Although Hawaii has its pluses, mostly the weather, I’ve never found my tribe here. Only two places have ever felt like home – Pennsylvania and Paris. And Paris is always a good idea.

The last time I was in Paris, someone asked me for directions, thinking I was local and, of course, not knowing about my directional dysfynction. I held my head high, sometimes literally lost, looking for Rue Cler until the smells of the vendors drew me there. I never minded being lost in Paris.

Since Dr. Fauci still recommends staying off planes even after getting the vaccine, Paris in person is not an option. Pennsylvania may take a while too, but that is easier to forego.

Vicariously going to Paris is easy; there are so many books. What are your favorites?

Here are a few of mine – some I may reread.

• Paris by the Book by  Liam Callanan
• Paris Letters by Janet MacLeod, matching my postcards with hers
• Time Was Soft There by Jeremy Mercer, a memoir of a writer living inside Shakespeare and Company
• A Moveable Feast.  This classic by Hemingway visits places that still exist.
• Paris Metro Tales.  Helen Constantine’s short stories will take you to all the arrondissements.
• Bel-Ami by Guy de Maupassant – move over Bridgerton for French sex and scandal
• The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurraine  A bookseller’s search for a woman in Paris
• Lunch in Paris  by Elizabeth Bard   I’ll meet you there

and one I missed when it was published in 2018 – my next read:

• Paris Adrift by E.J. Swift   Time travel to Paris – sounds perfect