Paris, France: Visiting Paris

I love Paris, France. Even as a child the notion of the French Capital enthralled me (and it did not hurt that my late mother was a high school French teacher). Paris represents history, nostalgia, sentimentality, art, music, writing/literature, fashion, fragrance, and most of all - the Western World and its people.

It should be of no surprise that I have visited Paris many times, and feel special while I am there. Though American at heart, I want to be Parisian. Gertrude Stein and the others were right when they said that every person should have two countries, their own and France.....

Paris, France is personal. I walk the rues, quais, boulevards, garden paths, museum hallways, tunnels, old hotel lobbies and bars, sit on cafe terraces, and cruise the river from atop bateaux mouches almost as if I own the place. But, I certainly do not; the world does. yet, it doesn't hurt to pretend.

The French Capital is a feeling. As I walk the arrondissements my mind is back in time, and my breaths are those of Hemingway, Napoleon, Charlemagne, Thomas Jefferson, Henry Miller, Abelard, Anais Nin, Joan d' Arc, Ben Franklin, Mark Twain, da Vinci, King Louis, and even Voltaire. 

I look down at the pavement on certain Parisian streets and sidewalk terraces, remembering all of the famous people that have been where I stand. Amazing. However, without research, I never would have known. 

My body is mysteriously drawn into particular places for drink, writing, and thought - such as the Cafe de la Paix, Aux Deux Magot, Le Procope, Cafe de La Mairie, Closerie des Lilas, Harry's Bar, Le Select, the Falstaff, and the Dome. Montparnasse, Saint Germain des Pres, the Grands Boulevards, the Boul' Mich, and the Champs-Elysees are my playground and my work stations.

If you love Paris and plan to go, do a few weeks of fun research. buy books, tour guides, and especially art and literary guidebooks. Paris is worth an investment, and it takes a number of resources to know about this great big town. Almost every block holds secrets, and tales of famous inhabitants that few people today even know about....

~ Jimmy Hall owns JIMMY HALL WRITING SERVICES (404-580-1501) and does all types of web content writing, resume writing, business plan writing, and virtually everything else except grants......