The first time I had actually seen Nat King Cole’s lyrics come to life was two years ago in Paris.  It was October and we were at the bottom of Sacre Coeur where I smelled something heavenly wafting up toward the white towering domes of the basilica.  I recognized the corn and happily bought it for three euros — no GMOs!  But I had no idea what they were roasting alongside it.  I asked (in French) and they looked at me like I was nuts.  (No pun intended.)  I guess they thought I was out to lunch because of the vacuous look on my face from their reply.  I didn’t recognize the word either.  So I turned to my husband and asked him what he thought they were.  Overhearing me, the gentleman vendor told me in English “zey ahr ze ‘chestnuts’ madame.”  I got them as well and we headed back to the little park across from the Eiffel Tower to enjoy some time relaxing with our little girl.  I sat on a bench with my treasures watching the two treasures of my life while a breeze picked up over the Seine.  The taste of those chestnuts were indescribable!  Incroyable!  That is perhaps one of my fondest memories of our three trips so far to Paris.  We had never been in autumn and it held an enchantment all its own.  Of course Paris is always beautiful and there is no place else I’d rather be.  As the acclaimed actress Audrey Hepburn famously said, “Paris is always a good idea.”  Tonight at Fresh Market I discovered they were selling chestnuts!  I had never seen them in Dallas.  They had two different kinds — one from China (no way) and the other from my beloved France.  I eagerly purchased them hoping to recapture a bit of our precious time together that fall.  What I learned is this:  Paris and all her pleasures are simply incomparable — right down to her chestnuts.