Well, we are officially under a week until our big launch date. The date that the book would be available, and the coinciding party to celebrate it, were booked (no pun intended) and changed and rebooked and eventually settled upon. How appropriate that My Paris Story is coming out in the season Paris is best known for: Spring. If you haven’t seen it in person, you have likely seen it in photos. It starts with a few crocuses around town (I think I spotted my first ones this year in Parc Monceau), then the magnolias start popping open (my favorite being the one along Quai Saint-Bernard next to the unfortunate orange “art” structure. The crowning glory, however, is when the cherry blossoms open. There is this feeling of the heavens opening up above and leaving beautiful pink and white pillowy clouds hanging above. You pop into squares and parks you usually pay little attention because… is that a blossoming branch you see just over there?! You suddenly feel like taking up flower pressing as a hobby because you want to keep that beautiful delicate flower for all posterity. You even feel drawn to sit on that filthy looking bench just because it has an extraordinary view of a Haussmanian building framed in pink blo
oms.

Then anxiety and dread set in. The beauty of the city will remain, but you’re reminded that the fluffy dangling ornaments will not last forever. How do you reconcile the situation? You do what I do and shoot cherry blossoms and any other bud or flower for a month straight or until the last sign of this season of rebirth has fallen and made its smooth transition into full-fledged LIFE, simply so you can have something to look back on and forward to when the days are gray and the colors dull.