Where do all the broken hearts go? The Land of the Broken
Hearts, Broken Hearts Parade, Trail of Broken Hearts…
Oh bloody hell! It's easy to go on and on about being sodding
heart-broken. It becomes all you can think about, all you can talk
about and the subject of a weekly DIVA column to boot. Last week I
talked about dating my dog, and lord help me, but I may only have
been partly joking…
This week Paris, the city of romance, lurve and getting it
on, til recently a massive urban landmine of memorials to
my last relationship, began to take on a new aura, a more glowing
one and certainly a more positive one.
After months of break-up anxiety, over-indulging and excessive
alcohol intake leading to one or two nights too many walking home
along the Seine at five in the morning, I may just have found the
long-awaited solution to break-up sadness.
GET OVER IT.
Simple really. Time heals all wounds and blah blah blah,
but it's actually true. Getting in touch with friends, throwing one
's self into one's job (rather than off the Trifle Tower), taking
up a hobby and meeting new people all are crucial components
of the healing process. The effort you put into it too, can be
directly co-relational to how long the healing will take, and you
won't succeed if you don't try.
Whilst having a beer in Paris's gayquartier- the paradisiacal
Marais, a heady maelstrom of gay and lesbian bars, designer shops
and overpriced but oh-so-cool cafés - I had an epiphany, or should
I say, I met an epiphany.
I'm taking my new epiphany on a date next week to one of my
favorite places. There exist few secluded spots along the river
bank of one of Paris's central islands, Ile St. Louis, but for
those who know where to go, there is a magical evening to be had.
Why fork out for costly restaurants when the view is free, the
night is starry and the champagne is inexpensive? On the central
road of Ile St. Louis are secreted the best ice-cream shops in the
city. Check out Amorino: the Italian gelato boutique there offers
just about the most amazing frozen goodness around. Necessary, in a
city that's promising to heat up for the summer…
So where do all the broken hearts go? Maybe they should try
coming to Paris where, to coin a cliché, amour might be in the air
tonight - with a little bit of luck and just a dash of
ooh-la-la…
Tempted to discover Gemma's favourite ice-cream shop for
yourself? Check out www.lowcostholidays.com
for the best bargain breaks.
