Monday, April 30, 2012

It finally occurs to me...

My wife and I headed over to the 15th to see what it was like, with an eye toward finding an area we could live in for a year or more.




Passy Path
 
The day was clear and spring-like warm.  Finally.  After weeks of overcast weather and cold rain, this was a welcome surprise.  Perhaps the Mistral is finally subsiding?

We walked a fine area in the 15th and had a chance to spend time talking with a shop owner in the quartier.  His family shop sold specialty items.  What brought us in were the honeys they had on offer.  Once we looked around, we realized there were several fun and interesting things to choose from.  The shop keeper was engaging and shared with us a few samples of his food and ideas on living in the 15th.

After making our purchases we headed across the street to a brasserie that the shop keeper recommended.




Lunch
 
We sat in the sun out on the veranda and took in the scenery over lunch.  A recent MotoGP was on the tele and it looked there was some fine racing that day.  The company was great and the food wonderful.

It was then that I could feel the thing I needed to feel:  I now understand that I have something that the president of the company I was laid off from will never ever have.  Happiness.

Such an incredible feeling it is to be completely content and know that all is right with the world.




Vespa
 
It's sad that certain corporate "leaders" are driven to try and destroy other people's lives as a way of assigning blame to the wrong things.  It's sad that these "leaders" push so hard to cover for their mistakes so that the CEO won't see what's really going on and fire them for their mis-deeds.  It's sad that so many fine employees are trampled under the foot of these bastards and that life is made as miserable as it can be.  It's sad that they tell you to sign a statement saying you will never speak ill of them nor the company, otherwise you will not receive severance as they lay you off.


But, on this day, at this time, none of that really mattered.  I wasn't there slaving away in a cube to try and keep a job and make a little money toward retirement.  No.  I was sitting in an Avergne run cafe on the left bank in Paris, drinking a bit of wine, eating a bit of food, talking a little with the locals, sitting in the sun, enjoying the hell out of the fact that I am quite simply alive!

After lunch my wife and I returned to the shop and picked up chocolate covered raisins and a small bottle of Thym Sauvage.  I wish I had the words to describe how good these things taste.  Really.  I do.



Thym Sauvage ~ Digestif

No comments:

Post a Comment