Simple statement, but some days, it just hits me in the face.
This morning I opened the French doors in our hotel room in the city of Le Puy en Velay, and saw the men at the cafe across the street drinking their expresso, smoking their cigarettes, reading Le Monde on quintessentially French cane chairs…listening to the delivery trucks bringing fresh produce from the nearby farms to the small restaurants…reading the French signs of directions to the 14th century Cathedrale down the street…et voilà! It strikes me all over again that we live in FRANCE.
In our apartment, we think English, speak English, read in English, and are Americans in our dress and mannerisms. (No matter how hard I try to ‘blend in’ with the locals, I just don’t quite look French. Maybe it’s the fair skin and freckles, you think?) I don’t eat with a knife in one hand and a fork in the other. But when we leave town…oh yes, this is truly FRANCE and we truly LIVE HERE. After two years, it’s still hard to grasp.
Two years this month! Unbelievable! The first year was just all struggle – and heart surgeries and bureaucracy and frustration. Year two was exploration, settling in, getting comfortable, making friends. And soon it will be the beginning of year three…and we’ll be like seniors in high school. You are still in high school, but you have one foot straddling the line of ‘what’s next’ and your next future you. We have already started to think about ‘when, where, how.’
Another adjustment – and I just started to be really comfortable with this one! And it may not be ‘year three.’ It may be ‘year two and a half….’ but maybe not! We can’t see in our crystal ball, so we’ll take it as it comes. Every day’s a winner.
And speaking of anniversaries, very happy 4th anniversaire de mariage to Robert and Leslie! Here’s to 76 more!!!! 🙂
So I’m writing one more blog today about this city, and then I’m off to find my own cafe to découvrir la France before it slips by….
A bientôt, mes amis!
Bisous,
Mindy
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