Travel Diaries Of A Quaintrelle

2012, it was a sunny afternoon in the kingdom of August after we were done with the tour in Notre-Dam de Paris. It wasn't until around the sunset that they decided to join the assumption process on the Seine river. The waning sunlight looked like countless golden particles that was soft and opaque filtering through the layers of clouds & settling down on the surface of earth. It was just the suitable time for thoroughly breathing in the last day spent in the lovesome City Of Light.

It shall be an aimless stroll, taking my time to absorb the city in and say goodbye. As darkness has timidly started to crawl in like curtains, I found myself zoning out in a totally beautiful place spotting the name "Rue de la Harpe" on the far left of an antiquated building of a Haussmannian style. It's more like stepping into a place out of the momentum & energy of time where you have all your senses tickled.The music, dancers, artists & fusion of the various cultures found at the vinyl tiles of the Harpe gave my feet a pleasant chill. I was just high on the wildness of it all!

Pumping into a glorious heap of shelves of books of all languages & genre, it felt like drowning into a further parallel imaginary world with all the shelves, papers and scent of old books! Whether you are a book worm or not, you will still lose yourself in between this sublime place of "Shakespeare & Co." bookshop & cafe. Amid the gratifying musical tunes that saturated the chilly gentle summer breeze, I could notice from far away a studly bull-necked robust man of 60s who seemed calm and collected from his steady foot steps toward the stack of books that I was meticulously checking. His crimson colored pants, beige-patterned African shirt & mahogany vintage shoes just reflected how eclectic he was. "What kind of torture would a person encounter with a disharmony between his unlimited mental demands and actual limited abilities and skills!" exclaimed the man with a husky guttural voice. It sounded like he was directing his words to me, I just smiled & completed flipping the papers of the book I was holding. Picking up the books I found luscious and leaving the place, the man reapproached me with a wide smile and handed me The Metamorphosis for Kafka & again with his husky voice he said "This is for you lady, this is for your coming years. Beware of ending up in turmoil!" He left with no further words. Confusion, amazement & curiosity is all I find each time I read the book with his words in mind.