with a [lot of] help from my friends

Marchesi-Grandi at L'Agrume

I’m at my friend’s office in Paris as I type this, having just had a great lunch with her at L’Agrume. It was the least I could do having crashed at her apartment–intentionally for Friday and Saturday nights, but unintentionally these past 2 nights. It’s been actually a beautiful stay–remarkably easy to keep some work going, frustratingly difficult to plan other stuff (like other pending travel back home). And to be fair, I’ve had a beautiful set up–staying with my oldest friend, getting to see her mom (who I love dearly), walking and biking around Paris–so no complaints here.

The only fly in the ointment has been the multiple scenarios I’ve had to keep live–Paris to Washington via Zurich; Paris to Madrid via striking French National Rail or on overnight bus; Madrid to the US on Aer Lingus? But again, I’m lucky. I have a friend in Madrid so I don’t have to steel myself to cope all on my own there either.

I imagine doing this alone, shuttling from hotel to wifi cafe and back, obsessively consulting Twitterfeeds and researching bus stop locations and hotels and calculating costs. I can’t imagine. So finally, I feel fortunate in having friends everywhere. I used to feel bereft, having so many of my friends in faraway places. Sometimes it all comes together.