Written yesterday on an old slouchy leather couch in a house perched atop a hill in the middle of a forest…
Today is day four in the forest. As vacation, holidays and long weekends are essential to the calendar of French teachers, I found myself faced with a five-day weekend and a craving for a change of scenery (as fun as looking out my window at a high school courtyard can be…). Limited by the financial realities of having traveled my way around Europe during the last seven months and the need to keep hitting the books, the offer of a secluded house in the woods and a willing German roommate arranged my agenda for the long weekend.
I have made it around my 4 mile running route each day; I have (finally) finished up the Collected Novels of Jane Austen as well as Eat, Pray, Love; my study books are not suffering from neglect (in fact, we have grown quite attached over the past few days); my cursed acne (who gets so much acne at age 22 after a nearly blemish fee adolescence?) has almost all cleared up; I have been up by 7am every morning without an alarm; I have done yoga every day; Germany indulged my lack of a workout buddy and finally gave in to doing some of my favorite exercises with me; my body is pleased with my meals AND we found a few VHS tapes of old Friends episodes. A few more days in the forest would be more than welcome, but the well-planned groceries will soon run low and like all great study-fitness vacations, it wouldn’t be so great if it could carry on forever.
The time has come for you my dedicated readers to be caught up with what the heck has been keeping me so busy the last few months or so…
Sometimes, long distance isn’t so bad after all.
While emails, phone calls, care packages, and skype may at times feel like a wobbly foundation for something as important as a committed relationship, nothing beats the moments of reunion and the reaffirmation that “it” (the not so happy parts of long-distance) has all been worth it. Back in March I had the TREMENDOUS good fortune to remove the words “long” and “distance” from prefacing my relationship for 11 incredible days.
Friday March 26th
After taking the RER B into Paris, we made our way to our hotel, snacked on sandwiches and PEANUT BUTTER. As is tradition when K comes to France, we were off to explore, not giving into the fatigue of travel and jetlag (when he visited me during my internship for Oxfam in the summer of 2007, we immediately ventured off to see the Louvre… I hope he remembers it!). We enjoyed meandering about Montmartre, walked all the stairs, took in the view, entered Sacre Coeur and gazed out at the glory of the Eiffel Tower lit up at night. Dinner in a cozy Italian restaurant near Notre Dame followed with a conclusion of walking the streets of Paris at night hand in hand.
Saturday March 27th
A sun-filled Saturday greeted us, drying up the early morning rain. Baguettes, coffee, metro rides, gardens, chats on park benches, walking most the length of the Seine, Notre Dame, and the Catacombs. Snacking, laughing, taking photos, being in love and being in Paris. We ended the evening with a train ride out to Alençon, dessert with the roomies and a few rounds of Jungle Speed.
Sunday March 28th
Baked goods for breakfast, lazy lounging and extra coffee followed by a Tour d’Alençon with China and Germany in tow. Imagine my surprise to find that the local museum (which I had actually never been in before even though it is attached to my beloved library) was actually OPEN and incredible. France wouldn’t be France without extra baked goods for the walk home where we prepared for a Raclette party complete with extra cheese & wine, all my favorite foreigners, Chinese Cauliflower, Jungle Speed and the British edition of Cranium.
Monday March 29th
After picking up our new wheels (and thanking our lucky stars for the wonderful friends who gave K a stick-shift crash course before he flew across the big pond) we made our way to Carrefour for road-trip supplies. The return journey and its mid-hill stoplight is a bit daunting to me and my bicycle following a session at the pool or with a backpack loaded down by groceries but even more scary when met by un-experienced stick-shift drivers. It is best to face the worst in the first twenty minutes of a new experience, right?
Geared with sandwiches and the confidence boost of a bit of internet research regarding being stopped on a hill in a stick-shift, we were off. We made our way to Falaise where we explored the Castle-Fort in brilliant sunshine. We then drove into dreary rain and visited the Canadian Military Cemetery where my grandmother’s uncle is buried, leaving behind red and white flowers and taking with us a good lesson on mortality as he died young enough to have been one of our friends.
Next stop was Bayeux, one of my favorite French towns, where we checked into our hotel, went for an evening stroll and enjoyed a nice dinner in a cozy restaurant finishing the evening off with a bit of wine, dessert and the film Where the Wild Things Are (which has greatly influenced my life philosophy as of late).
Tuesday March 30th
Baguette breakfast in the car and a wild drive to the radar museum (comes with dating a scientist) – only the museum is only open in the peak season of summer!?! Next we made our way along the Normand coast, seeing Sword Beach, Juno Beach (where my great-great-uncle disembarked and a VIOLENT downpour of rained soaked us to the bones), then a stop at Gold Beach followed a heavily fortified German lookout point on the coast and the realization that our physical state of being soaked and cold was becoming oppressing, so we returned for warm showers, dry clothing and the Bayeux Tapestry (which is truly remarkable!). We made our way through the enchanting shops of downtown and enjoyed dinner at a Creperie.
