk on for hour after endless hour, and his daily one-man gratinee de l’ogninon hunt looking for the best bowl he could find in Paris. Wondering the streets taking countless photos and documenting what he did in his journals over a terrace cafe. They fully lived and took in all the amazing things that Paris had to offer.  On April 22, 1972, he made a note. “bought Claudine a Paris dress, hat, and little shoes today” I wish I could remember what that dress looked like. I’m sure it was very chic and maybe also was the basis of my love of shoes, but it certainly started my love of Paris.  

My grandfather woke up early, while my grandmother still slept and he grabbed his camera bag and took off to explore the city. Stopping to sit outside with a coffee and a croissant, watching the people scurry by on their way to work. Climbing to the top of Notre Dame de Paris and getting the many gargoyles frozen on film and overlooking the horizon of zinc-covered roofs, bridge after bridge, and the Eiffel Tower as the little crown on the landscape.

So then, we come to me, the girl with the French name that dreamed her whole life of France and Paris.  My grandpa would show me all his pictures and tell me about Notre Dame, Napoleon, the perfect baguettes, and the lovely people he met in Paris. 

Today, I call Paris my permanent home, and with a handful of his pictures, I go back to the same exact place where he would stand and hold up that picture against the same fountain or statue that he looked at. While they are no longer here with us today, with every step I take in Paris I feel like I am walking in their footsteps with them beside me. Paris is a place I fell in love with before I ever sat on a terrace with a glass of Bordeaux looking at the sunset behind the Eiffel Tower because of their stories and photos. And the most beautiful thing about Paris is that as much as it changes, it stays the same.  The history of Paris, the art and the beauty that is Paris I want to share with everybody else, after all, it runs through our veins.

Now, I am beginning to start the newest and best chapter of my life. A move to Paris where I can focus on sharing the city I love through podcasts, books, daily stories, and my favorite way, in-person tours of Paris.

Hope to see you soon in Paris! A bientôt