South East Asia Adventure | Here and there...

I was taking a break from the holiday rush today, sipping a latte and Bailey's, when I came across this in CS Richardson's The Emperor of Paris. It's Grenelle, [the reviews mostly ignore Grenelle, but he's a fascinating character] in response to Octavio's questions about Grenelle's past:

You shouldn't believe all that you hear, my boy, but I have been here and there.

And where, exactly, is that? Octavio said. Here and there.

Here was the place I usually found myself in, Grenelle replied. It wouldn't take long to lose its excitement.  There was the place over the next hill, in the village just up the road, around the next corner. There was never where I was, and there always seemed more promising.

I wish I could do it, Octavio said. Go there.

Leave the bakery, you mean? said Granelle. Why couldn't you?

Look what happened to Maman or Papa.

People leave for a lot of reasons, my boy. Some have no choice. But some just want a bit of adventure, a change from the routine of life. The place I call there is not as cruel as you may think and you don't have to go far to reach it. Sometimes all you need do is walk to the end of the street and turn the corner. And remember, no matter how far you wander, here will always be here.

Madame Lafrouche, a customer at the cake-slice, as the bakery is known to regulars, later encourages Octavio and his father to venture out from the bakery where Octavio has lived since the day he was born on the baking slab in the cellar, and to which his father has recently returned from the war, distressed and disoriented.

 But--where would we go? Octavio said.

Goodness me, nowhere in particular. Just go for a walk, wander around for a while, find some new pictures. You might try the Louvre...

And so  Octavio and his father venture forth, following the precise directions of Grenelle, until they reach the Louvre where the unlikely love story begins.

This speaks to me of the footpath. It may take me far from here, or it may take me around the corner. For me, finding the footpath is about the promise of wonder and awe there, and the familiarity of home on returning here, in Edmonton.