Magical Paris.

Well, I've tried not to have overly emotional, thoughtful blog posts on my last few months here in the City of Love and Lights.  But since today is my one month marker for leaving Paris...I can't help but do a little reflecting on my time here.  Paris has changed me in a way that I can't even express in words....my friends here, my family, people on the streets, people I don't know at all and people I feel as if I've known forever.  

It's so hard for me to even think about leaving such a magical place....a place where dreams come true daily and certain places just take my breath away.  A place where wine pours like water and baguettes are a major food group.  A place where the elderly are respected and superior and the children run about like wild people.  A place where the sparkling Eiffel Tower and the glow of the Sacre-Coeur meet each other on the horizon.  A place that is my home...that is safe and warm and comforting to think about.  A place that I can imagine living for the rest of my life...but knowing there's so much more to explore.  

My move to Paris couldn't have been at a better time in my life.  I had graduated in May 2009 in the midst of the economic, jobless crisis in the United States.  I was working a part-time job in a small restaurant doing monotonous tasks every single day not really knowing what I was working towards or against.  I was adding bit by bit to my bank account so that I could have amazing European adventures....which were at that point in time, yet to be determined.  I am thankful every day for my friend Katrine in Copenhagen, whom I met at Ole Miss for even introducing me to the au pair network. I never dreamed it would take me to Paris, to the Lachaize family, nor to my life changing (if you ask my dad, crazy) decision that I am forever thankful for.  

Being an au pair has been a privilege..... An incredibly eye-opening experience. Although my time here hasn't been the fanciest, most glamorous 2 years spent in Paris....the people I've met and the places I've been-the crazy, the bad, the beautiful, and the breathtaking have made it all worthwhile.  It's the unforgettable moments like Ashleigh saving an escargot in Giverny, Marie-Césare and her face full of cotton candy, Edelweiss and charcuterie with Taylor at an outdoor café in Budapest, and random "Rozyisms" that I will remember for the rest of my life.  

It's hard at this point in time for me to focus on what's to come...because I am so terribly heartbroken to leave Paris....but I am working on it!  (I am!) Excited to see my family and friends back home, nervous that all my stuff isn't going to fit in my suitcases, anxious as to what my next job and adventure will be, devastated to leave the Lachaize family and mostly Marie-Césare, sad that I will no longer be able to look out my window and see the Eiffel Tower......emotional overload doesn't even begin to describe my feelings.  

So, for now, I am going to savor these last few moments with my friends, eat a million crêpes and macarons, revisit some of my favorite museums and sights for the last time, spend a sunny 10 days in the south of France, and when I return from the south 4 full days by myself in Paris....just as I began some 20 months ago.  Being thankful for the person I've become since moving to Paris and the blessings that have passed my way...and looking forward to the adventures ahead that are certainly on the horizon....

just in the distance between the Eiffel Tower and the Sacre-Coeur.