Spa day. Paris style.

I believe you can do anything.
I also believe in self-care.

Especially after giving up shopping for a year and investing in my head, heart, body and soul, instead.

It’s a never-ending commitment.
One that grows on you.

And, so far, on this trip in Paris, it has made all the difference.

Because, I was more excited to go to the spa than to shop in the streets for new clothes or shoes.
In PARIS.  A slight surprise to me.

So today, I visited a new kind of spa all together — a hamman.
We descended into the hamman, much like walking down into a magical cave.

Once inside we dressed down to nothing.
Except for a little triangle-shaped paper bikini bottom.

We had thongs on our feet and our bottoms.
And nothing else.

But after a few seconds of baring it all — we forgot about our thong-i-tude.

At first we were given instructions in French:
- To enter the steam room and stay as long as you can stand it.
- Use the cold water for splashing on your face, only.
- Dip in the cool pool in between steam room visits

Soon, the Hamman staff came over and took us one by one to the large marble tables for our scrub down.

But, right before the scrub…
The Hamman director showed us the bowl of black goop, and placed it under our noses to smell.  It smelled like olives to me and I smiled up at her because it was so lovely.

Then she grabbed my fingers and stuck two of them into the bowl of black goop.
So I did what anyone would do … immediately put my black gooped fingers in my mouth.

I thought she wanted me to taste it.
I don’t speak French. Translation error.

She was horrified and grabbed my fingers, pulling them out of my mouth.
I didn’t realize the black goop was SOAP.

And, guess what?
It tasted like soap.

After my mouth was washed out with soap, we proceeded to the next step which was a full body scrub on a large, heated marble slab.

I haven’t been scrubbed like that since I was a baby.  Under my arms, behind my ears and down my legs.  Even around my tummy and breasts.

It was like a facial for my body.
Scrubbing, soaping, scraping and massaging.
All over.

After the scrub down, we dipped into the cool pool, sipped down a lemon drink and retreated to the spa room in white robes to relax.

Shopping would have been adventurous and fun.
But this was better than shopping.

Way. Better. Than. Shopping.

This was self-care. 
And that makes even a little soap in the mouth taste good.