Coffee and Journals in Paris

My favorite scene in the Sabrina remake is when Fanny Ardant says in her sumptuous French accent to the young and uncertain Sabrina:

“For eight months– no, more than that– a year…
I sat in a cafe, I drank coffee…
and I wrote nonsense in a journal.
And then, somehow…
it was not nonsense.
I went for long walks…
and I met myself in Paris.”

Paris is uniquely configured with its pearly blue rooftops, dreamy pink sunset skies, and circular arrondissements that weave around the Seine for taking long walks soaking in beauty and architecture and filling yourself with delicious flavors in between. But the difficult thing about being an adult with consuming responsibilities like corporate jobs and deadlines and an endless stream of emails is figuring out how to allow yourself prolonged and leisurely self discovery.

Though I do have my day job waiting back home across the ocean, the ultimate luxury is right now — strolling through this city and sipping espressos in beautiful cafes pondering what it would be like to have eight months to a year, living in Paris, away from the grey stress of corporate life, drinking coffee and writing nonsense in a journal on the Seine.