Wednesday, July 21, 2021

Wondrous Words: Coup de Foudre from Paris Without Her

 





"What we expected from Paris was the summation of everything beautiful and civilized infused with romance. And now here we were in the real Paris, and the real Paris turned out to be even more beautiful than we had thought it would be, more intoxicating, more romantic, and bursting with exciting possibilities that were inconceivable elsewhere."

Curtis, Gregory. Paris Without Her (p. 36). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. 


I recently finished Gregory Curtis' memoir, Paris Without Her, a story of Curtis' life with and without his beloved wife, during the times they spent together in Paris and later, alone in Paris, after his wife passed away from cancer.

One of the memorable parts of the book is when Curtis remembers the time he first meets the woman who was to become his wife. He feels something powerful in that moment. Curtis later learns that the French call a moment like that a "coup de foudre," a bolt of lightning.

I have felt those moments, and I bet you have, too.

I love having a moment like that captured in a photo.

Here are a couple of "coup de foudre" moments I or someone else captured in a photo over the years.

Happy moment with my granddaughter

My son makes my mom laugh at his graduation party

Playing guitar with my niece and nephew

A long hike with my sister and brother-in-law at Bryce Canyon NP

My grandpap and his gun

We renew our wedding vows with our granddaughter looking on

Our grandson is born


A group of kids use their good behavior tickets to eat lunch with me

My sister and I finally visit the city of our ancestors, Lucca, Italy

My husband and our two sons when the boys were wee things.

We were picnicking at the Eiffel Tower after dark, and I was electrified to see the tower light up.
I had no idea it did that.






Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where you can share new words that you’ve encountered, or spotlight words you love.  Feel free to get creative! It was first created by Kathy over at Bermuda Onion and is now hosted at Elza Reads.




21 comments:

  1. Your photos sure show the bolt of lightning moments in your life. Paris was dear to my husband and me, and we spent many months in that romantic city. IOn our visits there I loved the rain reflecting lights on the sidewalks and eating roast chestnuts and crepes from the street vendors, among many coup de foudre moments.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What precious photos. I think one of the most precious thunderbolt moments I experienced was when my newborn son grabbed my finger with his little hand when the nurses brought him to me. No photo but I hope I always remember that moment.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I adore every single one of your coup de foudre moments. They're wonderful. That sounds like a very touching book a well so a double whammy of good things here in this post!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh you've had some wonderful lightening moments. This post made me smile from start to finish. Beautiful.

    Thank you for joining the Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop.

    Have a fabulous Wordless Wednesday. ♥

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a lovely post. Thanks for sharing all those private events with us.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Awwww, what lovely memories! Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I was so glad to read your comment on my blog today, we love some of the same books. In fact, you mentioned The Splendid and the Vile which was my favorite book read in 2020, and A Gentleman in Moscow which is my favorite book read thus far in 2021. Actually these two books make my all time favorites list. I think we are book sisters.

    ReplyDelete
  8. So true, these moments happen. Love the photos and what they say.

    ReplyDelete
  9. A wonderful review and we will take a look at this one

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love your pictures. Such wonderful memories.

    ReplyDelete
  11. What wonderful memories! I visited Lucca, Italy about 10 years ago - we had so much fun riding bikes around the medieval wall! So neat to hear your connection to the city.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love seeing your wonderful and happy memories Deb. So lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Precious memories!

    Love seeing your beautiful photos, Deb.

    Happy Friday!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Oh wow - this was lovely Debbie!! I think your post just gave me coup-de-foudre experience.

    Have a wonderful weekend Dearest Debbie.

    ReplyDelete
  15. What wonderful photos and people - thank you so much!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Great reminder, look for the coup de foudre moments in life and hold them close. While we've been in a sort of 'locked down' for a long time now, with our state borders closing at random, my local friends and are are creating memories with long walks, picnics, sunsets and dinners.. thank you for sharing this reminder.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Your "coup de foudre" moments made me smile. Such wonderful moments in your life.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Your lightning bolt moments are wonderful. Thanks for sharing them! ♥

    ReplyDelete
  19. I was in the hospital and missed this post. I LOVED the photos of your lightening bolt moments!

    ReplyDelete

I hope you will leave a comment so I know you have visited. If you stop by my blog, I will always stop by yours.

Note: Disqus commenting is only available on the web version of the blog. Please switch to the web version if you are using a mobile device.