Cole Porter, F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Picasso, Dalí, Buñuel, Matisse, Toulouse-Lautrec, T. S. Eliot, Gauguin, Degas … they all lived in Paris, at least for a while, and those who understand the magic of Paris can still meet them there. Others just see the surface of things (though that can be charming enough in and of itself).

Paris is the real center of this story. It’s a city with a history that’s still available if one is at all willing to look. And once you start looking, the past comes forward to meet you and to remind you that people will someday look back at the present time as a golden age. To remind you to look carefully at this moment, to savor the place where you live and the life you have.

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