Paris, an interesting yet complex city. There are parks, buildings, museums and monuments of incredible beauty juxtaposed beside garbage strewn streets, in your face poverty, and caterwauling souvenir hawkers ablaze in front of sacred monuments. I can focus solely on the crime ridden, disgusting and disappointing side of Paris or I can let the city of love capture my heart. I have to remind myself to not be so harsh and to take a step back and breathe because in reality this is no different than any large city where one would experience the same diversity of life.
Our first afternoon found us heading to a sacred monastery, the Sacré-Cœur Basilica. Streets were a mass of people, the area not the best part of the city, and hubby encounters a pickpocket. Little did I know this guy had been following us and had attempted three times to get into Rick’s backpack. The third attempt was when the fight broke out. A few minutes later it is my husband who has a bloody face which won’t stop. Yet thank heavens for good people willing to help in time of need. Did the thief get anything? No! Did we bandage Rick up? Yes!
So lets start our last few days in Paris over and see it from a different perspective. One of reality…the REAL Paris, people and all.
Along the Way 
Those are great pictures, Diane. You have captured Paris: the people and the place. I like the picture of you in the white – you have the Paris flare. Rick, on the other hand… I’m glad that he is okay and came out of that experience with only a few scrapes, and no theft. When we were in another French city, I still remember watching a man racing after a thief, yelling, “Stop, thief!” Here in Australia,on a crowded evening in Sydney, some guy tried to rob Ed and I in the same way as happened to Rick. After the guy kept pushing up against us, Ed turned around to confront the guy and the group of kids who were with him. He went on ahead, but maybe the friends looked a little ashamed. We saw the guy up ahead robbing someone else, but when we alerted the cops nearby, he had disappeared.
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your photos are a marvel and your writing adds the depth.. it occurs to me your journey is simply a chapter of life itself… we can choose to focus on the wrongs or let them go to embrace the beauty… your photos give us that same choice… in the end, a lesson to learn or leave.. and the key, blessed thankfulness… weather in tunis, calgary, arizona, spain, china, malaysia, perth, i love hearing what’s on your mind… the photos are incredible and your writing, full… thank you… travel home safe and well… xox
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You’re right Cindy, we are always given the choice of whether we will be thankful or not, in all of life’s situations. I’m thankful Rick is okay and we carried on that evening with lots of smiles. Thank you as always for your encouragement and love. You are a blessing to me.
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