People often ask me, “Did you come to Paris for LOVE?” This is no fairytale - in fact, love was the very thing I was running away from. Love, a good job, benefits, babies - all of those things that any parent could want for their child, I wanted to get as far away from it as possible.
My wanderlust goes back to the beginning of my time. My nonni immigrated to Canada from Italy post war and settled in the Niagara Region. A few years later, they had a beautiful family of three; the eldest of them was my mother. They always travelled back to the “old country” so my mom and her siblings could have an appreciation and understanding of their heritage, and this tradition continued on to the grandchildren too. I spent my first birthday, surrounded by pigeons and gondoliere in Venice, with mom holding one hand, and nonna holding the other. From then on, there was no stopping me. At that very young age, a sense of curiosity and adventure was ignited. We returned to Italy every few years, and at the age of 19, I applied for my dual citizenship. I travelled all through Europe that year, studying both in Italy and France during a student exchange program and I just couldn’t get enough of that European life! After my final year of studies back in Canada, I packed up my suitcase once again, and found myself perched on an exotic Greek island, where I planned to work for the summer. It wasn’t all that I dreamed that it would be, in fact, I only lasted two weeks, so my suitcase, passport and I set off once again, through North America and down to Ecuador, then back home. Home sweet home wasn’t so bad. I met a cute guy, we fell in love, moved in together and before I knew it, I had a new job - benefits, vacation days and well paid too! My family was content, especially my mom with visions of grandbabies floating around in her head. Life was good, life was easy, life was day to day…life became boring. While everyone was thrilled that I was home and had retired from jetsetting, I just couldn’t take it anymore. After four years, I decided to kick that life to the curb and packed up my dusty suitcase once again. And just like that, I left it all behind. The boy. The house. The job.
I began to globetrot again, winding up way down under in Australia; as far from my previous life as possible. Life in Australia was laid back and very happy times. I lived a stone’s throw away from Bondi Beach where I would surf after work and enjoy the beach on weekends. I had a wonderful group of friends, a stable job that allowed me to live happily and a pure joy of breathing in the fresh ocean air every day. Then, like clockwork, the L word started to seep in… My job loved me and offered me a promotion and the guy I was dating started to hint that his feelings for me were getting deeper. What was I so afraid of? Love couldn’t be that bad of a thing! Maybe it wasn’t the love that I was afraid of but the passion that I was missing? Either way, it was decided, I wanted more, needed more than this affection surrounding me, and off I went again.
Why would I move to Paris, the City of Love, when that seemed to be the very thing I was trying to avoid? Some of the greatest people in history came to Paris in search of inspiration, creativity and magic, certainly I could too. I spoke French, I had an EU passport and, well, Paris did captivate me many years prior, when I first visited as a teen. The museums, the history, the art, the cafés. It was the dreamiest of a dream, and if it didn’t work out, then at least I had a chance to flutter around the most beautiful city in the world with a baguette under my arm for a few weeks.
Turns out, fate had a plan for me. A plan that still sees me in Paris over 11 years later. Paris enchanted me. The way I’ve never been enchanted before. The dim lights after sunset, the majestic golden dipped monuments, the history embedded in every cobblestone, the endless, colourful pastries. Paris inspired me. Paris enlightened me. Paris made me want to reach new heights that I had never known before.
When I came knocking on France’s door, I arrived with only $200 Canadian dollars in my pocket. I was determined to make my Paris dream a reality and found a job as an au pair for the first six months. This is something that I did not love at all - in fact, quite the opposite. But it was a stepping stone that allowed me to brush up on the language, find an apartment and a real job too. Within a couple of months, I found, what I thought then, was my dream job as a bike tour guide in the beautiful City of Light…and Love. Now this is what I was talking about! No more 9-5 deskjob. No more dealing with French teens. I could feel the fresh (albeit smokey) Paris air on my face. The wind in my hair. The beautiful sites of Paris, enthralling me with every peddle.
Something happened to me that year. I was on the verge of turning thirty. Many of my friends dreaded the BIG 3-0, but I had never felt so energized. Was it the charm of Paris that gave me this warm and fuzzy feeling? It continued to grow. I wanted something even bigger. I craved it.
By the time D-Day arrived, I decided to make, yet another, life altering change. This time I wasn’t running away from something that gave me that love-y feeling. Instead, I was leaping towards it. That love was my love for Paris, that I spent the last year nourishing. I wanted to take it to the next level. And alas, with a leap of faith, April in Paris Tours was born.
It’s never easy starting your own business. In fact, many thought I was crazy to give up a job that kept a roof over my head and food in my stomach; a job that I grew to love so much. I had the knowledge of my adopted city; but just how to run a business?! And that’s when the magic really began. People from all walks of my life - from Canada, Australia, France and beyond - started to extend a helping hand for web design, graphic design, marketing, photography and beyond. With the gracious help of these wonderful people, I had my business up and running in no time. And well, the rest is still making history.
This year marks 11 years of my Parisian life, and 10 years of April in Paris Tours. And I can whole heartedly say that I LOVE the life that I have created. I have a successful business in Paris, a loving support system (shout out to my parents!), French friends who have become family and the love of my life, who just happens to be Parisian. Now looking back at life, maybe it wasn’t love that I was running from, but maybe someone or something out there knew that there was a bigger love to be found. Paris being the perfect backdrop for my love story.
April Pett