Adventures of a Singlista: Last Tango in Paris

You know you’ve had a good holiday when you need a vacation to rest up from your vacation! Traveling alone was wonderful. I met some incredible people from all over the world — from right here in New York City to South America to Australia. If you haven’t traveled solo before, I highly recommend it. You will not regret it.   At the time of my last post, I had just gotten my eye patch off, and I’m happy to report that my eye is healing well. From Monaco, I hit the south of France while making my way to Paris. I shopped in Cannes, gallivanted through Provence and hit the sunny shores of St. Tropez. I had a wonderful farewell dinner with Paulo, Antonio and Nona and exchanged information with several people on the boat, hoping we’ll keep in touch.   I landed in Paris where my girlfriend and fellow singlista, Juliette (Jules), met me for the second half of my adventure, and what an adventure it was! I’ve always loved Paris and can say I love it even more after this trip.   When they say Paris is for lovers, they’re not kidding, because everywhere we went, the men were fabulous, kind and treated us like queens. My Parisian adventure started my first day with a serenade from an Italian man (in French) on the grounds of the Eiffel Tower and ended with a marriage proposal from a French film producer on my last night. Jules’ Parisian adventure began when the owner of an Indian restaurant we went to the first night fell head over heels in love with her. He was so smitten with Jules, he kept insisting we return to his restaurant so he could see her and feed us, each meal more lavish than the last. He fed us our last meal in Paris (featuring the largest shrimp I have seen in life) and gave us bottles of wine from his private cellar (Jules received wine from “Domaine Sainte Juliette”). We left Paris with more bottles of wine from him than a vineyard, and we had to repack to accommodate them all. I know this all sounds pretty unbelievable, but I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried!   We shopped the boutiques of Paris, visited some cultural and historical spots we’d been to before that we wanted to visit again. We ate fabulous food and drank Rose wine every day; we walked the city, hopped the Metro to some spots and chased down cabs other times. I introduced Jules to my Brazilian friends Paulo and Antonio from the boat, and shared a fantastic meal with them on their last night in Paris.   We were fortunate enough to be in Paris on Bastille Day, their most important holiday, which marks the anniversary of the beginning of the French Revolution, as well as our last night in Paris. Everyone should experience Bastille Day at least once in their lifetime, the atmosphere is similar to New Year’s Eve meets Fourth of July. As luck would have it, we somehow snagged a last-minute reservation at a fantastic restaurant with an even better view. There we met up with a friend of mine from New York for dinner. Jules and I somehow managed to eat, although I’m not sure how, because the restaurateur stuffed us with Indian food just hours before. During dinner, we watched an incredible fireworks display from our table. After the fireworks, the Eiffel Tower sparkled, and people danced endlessly on the tables, ironically to American music. Not to be left out, the uber-glamorous hostesses joined in the festivities, grooving with each other and the patrons in their five-inch heels.   We left the restaurant hyped from the Bastille Day (actually, night) festivities. We tried to go to a few more spots, which were closed due to the holiday, so the three of us retreated to our standby sexy lounge spot. We sat down and started chatting and I saw a familiar face tucked in the corner of the lounge having a glass of wine. I couldn’t believe my eyes, but there sat an old friend of mine who lives here in New York City. He came over and joined us, four New Yorkers chillin’ in Paris! From there, the French film producer, a French art dealer from New York, and his date sat next to us and quickly struck up a conversation. Within thirty minutes, the producer declared to the table that he was going to marry me and kept saying so the entire night. “Liza, you are going to be my wife, Liza” and “Juliette, I want to get married with Liza, tell me what I need to do.” He picked up our table’s tab, whisked us away to a few after-hours spots, treated the four of us to breakfast and has been emailing me ever since. Who knows where it will go, and if we never connect again, it is what it is, and sure was a great way for the singlistas to end our trip in Paris.   On a purely egotistical note, I say to the singlistas, “GO TO EUROPE,” if for nothing else than the men alone. They are so open, and not shameful of being smitten with a woman’s beauty and strength. I am in no way bashing American men, but as a culture, we are much more reserved, and it often reflects in our interaction. We can all learn something from their joie de vivre. This trip has been wonderful, and the important thing is that you have to roll with the punches: when life gives you lemons, make lemon drop martinis! My mettle was tested several times: with my broken laptop monitor (which miraculously fixed itself after I ran all over Livorno, Italy, and had to purchase a new one). I had more allergy attacks than ever, which caused me to scratch my cornea and don an eye patch in fabulous Monte Carlo. The receptionist at our Paris hotel bore a striking resemblance and disposition to Kathy Bates and was repeatedly rude to us, but we kept smiling and got what we needed. Nothing in life is perfect, and we often set ourselves up for failure expecting it to be so. Someone once said to me, if it won’t matter in six months, no need to get your knickers in a bunch. Words to live by. Got off the plane, dropped the bags, did a quick change and met two of my girls (also singlistas) for a late dinner. It was great to see them, we hugged, caught up and it looks like the Adventures will continue here in New York City… at least for the next week. Next weekend I am going to a friend’s wedding in Atlanta, and if you want to know if I have a date, the answer is “stay tuned”…