last year at this time, on this day, jane arrives in paris, without me. i am still in rwanda at that moment - and we chat whilst i sip french press coffee on the terrace overlooking kigali. she arrives safe and tells me that yes, all of my quirky hotel requests for our french love nest have been met. i plan to join her the following day after traipsing through nairobi, bruxelles, and finally onto the capital.
jane enjoys that day in the most carefree way ... drinking wine, sipping coffee, eating cheese, exploring on foot, chatting to strangers ... a small slice of heaven for her, and a treat to be alone for a few hours while traveling. by the time i arrive in france some twenty-four hours later, she is settled in and super relaxed, asking me to call in my breakfast order from the metro as i near the hotel so she can have it waiting for me in the room.
simpler times, for certain. in fact, we have dinner with our parisien friends, david-alexandre and aurelie, who we met originally in india. over dinner at (how clichéd) a charming french bistro (the real deal), we end up talking about the proliferation of cancers amongst young people - our peers. it seems to be as common to that side of the atlantic as it is to our own left bank. we certainly could not have projected that jane would include herself in this group just a few months later.
the incredible amount of support we receive from these friends, as well as all of our other friends scattered across the globe, is amazing and inspiring. having met people throughout our travels, as well as during the period we lived in the city, we are able to share our lives with those residing in far-flung countries. made particularly more efficient these days with texting, skype-ing, video chatting, and email.
so we think back fondly to last year's bastille day and allow that happy memory to further sustain us and make us realize that yes, we have truly taken advantage and relished all those good moments - and plan to continue to do so for a long, long time!!!
jane enjoys that day in the most carefree way ... drinking wine, sipping coffee, eating cheese, exploring on foot, chatting to strangers ... a small slice of heaven for her, and a treat to be alone for a few hours while traveling. by the time i arrive in france some twenty-four hours later, she is settled in and super relaxed, asking me to call in my breakfast order from the metro as i near the hotel so she can have it waiting for me in the room.
simpler times, for certain. in fact, we have dinner with our parisien friends, david-alexandre and aurelie, who we met originally in india. over dinner at (how clichéd) a charming french bistro (the real deal), we end up talking about the proliferation of cancers amongst young people - our peers. it seems to be as common to that side of the atlantic as it is to our own left bank. we certainly could not have projected that jane would include herself in this group just a few months later.
the incredible amount of support we receive from these friends, as well as all of our other friends scattered across the globe, is amazing and inspiring. having met people throughout our travels, as well as during the period we lived in the city, we are able to share our lives with those residing in far-flung countries. made particularly more efficient these days with texting, skype-ing, video chatting, and email.
so we think back fondly to last year's bastille day and allow that happy memory to further sustain us and make us realize that yes, we have truly taken advantage and relished all those good moments - and plan to continue to do so for a long, long time!!!
