Six weeks of globetrotting is over and every place I saw during my travels was rewarding in its own way.
India was fantastic, as always, and so rich in everything: culture, history, people, food, religion, architecture etc. This was my fourth one-month-long trip to India and I enjoyed it as much as I have enjoyed my previous trips. Definitely The Place to be in for me –I am very attached to India and miss my dear friends terribly. Will be writing a lot more about India in the weeks to come (hope everyone enjoy reading about India??)!
Unfortunately I was a bit sick in Dubai so I could not do as much as I had planned, but I did manage to squeeze in enough shopping and pool time. And super delicious Iranian kebabs, but more about that in another post.
My last destination was Finland, my country of origin. The country returned to winter last week and I saw snow, sleet and hail. All this felt almost pleasantly exotic after the tropics but unfortunately I was not prepared clothes-wise for this weather shock (from 38C in Dubai to barely 8C in Finland…). So, the weather directed me toward indoor activities and I took advantage of visiting museums and doing a food tour of Helsinki, but more about all this a bit later.
Now back to Paris. What is it like to return after six weeks? What did I do upon arriving at home?
First, I put fish in the freezer. My father is a keen fisherman so I usually bring “home-caugh” pike-perch and burbot to Paris, just like my parents do when they visit us in Paris (Bringing a little bit of Finnish Christmas to Paris).
Second, I checked upon flowers and plants on the balcony. Prior to travelling, we had spent a lot of time (and money) planting pansies and other plants so it was important to find them in a good health. And judging by the photos, I think everyone agrees that they were doing well! 
Third, I installed a little bit of India at home. The nine-kilo marble Nandi statue that we purchased in Varanasi found its place on the balcony. It is now part of our small Hindu temple where Nandi gets showered by flower petals and candles. We have been searching for a beautiful Nandi for a long time and are happy to have finally found this elegant piece. Furthermore, to ease Nandi’s homesickness, we placed it toward the East, India.
Another object we have been looking for a while is a brass bowl (urli). After a lot of exploration we finally found a lovely one in a rather touristic shop in Bombay. Urli is placed on our bathroom sink and looking very good. Moreover, this is a great way to have fresh flowers in the bathroom! 
A lot of photos about flowers, but I guess it is a good sign: summer is almost here!!
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What are your thoughts on these Franco-Indian decoration ideas? Do you tend to bring design objects from your travels and does mixing styles always work? Would love to see links to your homes!! Until then, have a great week!
pearlspotting 
definitely do tell more about India… maybe it will inspire some more travelling for me over there… 🙂
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Good to hear 🙂 Will do so, in fact will try to balance between Paris, Finland and India posts.
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p.s. i really like the brass bowl arrangement
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Thanks! Works better in the bathroom than a vase.
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The world full of colours! 😀
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Need to bring some color to Paris where black rules 🙂
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Is it permitted to have flowers in front of your windows? In Paris, I mean?
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Sure… why wouldn’t it be? Is there a city/country where it isn’t allowed…?
More than permitted, it is encouraged. You get told off by your neighbors if you don’t have flowers 😉
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Good people, then!! My German friend told me about their “law concerning the respective interests of occupiers of adjoining property”, as it seems to be called. Under certain conditions window boxes can be prohibited. And it gets enforced mainly in the bigger cities especially on multistorey buildings. – Which ist just another reason to enjoy my countryside … 😀
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I have been told that in Brussels there is a law/regulation about something called public appearance of the building: everyone needs to have the exact same white curtains! So, something similar to Germany I think.
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Too many rules, so little freedom …
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Yes but then there are places that are less regulated and also maybe people that don’t care or do not need to care –did you read about the naked Jain men 🙂 ? They are pretty free, right?
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I doubt these people are free. Probably only appears as such. 🙂
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But they do it willingly.. That has some value, right?
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They certainly have an agenda which is to be followed. The value described by you, in my humble opinion applies to each and every human being taking a decision born out of free will … 🙂
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To be able to do something out of free will has value in my opinion and therefore is linked to freedom, or do you disagree?
Btw do you know Jainism well? Not that I agree or do not agree with their way of living, but I find it an interesting offspring of Hinduism.
Maybe I am wrong but based on what I have read they seem to have less of that “imposed agenda”…. or not 🙂 !?
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As so far as I remember, Jainism is an offspring of Brahmanism (same applies to Hinduism).
What I know is that Jainism’s philosophy and training is very rigid, that being the main reason Hiduism never felt or judged it as a threat. However, if rigorousness is the name of the game, including the escapism prevalent in contemporary Jainism, Hinduism and Buddhism, then I doubt whether freedom or a less imposed agenda are the appropriate terms.
That apart, I think our discussion might be in need of an acceptable definition of freedom, before we move on.
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Hey, I see it is time I revert to a book I have on world religions 😉 but didn’t Jainism separate from Hinduism as a reaction against the cast system?
Playing with the words, but why do you think escapism and freedom are in contradiction?
So, what is your definition on freedom 🙂 ?
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The cast sytem was introduced by Brahmanism, not by Hinduism: see also here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caste#Caste_system_of_India.
Webster’s defines escapism as “headlong flight into vapid unreality”. How could something being “unreality” has to do anything with freedom, I wonder?
One of my favourite definitions of freedom is of being at one with God.
Or, being the quality of state of not being coerced or constrained by fate, necessity, or circumstances in one’s choices or actions.
Or, the status of the will as an uncaused cause of human actions respectively the absemce of antecedent causal determination of human decisions.
Or, self-realisation or spiritual self-fulfillment that is not incompatible with the existence of natural causes of the will-act.
😀 😀 😀
In other words, freedom has to be determined by the respective surrounding. Not all of the definitions mentioned above can apply for each and every situation, right?
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Thanks for correcting the relationship between Brahmanism/Jainism/Hinduism! Obviously time to go back to my religion books!!
As for the rest, I will digest during some time…… 🙂
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😀
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Welcome back Miia 🙂
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Merci 🙂
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I love love love your views! I think the decor you brought back to keep India in your heart and mind is perfect for your place! Enjoy those little glimpses each day.
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Thanks 🙂 We are trying to keep Nandi warm by candles –after all it must be suffering from culture and weather shock 😉
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I bet!!
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