Automne

It's no secret, I love Automne!

• The way the sun sits lower in the sky.
• The warm vibrant colors of the leaves.
• The crisp air that begs for a cashmere wrap or blazer, yet not quite a coat.
• Knowing that soon enough, I won't feel guilty for filling my weekends sitting inside a cafe or a museum (rather than chasing the sunshine all over Paris).
• And searching for the perfect pair of boots as my signature statement this season.

This boot pursuit seems a lot more challenging than past years. Mostly because I am not visualizing (and by visualizing, I mean obsessing) over a very specific style/brand of boots that I may or may not ever find.

Will it be an Isabel Marant boot?

A Martin Margiela avant garde take on a classic?

A fur-lined Pierre Hardy lace-up wedge?

(Imagine these in black, lined with fur. They are so new that there aren't any images available yet.)

Or, *gasp* a Moccasin bootie? (seriously, I am thinking quite a bit about Moccasin booties lately. In my defense, I walk A LOT and comfort is key, okay!?)

It's kind of exciting to keep myself open so that the perfect boot can present itself to me, rather than hunting it down with the focus of an Olympian athlete. It is the difference between being on a mission and being on a journey. And I am starting to get used to this whole journey thing.

I know what type of "boot" it won't be. And I am pretty sure that Paris (and all of France, for that matter) offers a free vaccine for this unfortunate affliction of Elephant Feet. God bless Paris, God bless health care for all, and God bless Automne.

Voyage

Voyage (Fr.)/ Journey (Eng.) noun/verb: The act of traveling from one place to another; a trip.

"I've come to believe in something I call the Physics of the Quest. A force in nature governed by laws as real as the laws of gravity. The rule of quest physics goes something like this, if you are brave enough to leave behind everything familiar and comforting, which can be anything from your house, to bitter old resentments, and set out on a true seeking journey, either externally or internally, and if you are truly willing to regard everything that happens to you on that journey as a clue. and if you accept everyone you meet along the way as a teacher. And if you are prepared most of all, to face and accept some very difficult realities about yourself then the truth will not be withheld from you. I can't help but believe it given my experience."

- Elizabeth Gilbert