Leadbelly - Goodnight Irene

It's a slow start this morning after an evening celebrating a birthday with friends. We met a lovely couple from Halifax a few years back when they were subletting a flat upstairs for vacation and now, they've become like neighbors. They're semi-retired so only pass through Paris once a year but we always pick up things as though it was just last week.

The past year involved a number of personal challenges for our friends, including the death of their mother (he was an only child), cancer treatment, a detached retina and a broken hip. Just one of those events in a year would be a lot but the couple experienced all of those events. This year they came back to Paris for a birthday celebration. They booked a big table on top of the Montparnasse Tower and we all kicked off a new year for our friend. It was a good reminder for us to all enjoy the moment.