Our time in Paris

1. Gare de Lyon 2. the window of our rented loft 3. the view from the top of the steps at Mont Martre 4. Mont Martre Basilica 5. Le Tracadero 6. Under the Eiffel 7. Lady on the Metro 8. drinks with old friends 9. & 10. in synch by the Seine 11. Notre Dame Cathedral in a spot of sunshine 12. inside St Paul's Cathedral 13. Musee du Louvre

It was a profoundly moving experience to be in Paris with Tim. I went there countless times as a little girl and grew very bored of the city by the time we left France when I was 13.  I had completely lost the vision for what an extraordinary city it is.
Spending the last 11 years in the USA has shown me what an incredible feat it is to build up a city full of masterpieces and then keep the culture of art appreciation alive from generation to generation. Architects drawing their dreams and knowing their work will take longer to build than days they have left to live.

Our time in Grenoble

In France, it's customary to take long vacations at least twice a year.
Before marrying Tim, my longest trip anywhere was 7 days, tops. Usually a weekend. But we've been here 14 days already and we have another week before we head home to the states. The length of this trip has really given me the opportunity to get to know Tim's family in a way that wasn't possible before we were married and during the wedding. We've had the time to fall into a routine here, make multiple visits to friends and family members, meet church acquaintances of my in-laws and attend a few events there. It's been such a special time for me too, to reconnect with the culture in which I was raised and see how another intercultural family "does life" here. I have loved every minute.
I've been collecting memories with my camera phone. We've brought out the big camera a couple of times, but sorting/editing/publishing those always takes a back seat to our client's pictures, so who knows when I'll be able to share those.

Here's what our days have been made of:

Thankfulness. We have so much.
Table time is sacred here. Twice a day, my mother in law cooks a delicious (multiple course) meal and we gather and pray and feast and talk across the table. I really want to bring this back to Chicago, lengthening our meal time and making it into a restful, recharging time of day.

Look at these two pictures. This is the same room.

 

How often have I not invited friends over "because I don't have enough space"?  Our table at home in Chicago seats 4. I keep letting this little detail put an endpoint to my hospitality.  The Tabailloux family home is not large, they actually eat their family meals in the kitchen. However, every year they host up to 23 friends and family members for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. They do this by moving the couches outside onto the patio, bring a long garden table inside, dress it up, and seat everyone on gathered chairs and stackable stools. We were shoulder to shoulder and loving it. I got to know lots of Tim's cousins just because the proximity was so close, we had to talk. I'm going to invest in a table with leaves, stools, and long tablecloths when I get home. And who cares if my dishes don't all match. Spending quality time together across a table is more important.

 

After Christmas dinner,  my father in law, Jean-Luc, passed around printed lyrics to Christmas carols and we all sang together. It was such a sweet time of remembering Jesus' birth and the dire and miraculous circumstances surrounding it. Tim played the piano. Is there an end to his list of talents? I haven't found it yet.

I got this necklace from Tim's grandmother, Mamie Suzanne. It's a Huguenot's cross and presently has come to signify the faith of French Protestant Evangelicals. My mom has this necklace from our time living here in the 1990's and so do all the Tabailloux wives. I have now joined the club.

 

He's so handsome.  I want to nuzzle my cheek in that beard every minute.

We climbed up to Grenoble's Bastille. This is the view from the top.

This "telepherique" was built for the 1968 Grenoble Olympics. I felt confident about riding down the mountain in that little bubble until I climbed inside, then had to do some controlled breathing exercises to make it through the slow ride down. A lot more intimidating than a ski lift.

 

The mountains around the Tabailloux home are breath-taking. I took this on a ride to the grocery store. The most mundane of tasks are infused with so much beauty around here.

The French know how to party. Every occasion is a special occasion. Every friend brings a bottle of wine when they come to visit, and we open it and toast in their honor. It's so fun to clink glasses and celebrate every little thing.

My father in law was a good sport about wearing the birthday hat all day on his birthday. He's the most endearing man. This is him receiving birthday wishes from a land line. The novelty!

Tomorrow morning, we'll board the high speed TGV train to Paris. When we got married four months ago, we knew we had this luxuriously long trip to France plus this detour to Paris ahead of us and we had a hard time conceiving of taking a nice honeymoon. What could top Paris? So we went to Wisconsin, and it was kind of boring. We are so excited about our little lover's excursion to Paris! I think we're both thinking of this as our real honeymoon.

Our first day in France

It took less than seven hours to fly from Newark to Switzerland. Here, it is customary to greet a friend or new acquaintance with a bise (pronounced: bees), short for bisou, which means a kiss. Each region of France has its own way of doing the bise, some start on the left cheek and then kiss the right, some regions kiss four times and others two. Tim says here in Grenoble they start on the right and just kiss twice, unless the person you're greeting is from up north and stubbornly holds on to their own style of doing the bise four times. It happens very fast when you first see someone; a fluid, thoughtless good manner for all French people.
All I have to do to survive here is smile often, listen closely, speak sparingly, and most importantly: start on the right.

so cute

This right here is just the most adorable moment. Tim's grandmother, affectionately known to her family as Mamie Suzanne, turns the corner into her 80th birthday party, shocked at the huge crowd gathered in a little church to celebrate her.

Mamie Suzanne is the matriarch of a community of Christians living in Grenoble, France. Her son (my father in law) now pastors the church that her husband planted in 1967, and the congregation loves and respects her so much.

At her party, everyone who wanted to share got up and told stories of how Mamie Suzanne had blessed and encouraged them over the years, and helped them to better understand the love of God. She's already left such a great legacy in her wake.

I love grandparents. I have four of them, which is unusual and incredible and a huge deal on its own, so I can't believe my fortune to have another sweet grandmother in my life now. I will meet her for the first time this Christmas when Tim and I get to France to celebrate. Parties!!