(listen to the podcast ici!)

Happy new year, Paris! Here’s to I! And to you, of course!

Within the next few days, I’ll be curling up with you again. I’ll be with you again physically, and I’m coming from the Right place at the right time. Sure, the boiler on the boat is playing up again after working so smoothly for almost two months, but my warmth isn’t Fading, even if I get to wash the dishes with icy water again.

I will walk the cobblestones and the rest of the Parisian grounds feeling Light, open, touched; not denying anything but bearing witness to the Unfolding, that has already been happening way before this new beginning, the previous beginning, before that, and it will keep happening.

I can already say ‘I don’t miss Paris’ from the unusually calm and quiet pier on the Thames in Chelsea, for I am now Looking at you, or at least in the direction of you, wherever I am. Oh never mind – here comes the Waves swinging the boat, testing my flexible stability, which I have been cultivating Here and everywhere else.

I do not foresee going to jazz bars or dressing up and dancing at a vintage ball at La Coupole; I do not foresee going to the cabarets or browsing the Louvre without queueing first (thanks to my Amis du Louvre duo); I do not even foresee going to house parties or meeting my friends for a café crème – an espresso for me – or a kir royal, in the afternoon, discussing the petty things in the most philosophical ways and the essence of all things in the most casual ways, which is very much my style. I have nothing, Paris; I have nothing to plan but having the best time with myself wherever I end up going and whatever, ou bien whoever, I end up doing – only joking! Am I?

Too general for you? Oh, but it’s so specific! I am planning on being a bitch whatever happens! A bitch to distractions and disappointment; a bitch to bad memories and sour tastes – wait, I like some sour tastes – all vinegars and fermented stuff, stay with me – a bitch because I am indifferent to them – apart from some sour tastes, evidemment. I’ll show life who the bitch really is, who creates it in the first place and who keeps creating it as she goes along. I will be dancing to the music on that radio that’s broadcasting from inside of me without, or with minimal, resistance, and that is how Madame est servie!

Il a neigé dans ma vie, oui – yes, my life has been covered in snow, it’s a seasonal thing. But when it snows, I could ski (oh no, I can’t!) or make tea – I mean pour whisky, watching the white surrounding from inside and feeling blessed for being Chez moi even when I’m not home exactly. Oh, how liberating it is to feel at home within oneself, to feel one with oneself! Je vais bien, I think – non: je sais que je vais bien!

My arms are open and my breathing is slow and steady, even if the idea of you is always exhilarating to me. Paris is always a good idea, they say. But It’s not about you, Paris. I’ve found the reset button that erases unnecessary settings throwing me out of my path and resumes my most creative journey each time I press it, even after I had a strange dream.

Quelle Reprise! And do you know that this is my 21^st podcast? Oh yes! I came back to writing Imagined Paris at letter number 21 when I decided to record my voice reading it for myself, and for my then boyfriend, who told me, half-jokingly, it was his new favourite podcast, and that’s how Imagined Paris Podcast began! So, my big fans, thank him for that, and for a few other things. Si jamais, t’as ton cœur.

I guess ‘Joyeux anniversaire to us!’ isn’t quite appropriate as it hasn’t been a year since this platform for my inexplicably sexy voice started, but this episode puts this favourite podcast of yours at the top 1% of all podcasts in the world in term of longevity! I have cleverly snuck the previous twenty titles with the links to the episodes in the blog version and in the episode description.

Thank you for amplifying my voice with your ears. Merci – simply merci!

londres, le 4 janvier 2026

je t’embrasse !

d.o.