OUR YOUNG LADY OF PARIS | Notre Jeune Dame de Paris

What better excuse to visit Paris, than to take photos for your new children’s picture book! The added thrill … I had not visited Paris in 28 years! However, the last time I was there, I lived there for 41/2 hellish years. I was afraid to go back. The memories of the trauma were still very real.

But now, I was different, older, more grounded and mature, had more money, and mostly, had a divine romantic husband to share Paris with.

We arrived on January 14th. It was cold and stark and grey, with few tourists, just like I wanted it. Best time to take pictures. Best time to get lost in the labyrinth of age-old cobbled streets, holding my lover’s hand. Bundled up, we went for it!

It really helped to not be in survival this time around.

Back then, I had no money, no legal resident visa, did not speak the language, and had to find work fast. I had just arrived from Israel during the Gulf War, when the shekel lost all its value, and I arrived with nothing but $50 sewn in my bra. To make a long story short, I encountered many angels who helped me during a very dark time. I also encountered many demonic souls … I was robbed, molested, stalked, attacked and almost raped. Being a young girl alone in Paris was a dangerous proposition. But going home to South Africa was not an option. I had to forge forward. So, I enrolled at La Sorbonne to study French on a very good friend’s credit card. I found a job as a live-in au pair, and I was off to the races.

Fast-forward through a manic, creative, risking it all, almost three decades later, and here I was, having created three children’s books, ready to create – Our Young Lady of Paris. Seen through sane eyes, Paris revealed herself as a goddess. She glittered and shimmered and tempted around every corner. I was in awe and in perpetual delight. Oh, gods of beauty and beloved Venus! Thank you for showing me the Paris of my dreams!

Over one thousand photos were taken!

I finished the book in just under 9 months. The process of putting Our Young Lady of Paris together, was a pleasure and an escape from what turned out a difficult year for my family, filled with sickness and a death.

My darling book will be published in March of 2023. You will be able to find Our Young Lady of Paris on my website, and on Amazon. There will be a book launch at an independent bookstore in Los Angeles, and my dream is to have a book launch in Paris as well.

I will let you, my beloved readers, in on all the details very soon … for now, please toast me as I celebrate the completion of another book!

With Love,
COCO MARY