The change seemed to take place overnight, literally, and
Grenoble is now humming with holiday frenzy! Yesterday after seeing Jessie off at the train station, I
walked through a downtown that was transforming before my very eyes: store
owners hung elaborate ornaments and garlands in their windows, strings of white
lights illuminated every road, and temporary wooden huts and tents crowded huge
public squares as the Christmas market started to take shape, form, and
character. I jumped into the fluid
motion of the masses, whisked into dozens of Grenoblois who seem to have
appeared from nowhere to start their holiday shopping. The energy was contagious! I AM SO EXCITED FOR CHRISTMAS IN
GRENOBLE (although for the actual holiday I’ll be home with my family… best of
both worlds, eh?).
There’s a lot I want to write about right now…. the amazing
testimony I heard in church this morning, the splendid lunch I had at
Granny’s home this afternoon, my precious time with Jessie the past three days, my awesome time in
Paris. I think for now I must settle with a
brief story to represent each:
~ . ~ . ~
Granny invited Renee and I over for lunch with her three
granddaughters, and I felt so privileged to be welcomed into her home and given
the opportunity to experience a true French meal. Here’s some things to know about that: an alcoholic aperitif
with finger food is a highly valued part of the pre-meal~ your piece of bread
is put directly on the table and if you need more you never hesitate to ask~
you go through a lot of dishes during a true French meal~ pork roast and apples
go really well together~ French cheese is scary if you don’t know how it is
going to taste~ dessert will always be something more original than cookies and
brownies and it will always be great~ european chocolate is so much better than
the American variety~ you will usually feel like taking a nap after a French
meal because of the wine and that "full" feeling!
~ . ~ . ~
As I write this, Jessie’s water bottle sits on my desk and
the watch she forgot is still hooked to my bed frame—pardon the sentimentality,
but I miss Jessie a whole lot! She
is one of my very best friends at Truman and she was able to come down to
Grenoble Wednesday night and stay until Saturday late afternoon (during her
Thanksgiving break). We didn’t
have a huge agenda for our time; honestly, most of what we did was talk about
anything and everything for three days straight. We changed surroundings, of
course: from my cozy little dorm room, to a hike in the mountains around
Grenoble; from Rabot’s tiny kitchen, to the thanksgiving dinner table with my
American friends; from the wonderful city gardens (Jardin de Ville), to a favorite tea shop downtown (and every place
in between). It was an
overwhelming, undeserved gift, having the privilege of sharing Grenoble with
someone whom I love so dearly.
Since my family won’t be able to come for Christmas, she is the closest
to family that gets to see the life I live here. Jessie’s presence allowed me to greater realize how far I’ve
come and gave me a fresh appreciation for all that is my life here. The visit was encouraging, sharpening, a tremendous blessing. The Lord gave us such a good
weekend. I love and miss
you, Jessie! Thanks a thousand times over for coming.
~ . ~ . ~
And then….. how to recount just one story from Paris? We’ll do it this way….
Favorite museum: Musee D’Orsay, hands down. I wanted to melt, looking at all that
wonderful impressionist art on the 5th floor.
Favorite meal: late afternoon escargots (loved them), rose
wine, cheese plate, and bread at Taverne Henri IV. Felt French through and through.
Favorite purchase: 1953 copy of Les Miserables by Victor
Hugo… with the back page missing!
It's the five book complete set, fragile and falling apart. Maybe I’m weird, but I just love that!
Favorite morning visit: Versailles with Jessie. Oh my gosh, it's such a stunning palace (and that's not even mentioning the gardens!!). Everyone must see this place; it's the epitome of
French monarch culture. Favorite
sighting: Louis XIV’s alarm clock. Ha.
Favorite area of the city: St. Germain, mostly because we
wandered here when Jessie and Kamiah first arrived and it was such a pleasure
to have happy, great conversation with them! But St. Germain is also where you can find two of the most
famous cafes in town (where people like Ernest Hemingway used to frequent), as
well as where we found a great old man street band, and a personable
crepe stand owner.
Favorite funny moment: strolling Paris at night and spotting
the U.S. flag-- after verifying that the building it was hanging near was
in fact the U.S. embassy, we both turned back to take a photo (we were
proud). However, the French
policemen patrolling the front immediately shouted at us, and one came alllll
the way across the street. He told
us to immediately erase the photos we had taken (I thought he was going to
arrest me or make me profess my nationality or something). Apparently, it is against the law to
take pictures of the U.S. embassy, even if it’s the one in France. And there’s a funny French policeman
standing in front to make sure of it.
(p.s. more pictures of Paris... my favorites... are rolling on the slideshow to the right!).
~ . ~ . ~
Well, here's to bits of pieces of lots of random thoughts, all rolled
into one post. : )
Pray for God’s work to take on new dimensions
here as I finish out what has been an absolute blessing of a semester in
France! Much love to my family and
friends… not a day goes by when I don’t miss you.
Humbled and Thankful~
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