WEBVTT 00:00:01.740 --> 00:00:08.779 Je suis prête. Ça va, Paris? How have you been 00:00:08.779 --> 00:00:13.080 in the last few hours? You looked after me so 00:00:13.080 --> 00:00:15.900 well for the past week that there was not a moment 00:00:15.900 --> 00:00:20.420 that I didn't feel loved. And London was so welcoming 00:00:20.420 --> 00:00:23.859 this morning with its persistent rain, which 00:00:23.859 --> 00:00:29.379 I welcomed with my persistent smile. I slept 00:00:29.379 --> 00:00:31.960 through the Eurostar journey with my fancy sleep 00:00:31.960 --> 00:00:36.420 mask on as I managed to sit alone again (watch 00:00:36.420 --> 00:00:38.960 out for those empty priority seats when the train 00:00:38.960 --> 00:00:42.659 has started moving -- de rien!) after finishing 00:00:42.659 --> 00:00:45.780 the last pages of Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, 00:00:45.979 --> 00:00:48.799 --an essential re-reading for me after almost 00:00:48.799 --> 00:00:53.799 30 years. The river's tide was neither low nor 00:00:53.799 --> 00:00:57.579 high when I arrived at the pier, making the bridge 00:00:57.579 --> 00:01:00.340 toward the barges effortless to cross with my 00:01:00.340 --> 00:01:05.719 compact yet heavy bags. In any case, my heart 00:01:05.719 --> 00:01:09.019 was so light that everything felt easy and fun. 00:01:09.640 --> 00:01:13.379 Even when I, by genuine mistake, walked through 00:01:13.379 --> 00:01:17.120 a chantier, an empty construction site, at dawn, 00:01:17.260 --> 00:01:20.340 on my way from La Chapelle to Gare du Nord, got 00:01:20.340 --> 00:01:22.799 caught by a man sitting in an old car at the 00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:25.319 other end who asked me to show him where I got 00:01:25.319 --> 00:01:29.230 in. And--oh great, now there was another man 00:01:29.230 --> 00:01:32.230 walking in a direction shouting at me and to 00:01:32.230 --> 00:01:34.370 the other guy saying it was close to where he 00:01:34.370 --> 00:01:38.810 was coming from. I assured my guy that it was 00:01:38.810 --> 00:01:42.230 open. But after a long walk back to the other 00:01:42.230 --> 00:01:47.109 side, suddenly everything was closed. No entrance 00:01:47.109 --> 00:01:52.489 was found. I have either unlocked a new superpower 00:01:53.530 --> 00:01:55.870 or the other guy went out, leaving the entrance 00:01:55.870 --> 00:01:59.430 open, and now he needed to make everyone believe 00:01:59.430 --> 00:02:04.829 that magic existed. It was too late. Either way, 00:02:04.909 --> 00:02:09.909 I already believed in magic. It was magic that 00:02:09.909 --> 00:02:13.710 I got out alive. And it was magic that my French 00:02:13.710 --> 00:02:16.430 was good enough to keep me alive in that situation. 00:02:17.889 --> 00:02:23.620 I was satisfied (or shall I say j'étais satisfaite) 00:02:24.740 --> 00:02:28.020 and smiled all the way to the Eurostar premier 00:02:28.020 --> 00:02:30.939 lounge after the guy finally let me out with 00:02:30.939 --> 00:02:36.520 his padlock key. I was then reminded of my massive 00:02:36.520 --> 00:02:40.719 car accident in 2020, on my way to see the children 00:02:40.719 --> 00:02:44.479 for Christmas, when a huge lorry joined my lane 00:02:44.479 --> 00:02:49.020 without signalling at about 60 mph and hit the 00:02:49.020 --> 00:02:51.879 passenger side of the tiny Merco Benz I was driving. 00:02:53.060 --> 00:02:57.039 The car started spinning in slow motion for half 00:02:57.039 --> 00:03:01.379 an eternity, during which I decided to let go 00:03:01.379 --> 00:03:07.800 of the steering wheel. Calmly. Unbelievably calmly. 00:03:08.819 --> 00:03:13.039 I wasn't afraid. My heart wasn't beating fast. 00:03:13.849 --> 00:03:16.889 not even as fast as when a gorgeous man on the 00:03:16.889 --> 00:03:21.509 tube catches my eyes. When the car stopped in 00:03:21.509 --> 00:03:26.669 the middle of M6 motorway, I sat there, now peacefully, 00:03:26.990 --> 00:03:32.610 waiting for the final blow. After the other half 00:03:32.610 --> 00:03:36.610 of an eternity, there was no final blow. I turned 00:03:36.610 --> 00:03:39.389 off the radio playing classic FM, turned the 00:03:39.389 --> 00:03:42.449 ignition off, grabbed the car key, and my handbag 00:03:42.449 --> 00:03:45.189 on the floor, and opened the door from the passenger 00:03:45.189 --> 00:03:48.909 side to avoid the faster lane on my right. I 00:03:48.909 --> 00:03:55.030 was as calm and as peaceful this morning. I have 00:03:55.030 --> 00:03:58.629 now learned that it is always there, Paris. The 00:03:58.629 --> 00:04:04.349 calm, the peace, the joy. It's only a matter 00:04:04.349 --> 00:04:07.430 of cultivating and maintaining it at every moment, 00:04:07.650 --> 00:04:10.729 even when it's supposed to be a challenging moment. 00:04:12.199 --> 00:04:16.939 And that, my dear, is the secret of life. Only 00:04:16.939 --> 00:04:20.079 joking. There's no secret in life if you're truly 00:04:20.079 --> 00:04:24.660 living it. Everything is out in the open when 00:04:24.660 --> 00:04:28.180 your heart is open. And my constant learning 00:04:28.180 --> 00:04:32.879 is, I guess, how to keep my heart open, moment 00:04:32.879 --> 00:04:38.319 by moment. Anyway, enough about me. Only joking. 00:04:38.480 --> 00:04:42.399 It's never enough, Paris. When it's truly about 00:04:42.399 --> 00:04:46.899 me, it's truly about you too. But my new best 00:04:46.899 --> 00:04:49.459 friend Peter shooed me out of his way as soon 00:04:49.459 --> 00:04:52.959 as I entered the barge to do this podcast, after 00:04:52.959 --> 00:04:55.120 complimenting how good I still looked in this 00:04:55.120 --> 00:04:58.660 weather, drenched, and telling me that he had turned 00:04:58.660 --> 00:05:01.160 the heating on in my room and that he was going 00:05:01.160 --> 00:05:04.000 to deliver his magical ginger honey and lime 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:10.089 drink in a bit. I am so spoiled, Paris. I am 00:05:10.089 --> 00:05:14.949 free and I am loved. My cold, which I caught 00:05:14.949 --> 00:05:17.569 from walking alone in the Parisian evening rain 00:05:17.569 --> 00:05:21.329 a bit too indulgently, has subsided quite considerably. 00:05:22.689 --> 00:05:28.529 I feel ready, Paris, for anything. And I will 00:05:28.529 --> 00:05:30.769 remember this readiness in me when I encounter 00:05:30.769 --> 00:05:35.970 moments that make me feel otherwise. Come what 00:05:35.970 --> 00:05:39.939 may, I've got my written ticket to you already. 00:05:41.560 --> 00:05:42.879 See you in a few days. londres, le 15 fevrier 2026 je t’embrasse !