Finding The True Diamond Behind The Glamour

I longed for that one bookshop where I could lose myself completely…and finally, I’d found her. In a small, dark, back street just off the Rue De Rivoli, reminding me of Harry Potter; cobbled and full of mystery, I felt a force pull me towards the thick wooden door. Feeling a quiver of excited nerves rattle through me as I took each step towards this unknown labyrinth, I pushed open the heavy door, a bell tinkling above me the only sound, and embraced what lay ahead. It took my eyes a split second to get used to the dimness after being outside in the bright Parisian sunshine for so long, but blinking, I finally saw what the shop beheld: books.
I stare up, mouth wide, eyes flitting around at what I'd just stumbled across. Feeling like a kid in a sweet shop, I am completely and utterly overwhelmed. A sharp intake of my already shuddering breathe brings me to; this was what I had been waiting for. THIS, right here, was how I imagined in my head when I thought, ‘bookshop’. The smell, the lighting, the sounds all amalgamated and hit me with such a force, I could've easily passed out. I felt each hair stand on end as I looked up and absorbed the shelves upon shelves of wonderful books; all waiting patiently to be chosen, some knowing they never would. Beautiful dark oak ladders calling for me to climb up and explore, daring me to reach the top. I start by slowly walking past, stroking with one trembling finger the spines that poke out, each quietly calling out “pick me, pick me”.

In that moment, I knew why people travelled. Stumbling across hidden treasures and troves that you may never find again. Some searching for that one particular thing, others going with the flow and not looking for anything other than adventure. Treasures only a select few people would understand; like me, the bookworm. I had come to Paris on a whim, ready to explore, a map in one hand, a book in the other. I found so much of myself in Paris; but what I didn't bargain on was leaving a part of my heart behind.

Reading, in my eyes, is as much an adventure as travelling and every journey we take we should absorb and consume it completely; like the pages of a good book. It is almost impossible to visit every single country or city in the world, but go out there and take on the challenge. They say, and I quote, “the most ardent readers will never reach the end of a good bookshop”. But right there and then, in the middle of a city I had already fallen in love with...I was willing to try.