I always think about her every time idleness would knock on my door.
The following day after taking an entire day of strolling, just before dinner I arrived at the apartment with an amazing smell of Asian food. Comfort, I thought.

I stood at the front door of the kitchen area, and shared with her the places I saw and visited — the Eiffel Tower, Musée du Louvre, Sainte-Chapelle de Paris, and many others. She was busy cutting the vegetables, frying the chicken, and mixing sauces. She said she was cooking for her community — “Asian thing you know. I will cook for you too,” she smiled.

As our conversation progressed, she asked me questions I thought were too personal, but I didn’t mind. She was curious about my life back home, my love life, and even what I do for a living. I told myself it was fine to open up. She’s a stranger.

Then it was her turn — she shared with me about her story, how she was madly in love with a man. They both went to theatre workshops. They were artists. Then she said with her face full of nostalgia, reminiscing — “I’ve been married for years but there are nights that I would still dream about this guy I loved and cared so much when I was in Hungary.” I didn’t know what to respond but I said, even though unsure — “Maybe there are things in life that we can never forget, especially if it impacted us so much. It is alright to feel it, to reminisce maybe. And that’s beautiful. It is yours to keep.”

When it was about time for me to leave as I had to go back to Brussels, I helped her with her stuff to carry three floors to the ground. There was no elevator. She booked an Uber. Yet before she entered the car, she grabbed my hands, she looked at me and said, “I just want you to be happy.”

Her farewell to me wasn’t goodbye. Her words stayed. Maybe because until today she helped me realize a lot of things.

Maybe #Paris wasn’t called the City of Love only for those who had good and fairytale-like love stories. I was convinced it is also a place for those who experienced a kind of love that has been transforming in many ways.

It was a beautiful encounter to remember.
['Rj Barrete']
['Travel', 'Love', 'Reflections', 'Paris', 'France']