Returning to Paris felt like a Deep Exhale.

 

Returning to Paris felt like a deep exhale.

There’s a beauty to Paris that stays with you even after you are gone back home. It’s the beauty in almost every nook and cranny, the history hidden in plain sight, and music that seem to carry you throughout the day and night.

This time, I wandered through Montmartre, surrounded by art and wonderment walking down the street, riding a carousel, and hiking up the steps to the Sacre-Coeur to attend service. 

We took in the dazzling spectacle of the Moulin Rouge and still managed to pause, once again, and take in the beauty of Notre-Dame. We also visited the Ritz Carlton specifically to experience Bar Hemmingway (named after their legendary patron, Ernest Hemmingway) and also went to the Carette Cafe to drink the world's most exquisite hot chocolate.

While these all seem to be certainly touristy activities, that view is based on one’s perspective. To me, it was more. They were more than tourist check off items—they were meaningful, God-given, markers reminding me how history, beauty...and even resistance can coexist in one skyline.

I was immersed in all three when we sat in the spaces of Afro-Caribbean and African American history at Cafe Tournon, a legendary dwelling place for Black artists and thinkers from Josephine Baker to James Baldwin and through the experiences the Paris Noir exhibit at Centre de Pompidou where the influence of diasporic art was not only highlighted but celebrated.

Now, I really went to dance all in the streets of Paris for Fête de la Musique. And I most certainly danced the night away as the city celebrated its love of arts and music in every arrondisment!

But what moved me the most? The people....

✨The friendship I made there, at the beginning of the year, that continues to grow. 

✨Other Parisians with open hearts.

✨More Chicagoans I crossed paths with--because, somehow, Chicago is always in the room! 

✨New friends from Brazil who brought laughter and reminded me how magnetic joy and celebration are. 

✨There are always connections—

the ones that always find you when you’re

open to them!

In a world weighed down by political tension and social unrest, this journey was a reminder that we still get to live, laugh, love, and be free. We still get to experience beauty, creativity, and community…anywhere.

Paris gives me that.  And I’m grateful.

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