It turns out that places don't stay the same once you leave them.
It turns out that memories are only memories, even if I sometimes assume they are someone else's current reality.
It turns out that cathedrals can and do burn, that a walk through Paris in the morning will never be the same, that the city of my teenage years was probably long gone.
Having grown up in Paris, I take some things for granted.
I've been spoilt, let's face it.
The idea of a trip to Paris doesn't excite me. It sounds like taking the bus home: nice, comfy, welcoming. Okay. Nothing much. Could we go to somewhere new and amazing instead?
It turns out that my children will never see Notre Dame. Let me repeat this. They will never see Notre Dame! I didn't take them. Why would I have?
Everlasting buildings don't disappear!
Landmarks are taken for granted. They don't suddenly collapse!
It turns out they do.
