Last week, transformation work brought me and a colleague back to France. Specifically in Paris this time. The previous time was ages ago. That now feels like a different lifetime. What struck me was that I totally forgot how beautiful the city is. Paris, early spring, with the sun a bit tentatively playing around, people enjoying themselves on heated terraces.
The Parisians were very hospitable, friendly and helpful. For instance, the owner of the Hotel we stayed at saved our car from being towed away. We parked it illegally to offload some luggage and within minutes a piece of paper was under the windshield wipers and the towing car already passed once to see if the car was still there. Had the hotel owner not taken action, we would have been in trouble. We gratefully bought a bottle of French wine for him which he accepted saying that this was not necessary. He was right, and it was also not necessary for him to save our car form being towed.
We went to Paris to meet with a CEO of a French bank and one of his executives. Again my expectations, which I will not share here, could not have been further away from my experience. The conversation was very open, inspiring and sharing lot’s of mutual experiences. We spoke English since my French is not good enough to speak French. We all gained so much energy from the meeting, wonderful.
After the meeting we went and saw some of Paris’ treasures and enjoyed the Gastronomie Francaise. The day after we planned a coaching conversation at another client which was very open, meaningful and valuable. Truly transformational for all people present. Amazing how people can create a trusting relationship within minutes/hours, even across cultures and languages.
After this, I drove back home in just under 5 hours. Amazing how close Paris actually is, I intend to be back for more transformation work in France.
Transformation is happening (to us) all the time, we just need to be aware to notice it.
Paris, merci beaucoup. Je reviendrais et entre-temps, j’ai l’intention d’apprendre á parler Francais.