note to self: do not forget what you remembered in Paris
natural wine, Italy, la langue française, and some 35mm analog photos from a rainy weekend in Paris
There’s a certain je-ne-sais-quoi about Paris that made it the wrong fit for me to stay, yet it was exactly where I needed to go first to get to where I am now (doing a master’s in Barcelona, but more conceptually crawling out of burnout).
When I touched down at Charles de Gaulle airport on a Thursday night in early December, 5 months after I’d left, I was itching to feel the feeling of the city again. How would it feel now? Now after all I’d learned since leaving? After all the ups and downs and journal entries and cafe cortados?
Going back to places where I used to be somebody else is a nice way to check in on who I am now. Am I growing in the right direction? Did I forget all I had learned or am I moving forward and upward?
Over three rainy, aimless days filled with Asian noodle soups and café allongés in Paris I indeed remembered a few things I had forgotten and added a few important reminders to my “DO NOT FORGET” list.
Recently Added to the
DO NOT FORGET LIST
La langue française. I lost it once I cannot lose it again. A language that was my primary language in school until I was 18. Is as much a part of my childhood as is my Persian mother tongue. I lost so much of it in the 12 years since I ahd elft it behind. DO NOT FORGET IT. Do something about it!
Italy. Don’t force it but don’t forget it. Remember how it makes you feel (at home). Find a way to stay connected even from afar, but don’t pine over it. It will always be there as long you promise to remember it. Do something about it!
Natural wine. Isn’t as pretentious as you first thought when you first heard of the $ 20-a-glass drink in LA. Tastes soooo good. Is humble when done well. Can connect you with the earth and directly to the makers and growers (again, when done well). Do something about it!
What to do with all these new epiphanies is a question I’m not ready to answer yet (though trust me, I’m scrambling and scribbling and brainstorming in 2 different physical notebooks and two digital notepads to figure it out.)
For now, the journey continues…
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I love your photography so much! It's so emotive.