Paris Treatment
“Life is like a foot race, Marcus: There will always be people who are faster than you, and there will always be those who are slower than you. What matters, in the end, is how you ran your race.” from The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair
So I went to Paris for a day. It was to catch up with friends—some I hadn't seen in ages, others I wouldn't see again for a while. I took the evening train towards Paris from Lille Flandres. I travelled with just a tote bag. It was very much a "because I can" kind of choice. The journey reminded me how amazingly close Paris is to Lille.
So I arrived at Gare du Nord and had a friend who came to welcome me. We walked towards Montmartre and sat down at a lovely little bar called L'astrolabe 18. I coordinated with other friends to meet us there. We started as a group of three and ended up being around 10.
Then an adventure ensued. We tried getting the last metro, which we did, but the connecting metro unfortunately had finished for the day. So we ended up even further from the apartment than from the bar. After walking part of the way, we found electric bikes and rode the rest of the way home.
The next day, we woke up and did some intense tourism. We started at the Arc de Triomphe, from where we walked to the Tour Eiffel, then through the Latin Quarter and Jardin du Luxembourg, we walked to the Panthéon and then the Notre Dame and Ile Saint-Louis. All this was done within about four hours.
By 4 P.M., I had 25,000 steps for the day. Then I parted ways with my host and went to meet up with a friend from high school who was passing through Paris to go to Brussels. He was also making a stop in Lille. At Au chien qui fume, we had a Chien qui fume pint and talked for a bit before starting the road trip.
It is such a privilege to have friends in different cities and countries. You have a place to stay and also gain new perspectives, which was exactly what I needed after my confusing career meeting.
For context, I had the career orientation meeting on Wednesday, and it was more destabilising than anything else. I went in with absolutely no clue about my career choices and came out feeling ashamed about it. So meeting with friends from different walks of life cleared my mind and calmed me down about my confusion. I would go as far as to say that this quick 24-hour trip gave me a fresh start for the summer.
This Week's Suggestions:
📚 "The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair":
This book, written by Joël Dicker, is a book I recently finished. I was on it for a little while since it is about 650 pages long. That being said, once you pick it up, it is difficult to stop. Very enticing and entertaining. Some good thoughts in there as well, like the quote I put at the top of the article.
This soothing progressive house song is a peaceful way to start the week! Have a listen.
Till next time!
