Been to Paris....

and got back in one piece. It was HOT....38 degrees....

The new trousers were nice and cool & looked the biz. I felt the biz, too!

The best thing about going to Paris, apart from seeing my old dad and meeting Clara,the 18 months old daughter of my brother and Dounia, her very wonderful mum, was the opportunity to go to the 6 a.m. meditation at one of the three Raj Yoga meditation centres in the French capital!

The taxi driver who took me from my hotel to the Rue d'Orfila was an impeccably dressed French man; he spoke very softly and was kind enough to act as a bit of a tour guide.

The early morning hours always have something magical about then, a subtle renaissance of the hopes which the previous day might have dashed, a shaking of the cobwebs which the night's dreams may have woven: the freshness of the new dawn. But in Paris, those feelings are more intense, more focussed, more perceptible. There is a famous song "Il est 5 heures, Paris s'éveille, Il est 5 heures et je n'ai pas sommeil" , by the song writer/singer/actor Jacques Dutronc, which epitomizes and crystallises that shared experience...

We drove past the Cimetière du Père Lachaise, famous for being the final resting place of many illustrious persons (Karl Marx- no, wait a second, he is in London's Highgate cemitary- oops, but yes: Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, Yves Montand, Simone Signoret, Isadora Duncan, Marcel Proust. Modigliani are the ones I know about).

We also went past several "squares":there are so many "squares" in Paris, their greenery valliantly fighting a losing battle against pollution, their benches always home to some unself conscious flopping or prim and proper posing. Then the Boulevards with their big plane trees, their trunks girdled in the famous metal bars, their bit of ground now concreted over as protection against the ever present menace of the parisian pet dog poo (has to be seen to be believed!!!)

The shops reflect the hedonism and ambition of the citizens: beauty parlours and hairdressers galore, health food stores, wine merchants, boutiques, pressings, cafes...don't even ask: every where, restaurants. It's all just as it's meant to be, really.

By contrast, with its inner courtyard away from the heat and the bustle, the meditation centre is a haven of calm and cleanliness, of sobriety and simplicity, a space both respectful and convivial. I had a great feeling of belonging (all the more since I know a lot of the folks who attend, having met them at Oxford's Global Retreat Centre).(try quick links, then photos for a quick overview of the place).
I was then treated to breakfast, and thus kick-started was able to withstand the heat and the emotions of the day.

Speaking of breakfast... you can guess: it's early morning now and breakfast beckons...
More later,

Love,

Jocelyne