Paris: The word, the place, always evokes particular emotions like love, adventure, romance. We think of the Eiffel Tower and croissants, fashion and fancy. A visit to Paris is probably on the bucket lists of most people, especially women. It was on my bucket list until last month when I checked Paris off my list, having been blessed with the opportunity to finally visit there.
Paris was an adventure indeed. I learned much about the place itself and even a little about myself. In David Letterman fashion, I’m presenting my Paris Top 10: What I learned there and what I loved. Continue Reading
Pack lightly…because baggage gets heavier with each step.
When I traveled recently, I did my very best to pack lightly and be reasonable in my choices of clothing and accessories. I wanted to be sure I had what I needed. After all, we were traveling across the world and it was unlikely there would be a Walmart I could run out to if I’d forgotten a necessity. I definitely wanted to include the necessary toiletries, and medications and I comfortably had the room in my luggage for them.
Overall, I felt pretty proud of myself that I’d managed to carefully select appropriate outfits I would need, wisely planning to interchange tops and pants, creating more ensembles out of few items. Travel tip side note: A handy tipster enlightened me that Parisians often wear outfits two days in a row, so mixing and matching would certainly suffice. But even as sparingly as I had managed to pack, the day we left I threw in extra pants and dress boots “just in case.” For eight days and two countries, I felt I had done nicely packing one decent-sized suitcase, a carry on, and a messenger bag that I would carry everywhere with the super essentials like Passport, Euros, ID, debit card, camera, and phone. Continue Reading
The sweetness of doing nothing…isn’t that phrase in and of itself a sweet sound to the ears? For me, and I’m sure for many, it’s a puzzling concept. Doing nothing? And it’s sweet? But when you unpack the words, they become even more lovely. I find it nearly impossible to do nothing. Even when I’m semi-relaxing by watching TV or reading a book, I have to feel as though I’m accomplishing something at the same time. I may turn on a movie, but I need to have the dishwasher or washing machine going or I’m folding a load of laundry, sometimes doing all three.
When in Rome, I noticed a marked ease about their lifestyle. There wasn’t the hurried pace we often feel here in our lives. Many people could be seen relaxing with friends over a meal…in the middle of the day. Some stores closed down entirely for the lunch hour, not something I’ve often seen happen here. The casual feeling, I’ll admit, was quite appealing. The lovely Romans seem to savor more: Food. Drink. The present company. Time. Continue Reading
Culture: I love exploring new cultures, their music, their food, their ways of living. When I had the opportunity to accompany my boy on a school field trip to see a band from China–a folk fusion band, no less–I couldn’t say “yes” fast enough. Being analytical and curious, I truly enjoy learning what life looks like through the eyes of others. Today was nothing short of a treat as I got to experience our downtown theatre treasure I’ve been wanting to see coupled with a great concert with my son. Since it was a short trip, I opted to ride the bus, with my son’s permission. He’s almost a teenager so I’m careful to tune into how much my kids want me involved in certain things.
The knees on the bus go…
The bus ride was an immediate joy. Sitting down, my knees slammed into the seat in front of me and I was transported back to my own school days when the buses were far too crowded with three to a seat, which meant any corner or slight turn involved gymnastic moves to keep me from falling out into the aisle. Simply put, unless you’re a toddler, there is no room to put your legs. I felt loads of empathy towards the tall boys and girls who must endure this on a twice-daily basis. Once my kneecaps recovered and I found a semi-tolerable sitting position, my son and I started chatting. I may have very quietly in a severely hushed tone asked if he was using those Stridex pads I purchased. He doesn’t need them per se but an ounce of prevention…”Mom!! Oh my gosh! You’re never coming on a field trip with me again!!”
What? Does everyone suddenly have bionic hearing?? This is the same kid who yawned out loud during the sermon in church yesterday and wondered why I wanted to melt into my seat. But somehow my raspy whisper admist a bus full of 60-some kids all talking loudly at once as the bus rattles down the highway is far more mortifying. He immediately apologized because I’ve mastered the guilt look. This is the look the falls upon my motherly face when my kids accidentally insult me or speak too harshly and they’re instantly consumed with guilt about it. The look works. I’m not ashamed.
Such beautiful architecture!
The rest of the trip was fantastic. We poured into this beautiful theatre and enjoyed music from a Chinese band whose members, except for one, don’t speak English. The Chinese young man who was interpreting into English speaks in a British accent. Perfect! They were highly entertaining and we got to learn a little about where they live, in different remote areas of China. One band member lives in a deep valley between two very tall mountains (is there any other kind?) so he sings on the hillside and relies on the echo of his song to communicate with the village on the other side of mountain. How amazing is that? We can send a message with a few keystrokes and a button on our phone, but he sings his message and the echo carries it to others who live a day’s walk away. I take for granted how easy it is to communicate, how with the push of a button or two, this blog post will reach hundreds, possibly thousands of people, just that easily.
Monday pretty often gets a bad name. But today, cultural experience that I could share with my son and a bunch of other youngsters, a crampy bus ride where we laughed all the way back, and a little lesson in not taking things for granted is pretty impressive for a Monday.
