Staring out her window, Lyra sighed at the pigeons once again taking over her Parisian balcony. She thought she had seen pigeons during her childhood in London, but she was wholly unprepared for the sheer number of pigeons Paris saw daily. Through the flock of pigeons, she saw the Eiffel Tower. It was standing as tall and impressive ever while she was in her apartment, as unsteady and insecure as she had been since arriving in Paris 5 months ago.

Her move to Paris had been partly out of impulse but partly out of necessity. She knew she needed a change, and after a jealous coworker tried to blow up her life and career, Paris seemed like a good place to start over. What she didn't factor in, at the time, was that Paris wouldn't make her a totally new person. Lyra would still be Lyra - with her same problems and same shortcomings. She would just wake up looking at the the Eiffel Tower instead of Big Ben.

Another thing she wasn't prepared for was the just how large the distance between London and Paris would be. The train ride is shorter than a movie screening of Lord of the Rings, for goodness sakes. Yet with the one hour time difference, Lyra sometimes felt as if she had moved to the Middle Earth, or maybe even Antarctica. Either way, she couldn't ignore the isolation she felt as everyone she loved got on with their lives without her.

With another deep sigh, Lyra shook the negative thoughts out of her head and pulled the covers back as she got out of bed. She couldn't help but get into her head on occasion, but she knew Paris wouldn't solve all of her problems right away. It was hard to be positive 100% of the time, but she did her best to stay optimistic most of the time.

She started her morning routine the same way she always did: a cup of coffee. She fixed it up the way she always did and even added a bit of nutmeg, just like her mom always did. She did it when she missed home, although it was an addition she made more often than not these days. Lyra enjoyed a few pages of the book she was currently reading and reveled in the peaceful morning. Paris wasn't perfect, but it sure was an adventure, and the little moments like this made it all worth it in Lyra's mind.