1. Fall has always been my favorite season. I can distinctly remember telling my grandfather so, as he “weaseled” in the woods behind his Long Island house. And while as I got older, I started telling myself summer was my favorite – for the warmth, for the beach, for the vacation – I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for fall.
2. Ella Fitzgerald’s promise of a drizzly Parisian autumn, however, usually proves true. The crisp falls of my childhood in New York (or, even better, of my high school years in New England) are not the autumns I enjoy in Paris. Usually, the summer sun gives way to a permanently grey sky, and whatever changing leaves we get, already far from the technicolored hues of the American northeast, are even more muted.
3. But for the past few days, we’ve been enjoying quite a bit of sunshine, accompanied with a crisp coldness I really love.
4. A quick walk through the park is food for the senses: the pleasant smell and crunch of rotting leaves is the perfect backdrop to take in the season’s colors.
5. And it makes coming home for a cup of warm coffee an especially welcome treat.