Waking Up in Paris: Overcoming Darkness in the City of Light

I have been a big fan of Sonia for years and own many of her books. This one was disappointing. I was hoping for more of both a glimpse into the wonders of living in Paris as well as seeing her transition, but was let down on both counts. It seemed like all I was reading about was moving from apartment to apartment, name-dropping of areas in Paris that assumed I knew what she was referencing, and complaints about the French. I always have enjoyed how likable and accessible she is, but this book actually took some of that away. Constant references to how she and her daughters would go to Paris every year, lots of travel, lots of purchases, lots of stories thrown at us without opportunity to connect. Usually she draws me in with her humor and frankness, but this book was kind of a dud on both the travel-abroad and soul-revival fronts. Read any of her other books and skip this one.

Spiritual teachers and psychics/mediums have life lessons just like everyone else. Sonia Choquette is not afraid to admit that and share the sometimes messy, embarrassing, or painful aspects of her life journey. And she is such a good storyteller you find yourself identifying with her predicaments and dilemmas and learning from them. She also has a disarming sense of humor which carries through even in the worst moments -- if you've read either of her first two memoirs (Diary of a Psychic: Shattering the Myths and Walking Home: A Pilgrimage from Humbled to Healed, both of which I recommend highly!) you already know that.This book is just as good, and just as magical, as all of Sonia's other books. I highly recommend it!It's also a very good peak at several years in Paris as seen by an American expat. Very much a you-are-there read!

I stayed up and read this book in one sitting. Not only was it an interesting journey in Paris, but also to witness the soul growth in the author. How many of us wish to shuck the things in our lives, but also to shed imperfect relationships that we, ourselves, helped to create. This story makes one look at our own tangles, and to turn inside for our own spiritual guidance to learn to live unencumbered from things and from unhealthy relationships. Also, a primer on seeking healthy relationships, especially with ourselves. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Authentic, funny, warm, and raw. I appreciate Sonia Choquette's courage to write this and her "Walking Home" book. She weaves the value of trusting your vibes through her real experiences, while also showing us that just because we are intuitive, doesn't mean we get a pass from going through life's lessons. She was willing to walk through the dark night of the soul and share it with us, and I am so grateful. My heart ached for her, championed her, and celebrated with her. And her journey left me feeling inspired.

This book has become my new favorite. I've read most of Sonia's books and loved them all, but this one stands apart for me. It's what she doesn't say that jumped out of the pages and touched my heart. She is known throughout the world as a spiritual teacher and her books provide practical, experiential ways of living as '6th Sensory Beings'. She teaches us how to get out of our heads and into our bodies, as these crazy powerful beings of light, within a universe that is 'right here' not 'out there'. But this book doesn't have any structured lessons, similar to 'Walking Home', it's 'just' a story. And yet, I found it to be the most powerful and challenging of all her books.Without minimizing the pain of endings, or the pain of living in less than ideal places - Sonia and Sabrina laughed. They fought, they cried they questioned themselves, as women do - but then they would burst out laughing. Or another way of saying it is, they resisted but then they surrendered - and in the surrendering, they laughed. To be able to laugh while living with pigeons and no hot shower is nothing less than extraordinary!Their commitment to prayer, to getting filled up with Love, each day, every day, whether or not they had hot water, heat, noisy neighbors, or friends - demonstrates that these two women live what they teach. Before anything else, including speaking to one another, they prayed - every single day.I literally laughed out loud as I read the true stories of how Sonia and Sabrina adjusted to life in a new country after the foundation of their world had crumbled. Anyone would love this story, whether they are consciously walking a spiritual path or not. It's hysterical and deeply touching at the same time.It's a love story. It's a mother-daughter story. It's a coming of age story. It's a faith story. it's a really good story.

I greatly enjoyed this book. I appreciated Ms. Choquette's honesty about the challenges she faced transitioning from her old life to her new one. Rather than coat things a with a "spiritual" brush, she was very straightforward about the process (something we don't always get from spiritual teachers), while at the same time maintaining her sense of humor. The book also served as a "how-to" guide of how to survive in Paris as an ex-pat, including how to deal with shopkeepers and service people! Her descriptions of the arrondisements (neighborhoods) and food were also intriguing and delightful. Lastly, she made me look at what's stopping me from moving forward, and acknowledge that change can be incredibly messy but also life-changing and magical.

I enjoyed reading this book. It's about a personal journey/transformation Sonia has taken after some life-changing events. Each chapter describes different experienced and how they taught her life lessons along the way. I do wish she elaborated more by sharing her spiritual side. She thanks the angels a lot, but what other spiritual practices did she and her daughter do? I just felt there wasn't enough of that in the book, considering she is a contemporary spiritual leader.

