Introduction to "Eat, Walk, Write: An American Senior’s Year of Adventure"
In 2007, I reduced my law practice to a few hours a week, and after a lifetime in southern California, moved to Boston to experience life on the east coast. I loved Boston, its art, music, history and not needing a car.
But I had always yearned to experience living in another country. I considered Mexico and Italy, both of which I had thoroughly enjoyed when I visited briefly, but it was Paris that was calling me. I had visited twice, and Paris was so magical, so civilized, so foreign.
I had reinvented myself as a writer, having written more than a dozen short stories and several essays, and I had almost finished a memoir about my journey to understand my role in the destruction of my three marriages. If Boston is a writers’ town, Paris is the quintessential.
So, in spring of 2010 I completed my legal work, totally retired and prepared to move to Paris. I decided rather arbitrarily that two years would be the ideal amount of time to soak up French culture. After selling, giving away or storing all of my stuff that wouldn’t fit into a large backpack, a medium suitcase and a computer bag, I obtained my Long Stay Visa from the French Consulate and took off for Paris.
As a writer, it was second nature to keep a journal while I was in Paris. I also started two blogs, one on travel and another on divorce recovery. As so often happens when one undertakes an adventure, I was in for a lot of surprises, and writing about them enhanced the joys and softened the challenges. I stayed for a about a year and spent the last month in northern Tuscany. In spring 2011 I returned to California.
As I read my journal and wrote this book, I relived many wonderful experiences, including the art, culture and history of the civilization that spawned America’s and the challenges I encountered in living abroad. Themes that kept reoccurring were eating, walking and writing. So I had my title. I am thrilled to share my adventures with you.
My book, "Eat, Walk, Write: An American Senior’s Year of Adventure in Paris and Tuscany," is available on Amazon: Amazon.com/Eat-Walk-Write. From time to time I will post additional excerpts here.
