A Love Travelogue
My Instagram page describes me as an Art Advisor, Native New Yorker and World Traveler. I am not the world traveler these days while the world is hunkered down in quarantine. I fondly remember jumping on a plane every month flying off to Brussels, Paris, Miami, Mexico City, Milan and so on. Coming home was equally as exciting, as I happily made plans for the next trip. Oh those were the days.
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Flashback May 2019 - I am in Paris for my godson Bruno’s confirmation at L’Eglise Saint Sulpice in the 6th arrondissement. I had the honor of accompanying him to the alter to take his vows. I pinched myself thinking how lucky I was to have this experience in one of the most beautiful Baroque churches in Paris. But I am getting away from myself here. One night I was swiping on Tinder and muttering to myself that this would be the last time before going off line for a break. Suddenly a very handsome man appears with an eagerness to meet me. I told him I had an hour for him the day before I was set to leave for New York and it was a very lucky hour!
We met at Café Coste at the Carre du Louvre. We chatted, talking about the usual – place of birth, upbringing, work, family and interests. There was a certain ease I had not felt in a long time. We liked each other and I could feel that immediately. As we parted we promised to keep in touch. Fast forward two weeks later he was in New York to see me.
Our second date was a five day visit. It started at Simon and The Whale on Lexington Avenue and 23rd Street. It was a hot summer night. I walked over from my apartment and he flew in from Paris. When I saw him standing in front of the restaurant my heart melted. We gave each other the warmest smiles from afar and our first hug made me feel cozy and exactly where I should be. Any nervousness I felt dissipated immediately. I felt drawn to this this tall, athletic, strapping Frenchman. It was as if we had known each other forever. We had dinner, saw a dance performance and it all kept flowing with such ease. We were tourists in my hometown visiting Central Park, Tavern on the Green, the 9/11 Memorial, Gallagher’s Steak House (one of his favorite places). We went to my house in Sag Harbor and discovered that we shared an intense love for the beach. He tried to teach me how to play tennis with such patience and love.
Two weeks later he was back and I was impressed with how he kept showing up and how I continued to fall for him. We planned to meet somewhere every month and explore places we had not been. We both love to travel just as much as we love the ocean. We met in Paris, went to Brugge for a romantic weekend, then off to a wedding at a chateau in Pepinster, Belgium. He was back in Sag Harbor for August. We took an excursion up to Newport to explore the mansions and an exhibition of the sculptor Nicolas Party. I joined him and his cousin for the famous walk of Saint Jaques de Compostella – nine days of hiking in the Southwest of France. Back and forth between Paris and New York so many times in between. We had planned to meet in Dallas in April for an art fair then explore parts of Texas. The coronavirus put a stop to our romantic travel adventures.
Now we find ourselves unable to make plans and we continue to hope that I will be able to board the plane for Paris on May 24 to continue our hiking towards Santiago de Compostella in Spain. In the meantime we are a part of each other’s lives from afar on an hourly basis. I wake up to a good morning every day and he wakes up to my humorous messages and pictures. We laugh about how our relationship might have been doomed if FaceTime did not exist. We share music, films, both silly and serious stories, we dance, we eat together, we share all the routines of our day in confinement and most of all our bond has grown stronger and stronger each day. He keeps me grounded in this upside down world. We both feel loved. Neither of us are alone. It is travel of another kind.
We do not know exactly when we will see each other again but what we do know is it will be a long awaited and sweet reunion.