On my lounge wall is a famous picture - the Parisian kiss photo, taken by Robert Doisneau - and it sums up everything I love about Paris. The romance - understated in a classy continental way. The sexy accents. The majestic tourist spots.
I lived there you see, a couple of times in my youth and this no doubt inspired the setting for From Paris With Love, the sequel to my romantic comedy e-book, Doubting Abbey.
I spent six months there as a university student, working for a chemical company, just off the Champs Elysees - my, how I enjoyed my lunch hours, strolling down that famous boulevard, taking in the fashionable passers-by and gawping at the glamorous, sophisticated boutiques.
No doubt the French capital holds a special place in my heart, as I fell in love, with an older Frenchman who wrote poetry and played the guitar. I have fond memories of whizzing around the Arc de Triomphe on his motorbike and us sitting together, at night, on the steps of the Sacre Coeur. We would visit jazz bars and eat couscous at Tunisian restaurants.
Of course, some things weren't quite so romantic - the musty smell of the underground... The time I got pick-pocketed... Being very ill after a meal of rare beef, cockles and oysters! But whenever I look back on my time in Paris, my chest glows. My fantasy is to have a little flat near the artists' haven, Montemartre...
I revisit all my favourite places in From Paris With Love - the atmospheric Pere Lachaise cemetery, where Chopin, Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde are buried... The awesome Monet watercolour canvasses at the Orangerie Museum... The fabulous flea market in Porte de Clignacourt...
One day I hope to return there with my English husband, so that we can create some romantic memories of our own.
Yes, I'll always have Paris... And it's been wonderful to take Doubting Abbey's bonkers main character, Gemma, there.
From Paris with Love is out on 24th July and is the standalone sequel to bestseller Doubting Abbey which is currently 39p on Amazon UK, $0.66 on Amazon.com and is today's Daily Find and 39p on Nook.
How fantastic to have lived in Paris - I would have been useless as I don't speak French! It must have been great fun to re-visit it through, Gemma's eyes. Good luck with the sequel, Sam.
ReplyDeleteThanks very much, Wendy! Yes, it was fantastic and a steep learning curve with my French :) Mind you, having a French boyfriend helped ;)
ReplyDeleteI can see why you love it.
ReplyDeleteWhat's not to like about it, Patsy?! :) x
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