All Good Things…

Zara blazer (similar)
Zara tank (similar)
Mavi jeans (c/o)
Dune London mules
Chanel handbag
Mango sunglasses
Linjer ring (c/o) (similar)
Mejuri earrings (similar)
Location: The Great-West Life Building – Winnipeg, Manitoba

…must come to an end. Or so they say. And I knew that our time in Paris would end, as surely as it began. Still, it seems hard to fathom that just two weeks ago I was biting my nails, wondering if our plane would really get off the ground, and now I’m back home again in front of my old laptop like the whole thing never happened.

They also say that good things come to those who wait. And wait we did. It struck me most strongly when we were at the Winnipeg airport; we’d spent the hours prior to our flight in the Maple Leaf lounge and when we emerged, the domestic terminal was bursting with people, just like before the pandemic. Aside from the temporary closure of a handful of businesses, it was like no time had passed and nothing had changed. People were travelling just like they always did – we’d stopped, but we were, it seemed, in a minority.

When we moved into the international terminal in Montreal, the crowd thinned considerably, which was  at once reassuring and sad. Some of the things I loved really have changed, and may never be the same. Despite that, international travel still ranks high on my list of good things. It felt like a dream, at first, to be back in Paris. But it also felt, in many ways, just like we’d finally come back home after a long time away. I think Paris will always be like that, for us. We slip quickly back into old routines, but the reality that we couldn’t enjoy them in the way we do on holiday, because we couldn’t afford to, if we actually lived there is never far behind.

Paris was home, once. It’s not anymore, and it’s for precisely that reason that it’s so special. The life we lead in Canada may be dull, devoid of museums and long journeys on the metro. But allows us the financial freedom to enjoy all the good things that the French capital has to offer when we visit. We took particular advantage this year, partly because we’d been away so long but mostly because being away for so long, not knowing when we could return, made us keenly aware that we need to take advantage of opportunities when they are available to us – because there’s no guarantee that they always will be.

It was in that spirit that we booked, and experienced, this trip to Paris. And it was pure magic, only good things, from start to finish. It has come to an end now, but the good news is that the memories will last forever. The photos will almost last forever, too, because we took so many. I can’t wait to start sharing them next week! In the meantime, I hope you’ve all been well, and been able to enjoy some good things while I’ve been away, too.

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