Countdown to Paris in the Spring

My dear Friends

I can't remember if, even in my wild youth, I was ever in Paris in the Spring. Now I will finally make it, and I am in the enviable position of making this my 3rd trip to Paris in the last six months. As you know, my work knows no bounds, as I chat to people wherever I go, on buses, trains, planes and especially in the street. So it is difficult to separate 'work' from 'play' or 'holiday' but I think I really will try.

And I just received an email from Phyllis, my friend and mentor in Toronto, to tell me to do just that!I will see a lot of Alexia, but there will also be time on my own to just wander. Only trouble about Paris is that I always get lost! I always like to joke that the good Lord gave me quite a few gifts when I was created, but definitely no sense of direction! But it only makes me find more people to chat to and hopefully find my way.

When I was a child, my parents took me to a Jewish hotel in Ayr, on the coast near Glasgow. We were walking around the local neighbourhood when a lady asked my father for directions to a certain street. With great aplomb and confidence my father directed the lady, first right, then second left, right again and so on. When I told him afterwards that I was very impressed with his directions, my father answered:
'Well, actually, I had no clue where the street was, but I thought it better to tell the lady something rather than nothing!'

I am definitely my father's daughter!

Love and shalom from
Sister Gila