Afraid?
Do it anyway.
Not sure how it’s going to play out?
Do it anyway.
Freaked out by the possibility of upsetting a boss you don’t even know?
Do it anyway.
Guess what?
I FUCKING DID IT!
I bought a ticket to Paris for May.
OMG.
I am going back to Paris, my heart is so full and so happy and yeah, all that stuff.
Happy! Happy!
Joy! Joy!
Oh wait, excuse me while I go put on some French music.
Giggles gleefully.
And I get to be there with my friend, my dear, darling, amazing, awesome French friend.
Who I will not actually spend every day with and every minute with, she has to study for her exams.
But when she needs a break, I’ll be there.
Walking through the streets of Paris in the May sunshine.
I adore Paris in Spring.
It is so pretty.
It’s a bit disgusting.
Heh.
When my friend approached me this past weekend at school about going over I knew to say yes, and here it is just a few days later and walking through some fear, and I booked the ticket.
I will be leaving here Thursday evening May 11th and flying back Sunday morning May 21st at 10:40am. What with time change I will get into SFO in the early afternoon.
I will have all day Sunday to recuperate before going back to work.
Bahahaha.
I don’t have a job for May.
But.
I do have faith and when my faith is a little wobbly, I call my people and talk it out.
It wasn’t so much the money, but the thought of having to negotiate with an imaginary boss about the trip.
I called a friend who made plans to go to India when she was in the middle of a job hunt.
I remember how I encouraged her, I had absolutely no qualms about it, she should go, the job would happen, it would be just fine. And it was, she got the ticket and got a job soon thereafter that had no problems with her scheduled trip.
I knew I could do the leap, I just had to have a little bolstering to get me to jump.
But jump I did.
Originally I was going to just go for a week, but my friend convinced me to do ten days, that way we could pop over to Provence if the weather in Paris wasn’t great–sometimes May can still be cold and a bit rainy.
Or to a spot on Ile de Rey.
Yeah.
That’s right.
Just an island off the West coast of France.
Oh my freaking God.
I’m going where?
Ok, yes please.
I was terrified though, for a bit of the day, anxious, overwrought, trying to figure out the work deal and I was just like, this is nuts.
Also I had a found a super cheap ticket but the travel time there and back was crazy making, like 29 hours there and 33 the way back.
Huge lay overs in Istanbul.
Which could have been super cool, but I know myself well enough that even though I like to save a dollar or two, that kind of length is too much.
My friend said as much when I told her the ticket I had found.
She convinced me pretty quick to buy a different ticket.
I thought about it and said, let me sit on it today and I’ll probably buy when I get home.
I went and called around to my people and I got the much-needed perspective from my friend while I was sitting on a bench at Kid Power Park with the boys.
I realized a few things.
First, I could afford to pay a few extra dollars to get a flight that didn’t have a layover that was so long.
Second, that there will always be a job for me.
I don’t have to know what the job is, but there is a demand for someone with my skills and the right family is going to be just fine with me taking a vacation.
In fact.
I must have vacation time and sick time and paid holidays.
It’s part of the package and it’s to be expected with the level of skill I bring to a job.
I have a huge list of assets and I’m an asshole if I don’t or won’t acknowledge that.
I have a phone interview tomorrow with a potential family and I’m pretty sure they won’t want to pay my costs.
But.
I don’t know that for sure.
And.
Some one will.
I mean.
Hell, the family that I worked for Monday wants me a second day and the mom has people at her kid’s school reaching out to her and I have not even posted to Craigslist or contacted any of the agencies yet.
Suffice to say.
Even should a job say, nope can’t accommodate you.
I can find another job.
I’ve got options.
And.
I’m going to Paris again.
I repeat.
IN SPRING.
The last two times I was there it was winter.
I am so ready for warm weather in France.
I’m going back to France.
I am so over the moon.
And I get to do it with a Parisian.
With a chic, sexy, smart, stunning, big-hearted genuine amazing friend.
I mean.
I could have fun with my friend hanging out in a box.
But.
Oh.
The thought of walking through the Marais with her, going down Rue Temple, hanging out at cafes, walking through Marche des Enfants Rouge, eating out in the warm night air, maybe going to a show, just sitting and talking.
I want to go to Ile des Cygnes and just walk it back and forth.
Then hop up to the Metro and go.
Well.
Anywhere I want.
I want to walk the Left Bank and Rue des Ecoles.
Or.
My favorite books store-Le Merle Moqueur in the 20th arrondisement.
I want to see all the street art.
Oh.
Fuck me.
I will finally get to see the LVMH Foundation which had opened when I was last there, but I did not get to.
It’s the Frank Gehry building in the Bois de Bolougne that Louis Vuitton founded.
It is astounding.
I will make my traditional pilgrimage to The American Cathedral on George V and The American Church on Quai d’Orsay.
I will go to the Jeu de Paume again, I really liked it and would love another visit, loads of really good modern art photography.
And I cannot go to Paris without going to Centre Pompidou–very possibly my favorite museum in the world.
And ahem.
Probably popping into Abraxas for another tattoo.
I mean.
When in Paris.
Am I right?
Mwhaahahahaha.
I’m going back to France baby.
So excited.
Talk about having some incentive to get through the school year!
Luckiest fucking girl in the world.
Seriously.
Auntiebubba 