It's Hard to Say Goodbye

[paulonleave]

I know that at least one reader wants to ask me some questions about my experiences here in Paris, so I though I would extend the invitation more widely.  So, if there are things you would like me to write about, or questions you would like to hear my response to, feel free to ask away in the form of a comment.  I'll try to answer everything, but I won't promise to do so....

Comments

[shawnsyms.livejournal.com]

It's a given that you will be thrilled to be home with Bob once more. Is there anything else that you are looking forward to doing once you are home again?

[ruralrob.livejournal.com]

That - and what do you miss most about Canada, eh?

[bobalone.livejournal.com]

I am interested in your answers to the two previous questions, and to a few more as well. Feel free to pick and choose any that inspire you to respond.

1) I figure that during the last 10 months you have visited at least 20 major cities and towns BESIDES Paris, not only in France but also in Belgium, Holland, Germany and Italy. Of those, do any stand out, for good or bad reasons, as places that you will "never forget." Are there any to which you would especially like to return? Are there places to which you would NEVER want to go back?

2) The inevitable "so you're leaving Paris" questions: what will you miss the most? Are there things that you will be glad to leave behind?

3) Your blog provides instructive and entertaining insights into the life you constructed for yourself during the past year by introducing many of the people, places and events that affected you in good and bad ways--along with some wonderful photographs. As you look back over the year, do you feel that your experiences have changed you in any significant ways? Are there things that you now value less or more, for example, or goals that have been fulfilled, frustrated or affirmed?

4) What would you like for dinner the night that you arrive home?

[aa-bronson.livejournal.com]

How do you feel that you have been "changed" by this experience? I imagine there are subtle ways in which you have allowed yourself to become, at a deeper level, more of who you in fact are.

And will you be able to nourish those parts of yourself back in Toronto? I am hoping the answer to the latter is yes!