A deep yawn, a heavy sigh and eyelids that want to close for a long, deep sleep.
I'm still in recovery mode after my trip to Paris. My five days whisked by so quickly that I thought I was dreaming. With each morning, I spent it either writing in the lounge of the Victoria Palace Hotel at 5:30 in the morning or I was chasing down subways to my next destination.
Sometimes disappointment would set in as I revisited a diner that I enjoyed last year and upon this visit, the service was poor and the food bland. A shop that I purchased several scarfs from last year, this time around the clerk chatted on the phone and looked at me in surprise to find me waiting for him to finally cash me out.
But I did not allow those things to distress me and continued to search out my subjects to research for the book. The Pantheon was just as majestic as its photos as Saint Chapelle is breathtaking.
The 15 stained-glass, 50 foot high windows are enough to make you say a little prayer. If I could, I would have spent two hours just in the Upper Chapel with the 1,100 scenes surrounding me.
I found my way through back streets with twists and turns to find The Abbey Bookshop run by a kind French-Canadian gentleman.
I stepped into a world of art, history and wealth when I visited the chateau Vaux Le Vicomte and Fontainebleau.
A train ride to London placed me at the doorsteps of the British Library. With a collection that extends to 160 million items, it continues to grow on a daily bases. To view the works of Bach, Handel, Jane Austin's writing desk and glasses or the lyrics to the Beatles song, Help is priceless.
So my five days of research were full of disappointments but the good, the wonderful and the beautiful surpassed the bad. I have collected postcards, tickets, papers, pages of notes, several thick, beautiful scarfs and chocolates and delightful, sinful macarons from Laduree.
But the most wonderful gift of all is the blessing to be able to experience it all and to share those stories with others.