the piano

Paris was wonderful for my mind. seeing Maylis again, and staying with her and her brother Louis was so much fun. she is very important to me and seeing her reminds me how lucky I am to have such precious people in my life, now scattered across the globe.

in the Louvre, outside my favourite statue (the Winged Victory) I ran into a friend from Tasmania. this blew my mind, and has left me thinking about timing and choices and where our paths take us. this week I could have chosen to go someplace else, or maybe visited the Louvre another day. I could have been in a different room of the building. but I was there and so was Tess and we hugged and it was such a wonderful accident.

after a Nutella crepe I wandered into Shakespeare and Co., my favourite bookshop on this earth. upstairs, there is a lounge full of old books and chairs, inhabited by a cat and it’s piano. I sat and listened to a man play the most peaceful music. it gripped me and I listened for what seemed like a content lifetime. it felt safe and spoke to me in ways music rarely does. when the man finished, I asked him the name of the piece he had played. he told me it was all improvised.

after thanking him, I sat myself at the piano. photos of authors sat above: Walt Whitman, F Scott, Zelda Fitzgerald. I sat and thought of where I am right now on my journey. I thought of the past year, the experiences, moments, emotions and people. slowly, I played a song that means a great deal to me, and kept thinking and thanking inside my head. I finished, and upon standing, received a warm smile from a lady seated in the lounge.

I walked through Luxembourg gardens one last time this morning. I’m at the airport now waiting to board. I made a friend this week, and I’ve been thinking a lot about the conversations we shared. I hope we have the chance to meet again. we find people in strange ways and the universe seems to enjoy playing games. I leave with more precious moments to treasure from this glorious city << x