The kindness of strangers: it was the jacket of my dreams – then he offered it to me at a price I could afford
The Australian dollar-to-euro exchange rate meant I’d be forking out over a week’s wages. Then the Paris shop owner said simply: ‘That jacket was meant for you’
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When I think of random acts of kindness, I think of Paris. This may come as a shock to some, but as a tourist I’ve had more offers of help in Paris than anywhere else in the world. I have had more suitcases carried up flights of stairs or lifted on to luggage racks and been offered more seats on the metro than I can count – dating back well before I considered myself ancient enough to qualify.
My most recent trip there was for a precious weekend reunion with an English friend. On our last day together, we meandered along the tasteful street that runs the length of the Île Saint-Louis, stopping outside a boutique whose window displayed the jacket of my dreams.
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