« La vie est
faite de petits bonheurs » (« Life is full of little pleasures »)
Sunday Amanda invited me to join the group at the beach
because they were all going. Fortunately I got more credit on my phone, so I
was able to get ahold of her and find out where they were. After eating a nice
breakfast with Peter and Claire, I headed out to the beach. It’s quite a trek
to the beach. I had to take my tram into the city center and then take a
different tram out of town where I then transferred to a bus that took me to
the beach. I’d say it was a good hour to get there from home, but well worth it!!
The beach was absolutely gorgeous!! On one side of the horizon, there was a
gorgeous city with white buildings that formed a beautiful skyline and on the
other side of the horizon there were little mountains and hills which were
absolutely stunning. There wasn’t a cloud in sight, just bright blue sky blending
smoothly into a deep blue-green sea. Ahh, so beautiful! I’ll admit that I was
quickly reminded that I was on a beach in France when I looked around and saw
way more speedo-donning men and topless women than I had prepared myself for,
but I learned quickly not to stare…or laugh. The beach was relaxing and
absolutely wonderful!! I wish I would have stayed longer, but I was so
terrified of getting sunburnt (I really think that is the worst the pain in the
entire world and I detest it) that I only stayed for a few hours. Unfortunately,
I didn’t get nearly as much of a tan as I would have expected, but at least I
know next time that I can stay much longer.
Though I enjoyed being with the Amanda and the other girls
from Minnesota, there is always that discomfort that comes with being a girl
that is trying to infiltrate already established cliques of girls, and I can only handle that for so
long before I would….wait for…prefer to be on my own!! Yes, I know, this goes
against EVERYTHING that I have been saying for two straight weeks now. I annoy
myself even more than I annoy you, I’m sure of it. As I was laying there on my
beach towel soaking in the warmth and the rays and listening to them all talk,
I thought to myself “I think it would be
easier if I was just on my own than trying to make myself fit into this group.”
I think it comes with the territory of being a girl really. And it is nothing
against these girls, they are all very nice and friendly and they don’t exclude
me by any means, it’s just that they already have experiences and memories
together and there is no way for them to incorporate me into the relationships
they have already established. Such is life I guess. But, in all, I enjoyed my
day at the beach and the company that came with it, and now I know how easy it
is to get back and I will most definitely be going again!!!
Saturday evening I decided I wanted to go out for dinner somewhere
new so that I could see some more parts of town. Claire suggested a place for
me to go—a restaurant down the street from one of her friend’s restaurants. The
restaurant was all the way on the other side of the city center, so it took me
around 45 minutes to get there after leaving the house (that includes the ten
minutes where I was lost trying to find the place).
The little restaurant, called Le bistrot de Bacchus was
located down a quiet, quaint little alley way in Les Arceaux which is the area
with the huge, beautiful aqueduct. The “bistro” was just a tiny little space
with about five tables places around a bar area behind which was the chef/bartender/owner
and his grill and everything. He was a very tall, very broad, very jolly man and
he was also very friendly! Claire’s friends were hanging out at the bar (the
only other people in there) and, since Claire had called earlier to make a
reservation for me, they knew who I was. The woman is from London, so she spoke
English, and her husband, though I could tell he was French, spoke English as
well. So they talked to me for quite a bit and gave me some suggestions on what
to order before they headed to out to a little concert that was going on under
the aqueduct. I had “Gigot d’agneau” (leg of lamb) with sautéed vegetables and
white wine for my main course and it was undoubtedly a five out of five stars!!
Oh man, my mouth is watering just thinking about it! And for dessert, I had pistachio
crème brûlée….definite five stars again!! It was a bit awkward sitting in such
a small area with just the chef and his friend/server, but I enjoyed my food so
intensely, that I nearly forgot anyone else was around.
Afterwards, I strolled along the aqueduct—not necessarily
purposefully, but I got lost trying to find the tram stop and ended up down at
the festival, so I decided to enjoy the view for a bit. It was unusually cold
though and I was too tired to deal with that, so I decided to head home which
put me back around 11. The walk from the tram station to home was still dark
and creepy, but I managed it a bit better this time.
Today, I decided to visit some of the main tourist
attractions in the city so that I don’t somehow end up missing out on them.
That’s the thing about staying in a touristy area for an extended amount of
time….you think you have so much time to see all the tourist attractions that
you keep putting it off and then somehow you never really see them...happened
to me in Paris (I didn’t go up in the Eiffel tower until my very last week
there!!).
So first I went to the Fabre Art Museum which was fairly
large and proved to be a bit of a maze, but I made my through (and found my way
out). While it was enjoyable, it wasn’t anything that really took my breath
away, mostly due to the fact that I know absolutely nothing about art and absolutely
no artistic ability. Which is not something I’m proud of. I envy people with
artistic abilities. I so wish I could draw or paint or even take stunning picture
or produce interesting graphics, but when it comes to an artistic side, mine is
nonexistent. I enjoyed the displays as best I could with what little knowledge
I have. Sometimes they all just kind of looked the same. Since it was all
historical pieces, there were a large amount of paintings of religious scenes,
people’s faces, and harbors. Even if the content matter was not all that
interesting to me, I was still thoroughly impressed with what these artists are
capable of!
When I finished there, I decided to try to find the Jardin
des Plantes—the botanical garden in the historical part of town. I got
completely lost, but in the process, I found the Arc de
Triomphe, Royal Peyrou
plaza, and the Cathédrale
Saint-Pierre. And then finally, I stumbled down a random road and
found the botanical garden over the wall to my left! The whole thing was
outdoors, but it was gigantic and lovely. There were trees, flowers, and every
other kind of plant from all over the world and there sooo many different passageways
through a mini forest of trees, or a little garden with a small pond and
countless different flowers, or through a small stone tunnel and up uneven
stone stairs, or zig-zagging through a maze of hedges and bushes. It sort of
reminded of the gardens scenes I fabricated in my mind when I read Jane Austen
book like Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility, only, fortunately, I
wasn’t wearing a dress from the time ;)
By the time I finished there, my feet and legs were sore and
tired, and I was pretty well spent. There is a lot of walking involved in these
adventuring trips of mine. Usually all the pretty sights take my mind off of
just how much my body is protesting, but by the end of today, I couldn’t ignore
it much longer. So I headed back home. However, I believe today was a success.
I happily ventured out on my own and saw some stellar sights. I somewhat wish I
would have had someone around to take pictures of me in front of some of the
places, but other than that I was very content today. Astonishing how it takes
me finding people to spend time with for me to realize how happy I can be
alone. That’s not to say I want it to stay this way though. I know that there
are some students from UofL coming at the beginning of next week and I’m hoping
that I will find a good friend or two in some of them.
Though I now know that I can be content alone, I also know
that I enjoy myself much more when I find good company to join me. It’s just
that I don’t find just anyone to be good
company. As my sister would say, “Beggars can’t be bitches.” And I suppose this
is very true (who knew that a quote which came about during a session of Kelsey
doing my hair and me complaining about how it looked would be so applicable to
my life!). For the moment, I am just going to work on being happy no matter the
situation in which I find myself. I’ve already learned that it is harder than
it sounds, but I believe it is something that is very important in life in
general. I think that a major problem of mine is that I am constantly trying to
change things to make them “better” because I think then I’ll be happy, when
really all I need to do is be happy about what I already have or what I’m
already doing, and if something better comes along in the process, then I can happier. That’s my epiphany for the week
;)
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