The Bold Soul: A Writer's Life in Paris

So many men, so little to talk about

This week's column in BonjourParis.com is up and running: "So Many Men, So Little to Talk About", referencing my recent experiments with French on-line dating websites. Being single and 40-something, I have finally (and thankfully) moved beyond the stage of life where my relatives feel the need to ask when I’m going to meet someone nice, get married and start a family. Mostly because I think they’ve given me up as a lost cause in that department. It’s true: I’m not interested in having a family at this time in my life. And because I’m not interested in doing that, marriage now feels optional. Don’t get me wrong, I think marriage could be wonderful with the right man, but given current divorce rates it doesn’t exactly guarantee a lifelong commitment. That being said, I WOULD like to have a really good man in my life: a trusted partner, best friend and lover all rolled into one. And it’s been FAR too long since I had one of those. I won’t bore you with the details of why it has been almost a decade since I’ve been involved in a relationship with anyone special, but suffice to say a bad breakup... Read more →

Packing Light

This week's Bonjour Paris article has been posted, (and it's a free one this time) entitled "Packing Light". Enjoy! My move to Paris kicks off in just three more weeks. Three short weeks to pack my entire life into a few suitcases, boxes and a rented storage unit. My head hurts just thinking about it. Moving abroad means making some tough decisions about what really matters to you in terms of your “stuff”, because taking it all with you is just not practical. When I first decided I wanted to live in Paris, I started out by scaling back my lifestyle right here in the good old U.S.A. I knew that a Parisian apartment was likely to have very little closet space compared to what I’m used to. Paris being one of the most expensive cities in Europe, I also knew I’d have to rent a rather small apartment. And I knew that shipping everything I owned was likely to be both unnecessary and cost-prohibitive. So scale back I did. I sold all the furniture I wasn’t completely in love with. I donated bags of clothing to charity. I gave things to friends and family members I thought they could... Read more →

Safety in the City

My new article, Safety in the City, is posted over at BonjourParis.com. Alas, it's not about safe sex (or even unsafe sex). It's a Premium article (again) about the time I got the pockets picked out of me by some of Paris' light-fingered youth. One thing smart travelers need to think about is safety, especially we solo travelers. Paris is actually a very safe city in most respects, but there is one way in which it stands out, criminally speaking: the Paris Pickpocket. Dickens’ Artful Dodger has nothing on these sticky-fingered guys. And I speak from experience. I had read about the pickpocket problem in Paris before my first visit in 1998. I was there on my own, and as I was in unfamiliar territory, I did all the usual common-sense things to protect myself, like keeping my purse in plain sight at all times and not walking down any dark alleys. I had a delightful and very safe trip. On my next visit in 2001, I was not quite so fortunate. Having been to Paris before, I committed the cardinal sin of experienced travelers: the arrogance that comes from having “been there, done that”. I thought I was too... Read more →

Validation

OK, so it's pretty obvious I love to write, or I wouldn't be here (neither would you, come to think of it). I don't know if you're someone who likes to write, whether it be poetry, your own personal journal or blog, or articles or books, but whether you are a writer or you happen to know a writer, then you know that one thing writers love and crave is: VALIDATION. There is nothing like writing something from your heart and having someone else tell you they loved it. Even if you're someone like me, someone who tends to be just a tiny bit distrustful of compliments* because I'm never entirely sure I deserve them (my ex-shrink would probably have a lot to say about THAT), when someone tells you they love something you've written, it's music to your writer's ears. And when you're a writer who is attempting to establish herself not as a copywriter (although that's part of how I earn a living) but as a marketable creative travel writer, then having the editor of a travel publication tell you she LOVES your writing style, that it's "fabulous" and "Lisa, where have you been? I've been desperate for... Read more →