New Highs in My French Life
Today was a fabulous day. Actually, the entire weekend was fabulous. And not because I got even close to doing what I planned to, though I was not unkind to myself for not doing so, which is a success in its own right, but because I felt that finally I am starting to get the taste of something I crave, envision, and enjoy being an organic part of my life. So my French life is starting to gain new depths. Saturday evening I was invited to a dinner party by locals, a dinner party where the hosts even accommodated their five course meal for my vegan diet. Getting home at 2 am is the indication of a fabulous fun time. I was welcomed and I was curious and I was inspired. Thankful to these colleagues to reach out and invite me, and start to lay down the seeds of a friendship. Well, we laid some seeds down already at a recent conference in Normandy where we shared table a few times. I do not think they understand what it really means to me to have had a french dinner party to go to on a Saturday night, instead of finding new explorative things to do by myself (which I love and consider a kind of luxury of my life). Then today the sun turned Paris into a warm and bright fall experience. Although I did not make it to the nearby Parc Montsouris where I was going to bring my camera, my book, and my notebook, the usual necessaries in my purse these days, I ended up meeting a new, fresh, potential friendship for tea in the Bastille area. It took two months for me to meet someone I did not know before and actually have a follow up. The tea was rather irish coffee sans creme. The conversation was smart and honest, sans drama. How refreshing. And this Sunday culminated in me finally getting my bike. It is hard to describe that happiness that warmed my heart and body as I sat in the saddle and turned the wheels. Though against my strict rules, helmetless and lightless in the Parisian traffic, I was escorted by the guy I rented the bike from, after he showing off all the upgrades he has done to my bike after seeing me test ride it a few weeks ago. His words, that my legs are strong and my riding style is that of a true cyclist’s, shot the arrow of joy right into my heart. Yes, I am a person who needs occasional reassurance, from inside and occasionally from outside.
