A few nights ago, Bob and I went to see the new Woody Allen film, Midnight in Paris.  After reading a few reviews and seeing some photos I had my heart set on seeing this movie. So much so that we actually went to two different theatres because the first one was sold out.

The movie was great. I highly suggest any traveler, history buff or time travel wannabe to run to their nearest theater and see this film. You will love it. It’s just one of those movies where you walk out smiling.

After analyzing and over analyzing the film (we are actors after all), Bob and I started talking about our first time in Paris. It quickly made me think of the summer after Bob and I started dating.  Bob’s mom took him to Paris for his birthday and he sent me postcards detailing the whole experience.

Each card started out with “day …” and was more than just a basic list of who,what,where. He wrote about the feeling he had when he walked up to the Moulin Rouge and how the neighborhood was less “Hollywood-movie” than he expected. He described the long trek up the never-ending stairs to Sacré-Cœur and how incredibly green the grass was in the lawn below. He mentioned how when it rained the city lights seem to sparkle and the chocolate crepes across from The Lourve were made out of a chocolate called Nutella- something I had never tasted before- and they were rich, creamy and best with bananas.

Day after day, I waited for our next adventure.

He saw all the iconic Paris attractions, starting with The Louvre. One of the postcards was of the Mona Lisa: “She had a huge crowd around her, so we didn’t spend too much time with her.” He did find a tree painting that had different trees for each season, and each season had unique personalities. It was his favorite from The Louvre, less loved (so no postcard made of it) but equally as special.

I realize now that the first time I went to Paris was through his words and these iconic postcards.

The postcards had such a significant impact on me that I kept each one, and still have them all –almost 9 years later.

…

When we got home from the theatre, I pulled one of the postcards off a framed photo of our first *real time in Paris and handed it to him. “Wow- I always wondered why you put a postcard on top of that photo”, he said, examining the card. We sat there reading the cards, reliving our Paris memories.

Since then, I always try to write something about a new city I visit so that whoever I may be sending a postcard to will feel like they’ve traveled along.

Have you traveled to a city through the postcards you’ve received?