That’s right. This vegan chica has been eating her small share of fancy French cheese and baguettes, heh. I’ve been here for a few days staying with some old family friends — and I do mean old in the very long-term-friends sense: they busted out some photo albums with pictures of me and my brother as both 6/4 and 13/11-year olds, from two times my mom brought us to France and we stayed with them back in the day. Now as a much older version of myself (heh), here I am again.
And it is great. We are just outside Reims, and Benoit has been taking me biking everywhere; yesterday Françoise and I walked over to this sweet community luncheon; basically I have transplanted my car-free life over the France;) To get to the mountains tomorrow, I will take a series of trains. I love being in a country that is built in such a way that one doesn’t “have to” rent a car to be able to do the things, where, in fact, it is much nicer to take all the little paths and alleys and pedestrian backways. (Although I will say that they did pick me up from the airport in Paris in a car — when I go back to Paris tomorrow I will take a train, but they thought it would be less complicated to drive on the way in, which ended up being great since I was super delayed between my flight being late and border control having technology problems that stopped the whole system for like an hour while we just all stood there with our bags trying to get into the country. Though other than that, man, getting into France was so chill.)
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(Wowee, I do know this intellectually, but I’m always amazed in person at how fricken old things are here compared to the lauded history in the US. The original cathedral here was built in the 400s (!!!!!) And yes, that is the sweet bike I’ve been riding;)
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(awww the happiest of tour guides;) I’m grateful to Benoit for showing me how to bike here, since I very much did not understand the traffic patterns at first (not to mention have no idea where I am or where all the paths are) and it is great to just follow someone around:)
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My brain has been exploding — in a good way! — with French. I find it is hardest for me in the morning to be coherent (interesting to me, since generally morning is my best time — quand je suis “en forme,” as Benoit says;) but by the time evening rolls around I find that I’m doing pretty well. I love this part of my brain that has to figure out how to communicate in a language that I understand super well but in which am awkward and stilted when I try to speak. One of my first orders of business was to buy a few books in French so I can see words as well as hear them, since I’m so much better visually and I think that will help. (And I’m super heartened that I can actually read them! Though the book seller did help me find some simple ones that I was likely to be able to understand;)
Basically, this has all been super great: Just the entree to France that I was hoping for without really knowing it. It’s so nice to be with friends who have been introducing me to all their friends and their life, so I’m “forced” to talk to people in a non-pragmatic way, if that makes sense. Like we are having actual life conversations, not just “I would like to buy this please,” and that is super helpful and interesting to me. Oh man, at the luncheon yesterday I was a little terrified since small talk is not really my forte even in English and there I was trying to execute in French, but it was actually so, so nice. I love this very much.
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(Benoit et Françoise also have a super nice garden from which we have been eating fresh things every day, and that makes me very happy too, especially since freshly-grown produce is a thing I was really missing as I traveled in Canada:)
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(I even found a “pumptrack!” heh)
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(and some lovely paths:)
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(And plant (and bird!:) nerdery is still happening;) These are les Faux de Verzy, basically, strange dwarf beech trees that grow all twisty- and umbrella-like and are just generally super cool:)
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Tomorrow it is off to the mountains with me (with a short few hours in Paris in between trains), wheeee! And it’s been a great few days getting myself acquainted here:) Yay France; yay sabbatical part three! :)