Once upon a time I lived in California and befriended a beautiful moon goddess named Selene. She had never been to France, while it’s one of my favorite places. We would get together and swap travel stories and say, “one day, we will visit Paris together!”

Of course, friends say things like that all the time. I figured such a plan would likely never come to fruition, and wouldn’t have thought any the less of her because of it.

Time passed and the military took me away from sunny SoCal, and away from Selene. We kept in touch while I launched my new life in DC, and remained connected as we faced our respective struggles in 2020. Then, in summer 2021, Selene called and made the most exciting proposition.

“Let’s go to Paris! This summer, before COVID gets bad again. Seriously. I’m down, if you are.”

I was so excited and so down! But I was also so newly pregnant that I hadn’t told anyone yet – so I made my big reveal and asked if she was still interested in going with someone who couldn’t so readily imbibe in vin and fromage. Turns out she’s an excellent sport and wasn’t bothered in the slightest.

COVID counts were in a lull, and international travel less daunting, so we lost no time in booking a week in France, with a few days in Paris and a few days in dreamy Provence ❤