It is time to go and I am ready - not sad so I must have done it right. This week we saw the mountains of Alsace, a concentration camp, and the most beautiful city in France: Lyon. Every moment has been packed away for me to pull out and relive during the Canadian winter or the sparse quiet moments when the kids are occupied elsewhere.
Things I will Remember:
THE WEATHER: I was very careful to NOT check Canadian weather while I was away and we had 23 degree weather most of the time with maybe 2 overcast days and one rainy day of the entire 15. Not something you can control but I throw a high five to God for that one.
A WORLD IN BLOOM: Paris in springtime - can't beat that but everything had been blooming for many weeks - cherry blossoms and everything green. It made the parks very beautiful. Versailles is a little behind though - just tilled earth in place of the usual red flowers on the border.
130 KM/hr HIGHWAYS: ok brilliant - sign Canada up for this one. Oh wait....that is not such a big change for me. To go with this is the puegots, citroens and smart cars that are parked just everywhere - don't forget motorcycles parked on every sidewalk in Paris.
SEEING A PICTURE EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK: The French are very aware of how things look - this includes their buildings. Nothing is too much and yet nothing ends up being too much.
KNOWING WHERE I WAS BY LOOKING AT BUILDINGS: As you move through France the architecture changes to give you clues about where you are. In Alsace, in the north near the Swiss and German border the houses have steeply pitched rooves with painted curlicues on the shutters. In Lyon, more tropical and southern, flat rooves with an Italian Villa feel.
CHURCH BELLS: I know, I know - trite. Just try it - that is all I am saying. Try to resist the lure. There was a reason these things could be heard everywhere no matter how hard you tried to sleep in. After 7 days of unbelievable toil and filth and poverty and hopelessness you just wanted to lie in bed on Sundays and die. Then the bells would ring, you would pop up and say, "Right - time for church!"
THE SMELL: Ok, mainly the fridge, which smells like a cow lives there but it is just the 45 different cheeses that reside there. There is also the smell of flowers in the open air market, pastry and bread from the thousands of bakeries, the sweet smell of chocolate that leads you to the most amazing chocolate art in village windows. I should know - 10 picture of food at the least - small obsession obviously.
THE LANGUAGE: How proud I felt whenever I made myself understood to Philippe, Nathan's father who only speaks french.
THE PEOPLE: Not just this lovely family but the French who are not rude except for airport personnel and this was not limited to France. Canadians are loved here - as long as you TRY you will be rewarded for your efforts and you will distiguish yourself from the Americans. Then there was the woman in the boulangerie in Lyon who sang Celine Dion ballads - very special...
I am ready for home but pleased with what I have accomplished here - not just seeing part of a country - but jumping in, trying everything, being out of my comfort zone and opening the door to the possibility of more travel (please god).
Kim
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