Goodbye Paris - Hello Brasil

It’s funny how sometimes a totally incongruous thing can set you off. I know Paris is beautiful and sad in December and I was feeling the fatigue of the journey so far in my bones today. We had to get out of the hotel at noon so Carol kindly allowed us to hang out at her little studio in Monmartre today as we weren’t flying to Brasil until midnight. Was it the prospect of another night flight? Another heavy filming and recording schedule? Maybe all of it added up, but just glancing up above her sink where the coffee machine was doing it’s thing, I noticed a pretty, rural tile she’d stuck to the ceiling. It made me think of simple things, of coming back to the same place every day, the same warm room, warm people, warm light, warm food. It made me feel for an instant the safety and security of routine and predictability. It felt heavy on my heart. It didn’t hurt me, but it felt like I needed to exhale. I got the same feeling later when we were in the Italian café knocking back yet another strong coffee, which I never drink in London, and a kid was browsing the shelves full of expensive biscuits and tinned delicacies. I imagined him back at home, his room, his homework, his day tomorrow at school. And I felt the same feeling on my chest.

Dave played some blissful guitar today on a couple of tracks and it was an emotional goodbye to him and Frank as we got into our separate cabs outside Carol’s studio. Them to Gare de Nord and us to Charles de Gaulle Terminal 2F for the Air France twelve hour flight to Rio de Janeiro. Joshua was in London trying to tie up his loose ends in time to meet us next week so there was just me, Duncan and Ben to shoulder the excess baggage penalties with 23kg less allowance. We were charming, witty and hilarious with the kind lady behind the desk. We even tried to divert her attention away from our 65kg over the limit by hustling her for upgrades, but it was inevitably useless. She could have hit us for 2000€. She only asked for 1500€. So that makes what? About $3500 so far and we only two weeks into the trip. This could get messy.

I gave in and bought ‘The Da Vinci Code’ by Dan Brown for the plane ride. It looks appalling and appealing in equal measure but everyone’s read it so my vanity wouldn’t allow me to join in up until now. Maybe I’ll cover the sleeve with something.