Julia’s Wisdom, page 54

“I began to notice cats everywhere, lurking in alleys or sunning themselves on walls or peering down at you from windows. They were such interesting, independent-minded creatures. I began to equate them with Paris.”

Cats. I love cats. Yes, I love my friends’ dogs too, but really, cats are the pets with my heart. This might be why my friend has described me as the “cat under the couch” countless times.

I’ve been told (accused of? Haha) I have an aloof, independent nature. As social as I can sometimes be, apparently getting to know me isn’t exactly as easy as one’s ABCs. And, that’s ok. I’ve accepted my introverted nature and understand the ways I need to recharge after different interactions and to pull myself out of being affected by others energy.

Just like a cat…

I’ve been to Paris once. It was a weekend jaunt up from Florence in the middle of an extended vacation. There was a lot of touristy things I wanted to see: Montmartre, Sacre Coeur, La Tour Eiffel, the Musee d’Orsay.

(NOTE: going up to the top of the Eiffel Tower in the middle of December may not have been as good of an idea as I thought it was…brrr…but I’m still glad we went!)

But as I think of this quote from Julia, I cannot help but think of my experience with Paris. The city is very much “le chat” — very independent minded, aloof in many ways, going on about its business whilst not giving the newcomer much attention. These are not necessarily bad things.

They are familiar things though. Paris was foreign yet familiar. It was a place that I reached out to “pet” through typical tourist sites. The “belly” of Paris — le Metro — wasn’t much different than petting the belly of a cat: things were great until they weren’t. Granted, our “weren’t” moments were not terrible, just hundreds of steps and the shutdown of the route between the station and the airport. More annoying than terrible, like many cat scratches.

I’d like to go back, though, and see what experiences I can coax out of le chat the next time. More meandering, of course, is ideal. Getting to a few other tourist sites wouldn’t be bad either. I’ve studied too much history to NOT want to see things like the Louvre, Versailles, and the Catacombs.

I feel like the next time will be a bit like the second act in meeting a cat — not necessarily being embraced by the city, but more familiar. I’m not expecting Paris to become a lap cat, but I think it will be more along the lines of the occasional rub up against the leg. “Welcome back, but don’t stay too long…”

“Julia’s Wisdom” is my series inspired by a creative exercise during The 100 Day Project. I’m using the concept of Bibliomancy to inspire writing prompts using People Who Love to Eat Are Always the Best People…And Other Wisdom, a book of quotes from Julia Child.