A retired U.S. Navy SEAL officer living the life I always imagined:

• Lounging in cafés • Meandering through the Louvre • Hearing Blake in the stained glass of Gothic cathedrals • Inhaling Proust • Exhaling philosophy • Solving for 'X' • Communing with Abelard and Heloise in Père Lachaise • Feeling Bach's long shadow fall across baroque chamber concerts • Learning to play the flute • Practicing tai chi in the Luxembourg Gardens • Floating across the faded footsteps of angelheaded hipsters • Enjoying late-afternoon absinthe • Discovering gypsy jazz clubs • Channeling Rilke • Wandering on the boulevards, up and down, restlessly, while the dry leaves are blowing...