Wednesday March 31st
Geared with our to-go mugs full, we headed to Omaha Beach where the sunshine greeted us, the museum informed us, the quantity of graves depressed us and the shrubbery’s resemblance to North America amused us (imported?). We then made our way to the German outlook of the Pointe du Hoc and experienced one of Normandy’s QUICK weather turns followed by a decision to skip Utah Beach and race the rain south towards Mont Saint Michel – laughing, chatting and having the blissful peace of being in the car ensemble. The sunshine graced us with its presence and we enjoyed the winding roads, marveled at the stunning architecture, and reflected on the layered history (monastery/castle/fortress/prison/tourist attraction…).
Following a stop at a cookie factory, we carried on towards Saint Mâlo (with K taking a chance and following “Saint Mâlo par côte” resulting in glorious coastal towns and spontaneous stops for photo shoots). Saint Mâlo was suggested to us by a friend’s father and from the first experience of driving on semi-pedestrian roads and up ramparts (all in a stick shift mind you) I was enchanted. I may have felt differently had I been the one behind the wheel for the crazy ride (the gps even thought we were in the ocean) but from the passenger’s seat (a spot I never wanted to trade up from in the rental car), it was sheer bliss! We had a hotel room with the MOST amazing view of the sea and an island fort and with the sunshine streaming through our open window, life felt remarkably like a fairytale.
We did have the humorous experience of placing some cheese and mustard (wrapped in a shower cap) out our window to keep cool and having a seagull attack the shower cap (fairytale… romantic comedy… this wonderful thing called life). We made our way about the ramparts and decided on a Creperie perched up on a rampart overlooking the sea, a few islands, and the sunset. It was honestly one of the best dates of our 3+ years of courtship. Great view, delicious food, amazing desserts, ample beer and a wonderful walk back to the hotel along the ramparts hearing the waves crash and watching them extend as if they had arms to try and touch us with their salty freshness.
Thursday April 1st
I was not ready to loosen my grip on the glorious fairytale so we took the morning as it came. We enjoyed bakery fresh quiches on a quiet park bench accompanied by to-go mugs of steaming instant coffee before making our way ALL the way around the ramparts, marveling in glorious conversation and the simple bliss of a quiet moment hand in hand gazing out on the horizon. We made our way through spice shops- marveling in the aromas, souvenir shops- taking in the naval décor and all sorts of quaint little places. Eventually, midnight struck and Cinderella was left with a pumpkin and no prince charming, fortunately I still had a prince charming and a rental car, but also very little desire to leave Saint Mâlo behind.
Car tunes, the gps inspired scenic route and a quick stop at the grocery store found us back in Alençon where we prettied ourselves up for a fancy French dinner with some of my favorite foreigners at L’Escargot Doré (The Golden Snail- who would want their snails any other way?). All that needs to be said is that the cheese portion of the meal involved an entire cart of cheese options… mmmm cheese.
Friday April 2nd
Leonardo DaVinci spent the last years of his life in France… and so we were off! A beautiful drive through the Loire Valley found us in Amboise where we ate baguette-pizzas at the base of a castle hosting a wine festival before making our way to DaVinci’s old residence where we explored his old living quarters, saw the room he passed away in, explored the gardens with replicas of his inventions and hid from a bit of a hail storm in the model of his invention for a tank. We spent the evening cooking up the noodles I brought back from Italy and making pesto garlic bread while dancing our ways around each other in the kitchen.
Saturday April 3rd
The final day of our car rental was paired with a trip to see loads of other cars – the Le Mans Car Museum, but first we ventured into Alençon where I showcased the local market and one of my favorite stores – Le Couleur Orange (the color orange – which is fitting as orange is K’s favorite color) as well as the two chocolate stores in town (which always have the most amazing window displays!). Then we were off to the races – seriously, there was a race simulator. Old cars, all sorts of car info and the likes followed by a drive back to Alençon where we returned the rental car, picked up loads of baked goods and then spent the evening in with dinner, drinks, Jungle Speed with the roomies and then finishing Where The Wild Things Are – sometimes I like to draw out watching really good movies… drives K crazy, but he humors me.
Sunday April 4th
Happy Easter! Easter is one of my favorite family get togethers – food, chocolate, family and not the insane quantities required for Thanksgiving nor the added pressure of presents like at Christmas. This was the first Easter K & I were spending just the two of us and I wanted it to be superb. We took a bit of a bike ride, lounged about, made lasagna, ate, drank and were merry. His departure dangled in the air imposing itself like a giant elephant in the room, but there was room enough for the three of us.
Monday April 5th
Trains, planes and sad good-byes. I am not used to being the one left behind…
Naturally… the depths of solitude were a shock to the system, but before long I was off exploring Spain and Portugal… another blog entry soon to come!
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