Paris: My Heart Longs for the Banks of La Seine

Sitting there, alone in a foreign country, far from my job and everyone I know, a feeling came over me. It was like remembering something I’d never known before or had always been waiting for, but I didn’t know what. Maybe it was something I’d forgotten or something I’ve been missing all my life. All I can say is that I felt, at the same time, joy and sadness. But not too much sadness, because I felt alive. Yes, alive. That was the moment I fell in love with Paris. And I felt Paris fall in love with me. 

-from in the final vignette of Paris Je T’Aime

Almost 2 years ago I left on the biggest adventure I have ever been on. 6 months living and studying in Paris, France. I met some of the most amazing people on the way, traveled to different countries, and went on countless adventures. However, this post is solely dedicated to Paris. Because I miss having picnics on the banks of La Seine, riding bikes through old alleys, drinking wine and coffee at cafes and most of all, experiencing my first breath of true independence. 

Paris is always a good idea. -Audrey Hepburn as Sabrina Fairchild in Sabrina

Picnic on La Seine

Sophie riding a bike through Versailles

Kevin leaning out the Eiffel Tower to photograph with his Rolleiflex

My version of leaning out the Eiffel Tower

Stairs leading out of the apartment

Laying in Versailles with Tori

First day playing with Aaron

That Paris exists and anyone could choose to live anywhere else in the world will always be a mystery to me. 

-Marion Cotillard as Adriana in Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris

Kevin and I

Paris is a place in which we can forget ourselves, reinvent, expunge the dead weight of our past. 

-Michael Simkins

Haley and I with painted backs

View from the apartment on a full moon

Paris… is a world meant for the walker alone, for only the pace of strolling can take in all the rich (if muted) detail. -Edmund White

My studio in Paris

Paris taught me many beautiful things. Things that are unexplainable, things that make my heart go wild, and most all, things that make me want to return and never leave.

In the words of Oscar Wilde:

When good Americans die, they go to Paris. 

All Photos Copyright Jaci Berkopec