Feeling a little wistful already

First, the good news - my niece was born late Friday night - and thanks to technology I was able to be the first one (other than her parents) to see the beautiful Seva Gandhi - on skype. And, I am not the slightest bit biased - but she is gorgeous and I am in love.

Now the bad news - I have to leave Paris in just 3 days. I have had the most amazing time here and I cannot believe how quickly the time has gone. I have tried to soak in every moment.

After spending many weeks exploring Paris and learning its rhythms, coming back from the country made me appreciate it in wholly different way. My time in the country was wonderful - blissful as if I had been on a retreat. I feel centered and its a pleasant feeling. I arrived back on Wednesday - and I must say Jai did great on the trains despite what must be a frustrating experience for him - being leashed and not able to move freely.

We arrived back on Bastille Day to find that it had been a rainy mess thus far - so the picnics had been cancelled in lieu of meeting up at a bar. I went to the bar and met up with my friend Jodi and we left a bit later to go to Georges - which is a restaurant atop the Centre Pompidou - a place to see and be seen - it is one of the places where the staff is just plain snooty, dressed to the nines which shoes that even I think are impossible to walk in!

We enjoyed people watching over our champagne until it was time for the fireworks. They were amazing. I'm not really a fireworks person - but these seemed to me to dance in the sky by the Eiffel Tower. They went on forever and where beautiful.

Thursday, I finally visited a couple of museums I had been trying to get to and Friday I visited Belleville - it was very cool. The area is one of the most diverse that I have seen in Paris - stores with names in Korean, Chinese, Arabic and French - and a market that reminded me of markets in India or what I expect a market in Marrakesh to look like. There is also a lovely park in Belleville. I ended my walk at Pere LaChaise, a cemetary in the 20th where the likes of Chopin, Sandra Bernhardt and Jim Morrison are buried.

I arrived home and saw that my sister in law had gone into labor and so it was time to hunker down and wait....and wait....and wait... Finally at one am CET I learned that it would be at least 4 more hours so I went to bed and woke to find that my niece was here!!!! It is amazing the love you can feel for a child you have not yet held - but I know I will protect her with my life.

Saturday, Jai and I went to the flea market at St. Ouen - just outside Paris. It was pretty amazing - everything from furniture to jewelry to cheap sneakers and such were on sale. We walked around a bunch of shops and even saw Natalie Portman in one of the vintage clothing shops.

Saturday night was all about dancing. My friend Gina and I somehow decided that the two of us should split 3 bottles of wine (yes, you read that correctly) over the course of an evening and top it off with a beer at the end. At 4:20 I finally called it quits - I had an amazing night! So much fun and the dancing was great.

Sunday - I must admit, I was a little hung over - but managed to get out of the house to meet friends for brunch and then go to the Jardins of Luxembourg for a sangria afternoon - it was such a lovely way to spend a day in Paris - in the gardens, with friends with a Chopin concert in the background. I really have had so many days like that here. Just quietly lovely because of things that are ordinary in Paris.

Now, as the days wind down, I am starting to pack and I feel a tiny bit of sadness in my stomach. I wish a bit that I could slow down time but it seems gluttenous to ask for that since my time here has been more than I could ever have expected. I have truly been able to live in the moment here.