A lot can happen in 560 days.
Chance encounters, finding new passions and letting go of old ones, memories
that will be recounted for a lifetime, surviving perilously dangerous
situations… on more than one occasion, and many many lessons learnt along the
way.
Although, has anything really
changed since I left my beloved Paris? Am I the same? Is she the same?
Have we grown apart? Or are we
still familiar friends?
Time will tell as I embark on the
return journey back to where my life changed forever.
I promised that I would be back,
sooner rather than later. I was never going to be able to stay away. That’s
what happens when something captures your heart and then your imagination.
Am I romantising her memory? Have
I forgotten how incredibly challenging she can be? Or is lure of vin et fromage simply too powerful and
I’m no longer objective?
I left Paris reluctantly to
return ‘home’, but home was not where I landed. Sydney and I started our
relationship off on rocky ground. Stand-offish, aloof, cold even despite her
gorgeous sunny outward appearance.
I took solitude in Newtown, my
little bit of Melbourne and Paris where the ‘different’ people seek shelter in
the endless cafes, eateries and bars to while away weekends.
Most definitely a diverse community |
She has warmed to me now; it took
some time. Like me, she too has changed. Sydney has opened herself up to new
experiences and new ideas and it’s reflecting in the growth of her culture. She
might still be a little brash and not quite chic,
but it’s where I proudly call home.
I am returning not as a
triathlete, but a cyclist. A chance encounter outside the local swimming pool
led me to SU Velo Club, my cycling club. Where I was told that I would find
‘life long friends’ and I believe I have. It’s where a continual source of
wonderful memories are formed.
I also return having just left
the job that began this sequence of events some nine years ago to lead to this
point.
I am turning the page, I have
smoothed down the centre spine and I stare at the blank page…what story will be
written….
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