I loved this book as I felt I was actually on a journey with the author. So much of what she was saying resonated with me and I enjoyed her descriptions of life in France as it is a place also dear to my heart. This is a book which shares spiritual lessons, but it also lively and brilliantly descriptive, so much so that you can almost taste the coffee and croissant. If you want to lose yourself in something that is entertaining, but equally has a strong message, then I highly recommend this book!

Sonia Choquette is not a spiritual teacher spurting advice from a lofty plane; she is a spiritual teacher who practices what she preaches. She is vulnerable in this her latest book, showing how grief stricken and hurt she is after the ending of her 32 year marriage. She tells us of her impulsive decisions that sometimes go totally wrong (the hair and eyebrow stories gave me a giggle!) which I can relate to, and yet through it all her strong intuition and total trust in God and her guides comes through. She shows us through her own journey how if WE just take that leap of faith and ultimately trust, our lives do indeed become aligned with our soul and the happiness we deserve. Thank you Sonia for yet another wonderful read!

The essence si quite good. The prose goes a bit too much into the superficial intricacies of living in Europe which becomes a bit tiring. Perhaps it works for a strictly American market, but not so much for international readers.

If you like Sonia Choquette's work you'll love this book. Always so honest and funny. Highly recommended to anyone looking at seriously changing their life and taking a leap of faith.

I read the book Walking Home and was not disappointed so I decided to get this one and once again loved it. Highly recommend it

Loved this book...just what I needed, uplifting, funny, even though she was going through such sorrow & heartbreak, no matter what, there is always a way & a light at the end of the tunnel...if you believe&look hard enough. Well written & definitely worth a read, just wish there were more chapters.

If anyone has gone through the heartache of a relationship breakdown this is the book for you. It’s funny, cleverly written and shows the reader that there is light at the end of the tunnel

I loved this book I could not put it downIt is an honest and true account of how the author dealt with heartbreak in ParisAnyone going through transition in life can relate and learn through it

Made me laugh and captivated me fully. Thank you Sonia for sharing so honestly. My sincere gratitude xxWith love xx

very enjoyable read.

I ordered this as an audio enabled book. I listened to the first chapter. I couldn’t listen further. I had difficulty with the concept that God and Mother Mary, mentioned very frequently, were in there rooting for the author - even to the point of recommending a move to Paris. I found the narrative very self absorbed. We all suffer at different times and in different ways but few of us need to tell the story in a book and if we did it would benefit from a good dash of objectivity.

The book reads like a cross between an unhappy teenager's diary and a city/ culture guide to Paris. It's a bit of a downer given how much I enjoyed Sonia's earlier books!Against the backdrop of Paris, this book feels like an incessant rambling of the author taking things personally (including the waiters'/ shopowners' behavior) instead of accepting people as they are, feeling desperate for attention and friends instead of truly enjoying her own presence, seeing things go wrong (and not just apartment choices, salon treatments and date disasters) mostly because the intuition that she teaches about following was not even in the picture while taking decisions and experiencing the city.Nowhere is the author truly "trusting her vibes" or even closely practising what she has taught her readers for decades about six-sensory living. You keep waiting for a moment of true revelation from her instead of shallow insights, but it doesn't come.I just wish Sonia had taken the time to write this book in a state of presence and not from a wounded, vulnerable, hurting self. If she is truly practising what she preaches, she would know that what feels hurt and holds on to pain IS the ego. It doesn’t do her or her readers any good to use her life drama as a backdrop for 'spiritual transformation', especially when 'a new me' is just another form of the ego. It just feels like she is indulging the ego in a new way in Paris than truly surrendering, letting go of control, trusting her vibes and sharing true wisdom with her readers.Read this book for fun, but not for guidance, and maybe as a cautionary tale of what not to do with your life.

Worse book ever, just a bla bla bla book about how I moved to Paris and eat this, did that, nothing of any substance in the book which is a big disappointment since I have enjoyed most of Sonia's other books. So much talk about what she ate in such and such Café that I felt like it was a tourist book on where to eat in Paris

I read all of Sonia Choquette's books. This is my favourite! As Sonia wrote " All my spiritual knowledge and prayers do not protect or insulate me from my pain". I would love to attend one of Sonia's conferences or meet her in person. i really appreciated getting more acquainted with Paris. Delightful reading and I admire Sonia for her courage to relocate and get a fresh start in her life, the support of her daughters is significant, I can sense that Sonia is grateful to have such precious children.

Love Paris beautiful and enchanting. I had to laugh Sonia your story of the trip to the hairdresser. It took me 20 years to to walk into a hairdresser shop only because I broke my shoulder and couldn't wash or tend to my long hair. So I chopped my hair all off. What a revelation! Everyone commented even my local shopkeepers said I looked year's younger. The universe has some strange ways to change your life but I now understand. Thank you for a wonderful story.