We’ve officially hit the six-month mark in France, which feels like a significant milestone. We’ve lived through a long, dark winter, a rainy spring, and now we’re just weeks away from the summer solstice. The days are trending cooler and cloudy, so different from Virginia this time of year. It’s a little strange for me to still be wearing sweaters and jeans in June, but I’m also grateful for the delay of hot ‘n’ sweaty mosquito season.
What do we have to show for six months in France? Well, my French is still pretty atrocious, but I’m working to be less embarrassed about it because in my experience, no one is going to (openly) mock me for using the wrong word or mispronouncing something. Our apartment is feeling more like home thanks to some little updates like new bedding, posters, and paintings from the brocante. I can confidently navigate the entire city on foot, and I enjoy doing it while listening to a podcast or French lesson (or, lately, Taylor Swift). Todd has gotten really into rock-climbing, and Oli still loves skateboarding, trying to beat his Rubik’s Cube record, and speed-reading (he’s into the 13-Story Treehouse series).
Today, I showed up for school pickup early, so I went into the gothic cathedral near Oli’s school and sat for a while, gaping at the ancient architecture. I then walked over to the school and nodded vigorously when his teachers came out to speak to me, understanding a fraction (but just enough) of what they said. We walked over to the bakery and ordered the usual (a chocolatine for Oli’s gouter and a baguette tradition for dinner), then got to the tram stop just in time to catch our train home. It’s wild to me that this feels routine most of the time.
June might just be Bordeaux’s best month so far. Wildly fragrant jasmine and honeysuckle vines seem to be overtaking every other building, and the parks and gardens are bursting with blooms. The days are long — it’s not getting dark until past 10 — and people are taking full advantage, packing cafe terraces and every square inch of grass in the parks on sunny days.
My Mother’s Day gift was a few plants for our apartment’s deep stone windowsills and balcony, and it makes me so happy to see them thriving in the French sunshine, rare as it may be. We have a few vibrant pink and red geraniums in a yellow pot on the balcony, and I love seeing them when I glance out the doors, which we often leave open for fresh air. It feels like just yesterday that our scraggly, twinkling little Christmas tree was standing in that same spot during our first weeks here. I can still remember that thrilling feeling of having just arrived, and I can hardly believe how much time has passed since then.
My sister’s visit came and went in the blink of an eye, but it was incredibly special to spend that time with her and introduce her to France. I was so proud of her for overcoming her anxiety and making the effort to leave her three boys behind for nearly two weeks, and grateful to her husband for making that happen as well. We spent a few days in Paris, mostly shopping and boulangerie-hopping, and when her jet-lag kicked in, we hung out in our hotel and ordered delivery (some of our best meals, in fact!). We took the train back to Bordeaux, where we did even more shopping and boulangerie-hopping, then spent a few days at a peaceful little cottage in the Dordogne, where we visited several castles and the incredible Jardins Suspendus de Marqueyssac. Before we knew it, we were back in Paris and I was seeing her off in a taxi, trying not to ugly-cry in public. It was hard to say goodbye, but I’m grateful for that time together that I know neither of us will ever forget.
The kids back home are officially on summer break, but Oli still has more than a month to go. He’s still enjoying school, and his French teacher says he’s making big strides as his confidence is growing. I’m so proud of him. I’m also happy and relieved that he can now officially serve as my translator when I don’t understand someone who’s speaking to me in French (let’s be honest: most of the time) — even if he is a bit smug doing it.
Now that he’s not coming home for lunch, we’ve been able to enjoy much more productive days, and I’ve been happy to do more writing. I’ve had a couple of pieces published that I’m really proud of (Huffington Post, Insider), and I’ve been doing more pitching, so hopefully there will be more where that came from. Then again, summer break will bring less structure to our days. We’ll have to see what happens.
We’ve heard that a lot of folks leave Bordeaux in the summer months, and we are still weighing our vacation options. I’m tentatively planning a road trip across Switzerland and Italy in July, and maybe a week or two somewhere cooler in August — though I’m overwhelmed by the options. I think we’re also a bit tired of traveling, but I feel like we have to take advantage of the easy, affordable access to the rest of Europe while we’re here. Especially since we’re now on the downward slope toward returning home at the end of the year. At least, that’s our current plan.