WEBVTT 00:00:03.079 --> 00:00:10.460 Je suis prête. Ça va, Paris? How have you been in the last few hours? You 00:00:10.460 --> 00:00:13.119 looked after me so well for the past week that 00:00:13.119 --> 00:00:15.699 there was not a moment that I didn't feel loved. 00:00:16.920 --> 00:00:20.339 And London was so welcoming this morning with 00:00:20.339 --> 00:00:24.199 its persistent rain, which I welcomed with my 00:00:24.199 --> 00:00:28.910 persistent smile. I slept through the Eurostar 00:00:28.910 --> 00:00:32.369 journey with my fancy sleep mask on as I managed 00:00:32.369 --> 00:00:35.729 to sit alone again (watch out for those empty 00:00:35.729 --> 00:00:38.289 priority seats when the train has started moving -- 00:00:38.969 --> 00:00:42.850 de rien!) after finishing the last pages of Siddhartha 00:00:42.850 --> 00:00:46.429 by Hermann Hesse, an essential re -reading for 00:00:46.429 --> 00:00:51.310 me after almost 30 years. The river's tide was 00:00:51.310 --> 00:00:54.170 neither low nor high when I arrived at the pier. 00:00:54.960 --> 00:00:57.719 making the bridge toward the barges effortless 00:00:57.719 --> 00:01:02.200 to cross with my compact yet heavy bags. In any 00:01:02.200 --> 00:01:06.480 case, my heart was so light that everything felt 00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:10.680 easy and fun. Even when I, by genuine mistake, 00:01:11.040 --> 00:01:13.920 walked through a chantier, an empty construction 00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:17.579 site, at dawn, on my way from La Chapelle to 00:01:17.579 --> 00:01:20.439 Gare du Nord, got caught by a man sitting in 00:01:20.439 --> 00:01:23.200 an old car at the other end, who asked me to show 00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:26.900 him where I got in, and--oh great, now there 00:01:26.900 --> 00:01:29.459 was another man walking in a direction shouting 00:01:29.459 --> 00:01:32.439 at me and to the other guy saying it was closed 00:01:32.439 --> 00:01:36.319 where he was coming from. I assured 'my' guy 00:01:36.319 --> 00:01:40.180 that it was open, but after a long walk back 00:01:40.180 --> 00:01:43.640 to the other side, suddenly everything was closed. 00:01:44.340 --> 00:01:49.980 No entrance was found. I have either unlocked 00:01:49.980 --> 00:01:53.890 a new superpower, or the other guy went out, leaving 00:01:53.890 --> 00:01:56.849 the entrance open, and now he needed to make 00:01:56.849 --> 00:02:01.409 everyone believe that magic existed. It was too 00:02:01.409 --> 00:02:05.790 late, either way; I already believed in magic. 00:02:06.829 --> 00:02:10.770 It was magic that I got out alive. And it was 00:02:10.770 --> 00:02:13.689 magic that my French was good enough to keep 00:02:13.689 --> 00:02:17.770 me alive in that situation. I was satisfied, 00:02:18.689 --> 00:02:24.319 or shall I say... j 'étais satisfaite, and smiled 00:02:24.319 --> 00:02:27.500 all the way to the Eurostar Premier Lounge after 00:02:27.500 --> 00:02:30.300 the guy finally let me out with his padlock key. 00:02:32.300 --> 00:02:35.740 I was then reminded of my massive car accident 00:02:35.740 --> 00:02:39.879 in 2020, on my way to see the children for Christmas, 00:02:40.099 --> 00:02:43.819 when a huge lorry joined my lane without signalling 00:02:43.819 --> 00:02:48.460 at about 60 mph, and hit the passenger side of 00:02:48.460 --> 00:02:53.060 the tiny Merco-Benz I was driving. The car started 00:02:53.060 --> 00:02:56.240 spinning in slow motion for half an eternity, 00:02:56.580 --> 00:03:00.400 during which I decided to let go of the steering 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:08.379 wheel. Calmly. Unbelievably calmly. I wasn't 00:03:08.379 --> 00:03:13.099 afraid. My heart wasn't beating fast, not even 00:03:13.099 --> 00:03:16.000 as fast as when a gorgeous man on the tube catches 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:20.580 my eyes. When the car stopped in the middle of 00:03:20.580 --> 00:03:26.680 M6 motorway, I sat there, now peacefully, waiting 00:03:26.680 --> 00:03:31.439 for the final blow. After the other half of an 00:03:31.439 --> 00:03:35.300 eternity, there was no final blow. I turned off 00:03:35.300 --> 00:03:38.120 the radio playing Classic FM, turned the ignition 00:03:38.120 --> 00:03:41.250 off, grabbed the car key. and my handbag on the 00:03:41.250 --> 00:03:43.669 floor, and opened the door from the passenger 00:03:43.669 --> 00:03:47.750 side to avoid the first lane on my right. I was 00:03:47.750 --> 00:03:53.509 as calm and as peaceful this morning. I have 00:03:53.509 --> 00:03:57.110 now learned that it is always there, Paris -- the 00:03:57.110 --> 00:04:02.849 calm, the peace, the joy. It's only a matter 00:04:02.849 --> 00:04:05.909 of cultivating and maintaining it at every moment, 00:04:06.129 --> 00:04:09.189 even when it's supposed to be a challenging moment. 00:04:10.699 --> 00:04:15.439 And that, my dear, is the secret of life. Only 00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:18.579 joking. There's no secret in life if you're truly 00:04:18.579 --> 00:04:23.160 living it. Everything is out in the open when 00:04:23.160 --> 00:04:26.660 your heart is open. And my constant learning 00:04:26.660 --> 00:04:31.379 is, I guess, how to keep my heart open, moment 00:04:31.379 --> 00:04:36.800 by moment. Anyway, enough about me. Only joking. 00:04:36.959 --> 00:04:40.870 It's never enough, Paris. When it's truly about 00:04:40.870 --> 00:04:45.370 me, it's truly about you too. But my new best 00:04:45.370 --> 00:04:47.930 friend Peter shooed me out of his way as soon 00:04:47.930 --> 00:04:51.430 as I entered the barge to do this podcast, after 00:04:51.430 --> 00:04:53.589 complimenting how good I still looked in this 00:04:53.589 --> 00:04:57.129 weather, drenched, and telling me that he had turned 00:04:57.129 --> 00:04:59.649 the heating on in my room and that he was going 00:04:59.649 --> 00:05:02.470 to deliver his magical ginger honey and lime 00:05:02.470 --> 00:05:08.589 drink in a bit. I am so spoiled, Paris. I am 00:05:08.589 --> 00:05:13.449 free and I am loved. My cold, which I caught 00:05:13.449 --> 00:05:16.069 from walking alone in the Parisian evening rain 00:05:16.069 --> 00:05:19.810 a bit too indulgently, has subsided quite considerably. 00:05:21.189 --> 00:05:27.029 I feel ready, Paris, for anything. And I will 00:05:27.029 --> 00:05:29.250 remember this readiness in me when I encounter 00:05:29.250 --> 00:05:34.449 moments that make me feel otherwise. Come what 00:05:34.449 --> 00:05:38.420 may, I've got my return ticket to you already. 00:05:40.100 --> 00:05:41.399 See you in a few days. londres, le 15 fevrier 2026, je t'embrasse !