“If coming here doesn’t do it, nothing will,” Nora agreed. “It’s impossible not to feel the Christmas spirit in these surroundings. If I’m really honest about it, I’ve missed being more festive even though I tried to convince myself I didn’t. And all these brilliant handmade gifts and traditional decorations were irresistible.” She finished with a happy giggle.
They stayed just long enough for dusk to fall, and they gasped as the town came alive with all the Christmas lights.
“It was a Christmas dream to be here during the day, but these lights put our trip into the category of magical,” Nora murmured. “I’m so glad we were here to see this.”
Chloe bought a foie gras sandwich for them to share on the ride back to Paris. “Strasbourg has had a reputation for exquisite foie gras since the 1700s. We can get a small glass of local beer to go with it on the train.”
Nora teased her. “All the knowledge you’ve been sharing tells me you are definitely becoming French. I feel like I have a personal tour guide and I love it.”
“It’s one of our favorite places to visit for a day trip, and we’ve taken so many tours I feel like I know it inside out and backward. So easy to get to, and every season has festivals, food, and drink so different from Paris. Or Provence, for that matter.”
On the way back home, Nora wondered aloud about Atticus, saying she hoped Olivier had enjoyed his day with him. Chloe teased her about worrying about the dog and not Olivier.
“It’s obvious it hasn’t taken long for you and Atticus to bond. And after all that worrying about how you would be able to handle him.”
Nora grinned wryly. “Of course I worried. It’s what I do.”
ChapterFourteen
Five weeks tostay with Atticus
Nora felt happy to be back with Atticus after just one day away from him. She smiled when he greeted her with excited bouncing.
“We had a fine day together,” Olivier said. “He is very good company. Any dog who likes to snooze when I do is a friend of mine.”
Nora texted Giselle to let her know Atticus was doing well and included a short video of the two of them sitting by the window. Giselle replied how happy she was but also just a little bit jealous.
On their walk the next morning, Nora was aware that her surroundings felt increasingly familiar. And having a canine companion brought back good memories of walking Maggie for so many years.
Everything felt surprisingly right.
Nora was also aware she was thinking incessantly about van Gogh as she explored the streets and alleyways of Montmartre. She stopped at a terrace for coffee and visualized the surroundings as they must have been in the late 1800s and could picture him there.
She thought about the young artist whom she saw around the neighborhood from time to time. He looked so much like van Gogh it was uncanny.
As she ordered her café crème, she was startled by the coincidence of seeing the young man at a nearby table, with his sketch book in hand. His face was etched with concentration as his hand moved deftly across the paper. She wondered if she would in time be bold enough to speak with him about his work.
Her imagination was fired up. This was the story that had found her so easily early Saturday morning after her evening with Luc.
She wondered what had stirred her desire to be open to the words in her head again. She finished her coffee and briskly walked Atticus back home. She was on a mission.
Back in the studio, she listened to more of the thoughts she’d spoken so softly into her phone during her walks and her coffee stops on terraces.
As she saw her thoughts turn into words on the paper, she felt the young man’s love story with the waitress take shape. But she also was uncontrollably drawn back to 1887 and the passion between Vincent and Agostina. A dual timeline story was coming alive in her mind. She just had to keep writing it.
From time to time, she put her palms against the shared wall that divided Giselle’s apartment from the one in which the van Gogh brothers had lived. Closing her eyes, she willed her imagination to take her back 150 years to picture where Vincent might have stood as he painted. It was thrilling to think of such brilliance having been so nearby.
As she had many times when she felt a connection to Vincent in the building, she played the song “Vincent.” Over and over.
Her fingers flew across the keyboard for hours until her alarm interrupted her. She had forgotten to stop for lunch, but now it was time to visit with Marie-Louise.
She jumped in the shower for a quick one. She’d planned to do it when she returned from her walk with Atticus, but once she sat at her computer everything else had been forgotten.
Elation was all she felt now as she stood in the shower. It was so good to experience the joy of writing again.
* * *
The door to Marie-Louise’s little house was ajar, but Nora used the knocker anyway before she entered. Yvette was dusting a mirror in the foyer and paused to greet her with bright smile. A delicious aroma wafted from the kitchen.
