I was recently in Germany for a friend’s wedding. The day of the wedding I arrived early to the beach where the intimate ceremony would take place within the hour. I had time to soak in the beauty, as well as journal and take a few photographs. There were many people around enjoying the day paddle boating, kayaking, rowing, running, jogging, walking, rollerblading, biking, swimming and some relaxing near the water’s edge. It was a warm and humid day; I too wanted to jump in the lake but it took me way too long look girlie, so I didn’t risk it.
The ceremony was very sweet with many memorable moments. Within minutes of the ceremony being over, torrential downpour created a very wet passage on route to their lovely venue where we would wine and dine, dance and share in wonderful moments. The evening was filled with touching and heartwarming and entertaining speeches, performances, presentations, music and dancing…not to mention the techno music (When in Germany….).
The next day we visited a Castle perched high on a mountain top. Aside from the beauty of the location, the delicious waffles, the museum, and the view, a few of us popped into this beautiful art shop where I admired these exquisite and gorgeous singing bowls. The proprietor played four bowls for us. I closed my eyes while the sound filled us and the entire shop. Two of the bowls (one large and one small) represented ‘the Sun’, if the Sun had sound – magical, yes the word magical is all I can say! Bring on the manifesting!
The afternoon passed quickly. Before heading to a lovely beer garden for dinner, unbeknownst to me, my durable bag was housing a lake from a tiny puncture at the bottom of my water bottle (never saw that coming). My precious and pretty Samsung S4 was soaked. The short story at this point is that this super expensive life line lived a short 8-month life. Did I mention my iPod also died? It’s an unfortunate (financial) hit. This accident provided an opportunity to process where attachment and dependency meets possessions (material) no matter the function and practically. So only after a couple, ok ok… a few (quick) pity parties, I found my inner peace about it. Truly, I did.
“It is what it is”.
I’m working towards a new phone situation this week (the word “Smart” isn’t in there I’m afraid).
Back in France, I was walking back from a meeting on Tuesday night. It had just rained and it was dark. I was looking down where I was stepping for whatever reason until I was losing count of the number of snails on the sidewalks. I kid you not, I counted about one snail per 6 inches, approximately. This pattern continued throughout my 15-20 minute walk. Seriously….France and Les Escargots, not exactly an unlikely pairing, non?. I just hope cultivators of these French delicacies don’t come from these streets – just kidding!. I was able to sidestep these residents of the wet night without a casualty! And yes, I googled snail cultivation out of curiosity but I’ll spare you the details.
Thursday I had a meeting during the day and then a work gathering later in the evening. Between the two, I had a little time to explore St. Germaine. As I walked down the bare streets lined with reminders that Paris practically shuts down in August, (and is subleted to tourists), I came upon a Flamenco guitarist playing in a small square called: Square Gabriel Pierné. Some of the park benches are beautifully sculpted as large open books. The beautiful green trees have these almost ‘green beans’ hanging from the edge of the branches full of big green leaves, giving this small place a big feeling of enchantment. I couldn’t help but smile. After a little zen time, I waved goodbye to my troubadour and walked towards the ice cream shop (one of the best places in the city for gelato called: Grom – it was very good!) to meet my colleagues.
Friday, I was doing some work in a restaurant/cafe, and unusually, the waitress left me alone for hours. As I was the only client for a while, she sat outside smoking her cigarettes while rap music played in the background. After my ears were assaulted long enough with one too many swear words (this would never have happened in Canada) it was time for a long walk!
I walked around Montparnasse and then made my way north, zig-zagging through Le Jardin Luxumbourg to St.Sulpice. I sat among the tourists listening to this delicious almost velvety water fountain and watched the many pigeons soliciting for food. Once I reached the Seine, a jazz ensemble was playing outside one of the many bistros on the water. I found a great bench nearby to watch the colours in the sky change quickly as the sun was starting to set. Meanwhile, behind me were two distant relatives of ‘Remy‘ from that famous DIsney-Pixar film “Ratatouille”. They were really cute, grey in colour and no more than an inch and a half playing and wondering in the grass. They really were cute – honest.
I had become aware that for hours, I had forgotten about the to-dos, the must-dos, and the lists. I immediately flashed back to a small cute pink notebook that my aunt had bought me before I left. The cover has a sketch of the Eiffel Tower and it also states: “She daydreams of a place where the coffee is strong and there’s nowhere she needs to be”.
Sending my light and love to wherever you are and hoping that you carve or can carve away some time to – daydream of a place where the coffee (or tea if you prefer) is strong (and delicious) and there’s nowhere you need to be.
Bisous, Allison