For 50something Kathleen, the question is “What’s next?” She decides to invest in an apartment in Paris, leaving her stateside life for what, at the outset, appears concrete and feasible, but that gradually becomes more malleable and suspect.

The hunt for wrought-iron geranium-dripped balconies with a view onto serene courtyards involves a shift in perspective. In this country of barter and handshake, the interested parties engage in myriad tactics to delay, refuse, bluff, and beleaguer to the point Kathleen wonders what ever possessed her in the first place. The flip side of the endeavor, however, is the encountered sincerity and bonhomie of the French as they navigate their lives while she moves along in hers.

For the incidental tourist, Paris conjures romance, adventure, elegance, and historic marvel. The Paris of day-to-day, however, if handpicked for individual consumption, can leave one either running for the airport or endlessly indulging in her bounty. For Kathleen, perseverance in her apartment hunt ushered in clarity and experience of a more subtle yet delectable vein. This memoir will stoke your image of touristy Paris, allowing you to transcend it in the form of a life crossroad we all eventually encounter, the one that begs the question: Do I run the other way or embrace this more dearly?