I tried again. I do that from time to time. Sometimes, it is important to not let the little failures stop me from trying again.

I still didn’t want to rely too much on my European colleagues¹I can be too proud that way., so I decided – why not go with a chain shop. That might be easier.

As a child of the 80s, I remember Paul Sassoon. I remember his commercials and thinking, “Well, maybe he could make my hair something to be proud of!” I did not see a Paul Sassoon salon, but there was a chain of salons in Paris, “Jean David Louis,”²All first names of course., and I thought I could give them a try. Last Saturday morning, I bit the bullet and  made an appointment. Then, I grabbed a train to make my way down to the heart of Paris around the river Seine. I was early, so I wandered around the Christmas Market by the Louvre.

I only discovered Christmas Markets after starting at the place I work now. For some reason, December is one of the busiest months for my current work… until it isn’t. We have until between the 15th and the 20th of December to get all the work done that hasn’t been completed yet in a year. After that, people start leaving on their holidays. So, if I get the chance to go on a work trip in December in Europe, there will be Christmas Markets. And they will be lovely.

This was my second experience with Parisian Christmas markets. I was more impressed this time. I thought it was both funny and somewhat reasonable that the artists at the Parisian Christmas market did not want you to take pictures of their creations. On the one hand, I would have liked to share the images with Husband, because I was missing him so much. On the other hand, if I could take a picture, why would I buy it³Of course, I didn’t buy it anyway.? I had a lovely glass of Vin Chaud Cherry, even though it was 11am.

Not wanting to buy anything, I headed over to the salon a little early.

It did not start well. I tried to say I had an appointment⁴The thing about trying to say that in French is you say, ‘un rendez-vous,’ and that sounds dirty to my midwestern mind.. I failed to say that. The woman at the desk⁵In the front of the store and easy to reach this time said to come back at 1pm.

I think I started to cry⁶Even though I am not generally a cryer.. I insisted, “No. I have an appointment. 12 o’clock.”

She must have understood something, because she checked again and they took my coat and the adventure began⁷They even had a bathroom at this salon, although I was only there for 40 min this time instead of almost 4 hours.. 

My hairdresser, a lively elfish gentleman with twinkly eyes, did not speak English. Yet this time, he tried to communicate with me and I tried right back. He asked if I wanted soin⁸Conditioner. Always an up-charge in France apparently.. I threw caution to the wind and indicated it would be fine.

The Cut. Is. Amazing. 

It is exactly what I wanted, and for once with my hair, what I wanted didn’t turn out badly. I know within three months, it will be frizzy again. It will need a trim, and I still have no where at home I want to have my hair cut.

On the other hand, I didn’t let failure stop me from trying again.

I got a little sad the rest of the day. My adventure in total filled three hours, and I had a long Saturday night away from home knowing I couldn’t go home for another week.

Sometimes, it is good to miss home. This long trip reminds me how lucky I am to have my hectic commute and complicated life. I think I value this haircut more because first I failed before I succeeded. 

Sometimes, missing what you have elsewhere is hard. I was questioning why I took such a long trip and would it have been ok if I hadn’t stayed away so long.

The thing about my job is that the answer is, “Probably.” I am no longer in a position where there is a clear right or wrong about what I do and what I don’t do. The best word for it is nebulous, and I am still figuring out how to set criteria to make choices. I am still figuring out where the pendulum swings and how to get the best result for the least effort⁹Always a priority for an engineer..

But. I did get my hair cut. And maybe, sometimes, just accepting the outcome as good, is enough.