A Life-Changing Escape to the City of Lights
Long a fan of both Paris and intuitive/psychic Sonia Choquette (to the point where I actually attended a day-long session she gave years ago at the New York Open Center), there was never any doubt that I would make room for Waking Up in Paris in my book budget. Sonia somehow manages to do everything I want to do but before I do it. She has already walked the Camino de Santiago (twice!), and now she has managed to relocate to Paris, something, so far, I have only managed to dream about.
What I love about Sonia is how human she is, and she shares her very real failings in Waking Up in Paris. Choquette experiences long-term life in the city of light as I think I would, with a mix of awe and frustration. As someone who has always tripped over her own feet, I love that she accidentally manages to surf down staircases (relatively unharmed) and is not too embarrassed to tell her readers about it.
An ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ for Paris
So, the book: Sonia has had a challenging few years, having experienced a divorce and now, life as a single person after many years of marriage. It all takes some getting used to. Why not get used to it in Paris? In Waking Up in Paris, Choquette shares with us the challenges of apartment hunting and the joys of Airbnb (something else I have not yet managed to try) and the cultural differences all of us have likely experienced in restaurants and stores should we happen to find ourselves in Paris. Somehow, it is reassuring to learn that proprietors are sometimes gruff with her, too—even though I am certain she speaks French much better than I do.
Through Sonia’s writing, the reader gets to experience waking up in Paris as the French do—with time for coffee, and fresh-cut flowers, good clothing, fantastic food, and all.
Through her, we begin to appreciate the cranky shopkeeper who has stacked his fruits beautifully. We can see what happened to her in yoga class (no spoilers here!) happening to us. And we can dream about moving to Paris and having the dream turn out well, with a few twists and turns, just as it has for Sonia.
More Youthful Adventurers will like this book, too. One of Sonia’s adult daughters was along for part of this journey.
—Lori Tripoli
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Want to wake up in Paris? You might like these posts:
- Living in Paris vs. Visiting Paris
- The Book to Carry while Cruising Paris
- Paris in Four Days
- What We Used to Think of Paris, and Women
- Can You Really See a City unless You’ve Been beneath It?
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