A Pilgrim's Mindset: Seeing Paris Differently
A Pilgrim's Paris
My very first trip to Paris, nearly 20 years ago, I walked through Paris like everyone else, head full of guidebook facts, eyes scanning for the best café terrace, mind already crafting the perfect poem, story and experience. I was moving, but I wasn’t seeing fully.
However, Paris touched me deeply, and it stayed with me for a long time after this first visit.
Many years later when I returned to Paris, after several years of travel writing (and healing) around the globe, I arrived with a different openness. I remember one morning in my neighborhood of the sixth arrondissement, the city was still asleep, the Seine wrapped in mist, the bridges silent under my steps. I had no itinerary, only an intention: to be fully present.
I could feel her breathing…
As I passed through an old stone archway near Notre-Dame, I slowed down. I let my hand graze the cold, worn surface. How many pilgrims before me had done the same? How many prayers had soaked into these stones?
At that moment, something shifted. I was no longer just in Paris, I was in communion with it.
The Pilgrim’s Way of Seeing
Paris is a city that reveals itself not through rushing, but through reverence. The pilgrim’s mindset is not about seeing more, it’s about seeing differently.
A pilgrim asks:
• What is this place inviting me to feel?
• Where is the threshold moment here?
• What is the sacred offering itself to me in this moment?
This is how a simple doorway becomes a portal. A quiet side street becomes a sanctuary. A sip of coffee becomes a ritual.
A Simple Pilgrim’s Practice for Paris (or Anywhere)
Tomorrow, when you step outside, find the first doorway, arch, or bridge you cross.
1. Pause. Take a breath.
2. Place your hand on the surface. Feel its texture.
3. Step through with intention. Imagine yourself entering sacred ground.
Notice how this small act shifts your awareness. What does the city whisper back?
A Question for You
Have you ever had a moment where a place suddenly felt sacred to you? A time when a city or a street spoke to you in an unexpected way?
I’d love to hear your reflections in the comments.
Sending you limitless love from Paris,
