The Future

Stephanie, Michael, Matthew, Kayla, Anna, Lily, Carmen, James

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The traveler sees what he sees.
The tourist sees what he has come to see.
~ G.K. Chesterton

Wanderlust

I wish I’d realized you were spending time in Paris. I’d have sent you to Mariage Freres to buy tea (never mind the lovely tea salon there – the tea’s the thing, stacked to the ceiling in enameled black metal tins and waiting to be measured out for you by charming, young French men), or to Angelina’s for sinfully rich and steaming hot chocolate to die for (or from). Just down the street from Angelina’s is a wonderful perfumerie where I’ve occasionally indulged my scent addiction. Ah me.

I’ve been to Paris three times and each time have had a better experience. About a year and a half ago I went with five women friends. (I am blessed with a very tolerant husband. You should learn from his example for later use.)

We rented an apartment in the 16th Arrondissement, near Bois de Boulogne, happily just a few feet away from a dandy boulangerie for croissants every morning. Lazy mornings glowed golden with sunlight, coffee and butter.

If I had to choose a couple of my most loved places (which of course I don’t, but what the hell) I’d pick the Museum of Modern Art at Centre Pompidou in spite of (or perhaps because of) the fact that it’s not at all my style with its geometric architecture and minimalist art, and Sainte Chapelle, because it is very much my style. (That being kind of extravagant, ostentatious and perhaps a bit overdone.) Sunlight falls through stained glass like candlelight bathed in red wine.














And the flea markets! Faded laces, elegant top hats and walking sticks, blousy jewelry and row after row of crystal with tiny rainbows trapped inside by amber sunlight.

Everything you might ever (or never) need, splayed out and ready to buy from old men who smoke and swear at you.















Taillevent, a restaurant housed in the former residence of the Duke of Morny, has, beyond any doubt, the best food I’ve ever eaten – best by an order of magnitude. Refined and effortless elegance and taste that most of us can only faintly imagine.




Ah me.

You’ve released my wanderlust again. And I thought I had her properly corralled here in the Inland Northwest.