The 'je ne sais quoi' magic of Paris
Travel Photography - Paris, France | Toronto Real Life Family Photographer
There was never a doubt I’d return. Come ‘home’ to the birthplace of my wandering soul. The start of a life spent planning for the next adventure while savouring the little bits of those travels found lurking among my everyday life. France. The first country I’d visit outside of North America. The first place I’d live that was too far away to come home for the weekend. The first intangibly complicated love of my life.
I lived in the south of France for a year in my early 20s (more on than in another post), and two decades later that lustre of beauté has waned not a bit. In my 40th year, I made an oath to myself about a few things:
that I would wear mustard yellow more often
that I would find a way to celebrate not just once that year, but several times throughout, and
that a big, momentous, special trip would encapsulate all that was the past and all that lay ahead.
I’m grateful and thankful to say that all of these things came true (vive la moutarde!). Just as the dust settled on hauling ourselves out of the sun-soaked summer slumber, we packed up our bags — the family — and set off for what would truly be Les Grandes Vacances. The first time we’d done such a trip as a family. The first time we’d realize just how much we needed to do this kind of trip more often.
France. The first intangibly complicated love of my life.
And while I won’t extrapolate every single detail of this vacation (for fear of turning Les Grandes Vacances into Les Grandes Ennuies), it is always, always, always the photographs that stick to my soul for days, months, years — reminding me that this actually happened; that family travel can be gloriously beautiful, albeit hard; that sharing the beauty I saw through my own eyes and through the eyes of my husband and children is a way of making a relatively short span of time into a lasting ode to what I find most special in this world; that family travel can be everything but cliché and compromised and safe. Worthy, even, of sharing my expertise with others who plan to do the same.
It is always, always, always the photographs that stick to my soul for days, months, years.
This trip was long and short. Easy and hard. Up and down. Big and small. Everything. Travel photography is just photography somewhere else. But with eyes that feel wider. More colourful. I still want to share the every day, even if these definitely were not our everyday. The details of a life lived in three weeks. The ease with which we slipped into this lifestyle. I’ll start with Paris. Because really, shouldn’t we all?
xx
I shared many details of our incredible trip to France on the wonderful Join Us In France podcast, hosted by Annie Sargent. You can listen to the entire episode here.
Interested in a real life session for your vacation or trip? Let’s chat.