Be Here Now
The exuberance with which my wife and I returned from Paris a decade ago was contagious. Our friends, and even those who heard about our trip wanted to know our favorite-do-not-miss-spots. Accordingly we put together a Best of Paris list that we handed out with pride until we got tired to telling people what to do. The true joy of Paris, as I have said earlier, is the one you create for yourself.Thus, after annual trips over the past ten years we have become quietly excited about this wondrous city: our favorite destinations remain in our hearts and minds.
The first time we visited Paris for a week I had surfed the Internet for months collating materials about museums, special exhibits, concerts, restaurants, walks, and serendipitous oddities and arrived in our rental with an inch and one half t hick stash of printouts perusal by the curious. I quickly discovered there were better things to do than sit in a sun-drenched café reading papers from home when the life of the city lay before me.
Over the next decade we got quickly into the habit of not planning, unless of course we could get tickets to
La Traviata. As an inveterate planner for the first fifty years of my life Paris has taught me a soulful lesson.
The core of the City of Light is revealed to those who watch and wait. Experience has been a formidable teacher. My new message to friends and acquaintances who ask about Paris is simple: trust the process and your instincts.
Paris has taught me to heed the words of Baba Ram Das (Harvard Professor Richard Alpert), "Be here now." I have no clue whether Alpert spent any significant time in my favorite city in the world but no matter. I plan to continue to do so.
