GOOD: This past week started with a day trip to the beaches of Normandy, France. Yes, that's right where D-Day happened. Nothing like throwing in a piece of somber reality with all the joy that comes with traveling. Our travels were great & we've thoroughly caught up on sleep & recovered from any jet-lag we may have been experiencing. It was unique to take a trip that was mid-week to mid-week because it seemed like the number of tourists greatly increased at the beginning of the end of our trip. We waited in a moving line to get into
Notre Dame & then opted out of climbing the 400 & some stairs up the towers due to the fact that we had already climbed 300 & some stairs to the dome at
Sacre Cœur that morning & there was quite a long wait at Notre Dame. In between Sacre Cœur & Notre Dame we visited the
Center Pompidou where we saw a non-moving really really long line that we never did figure out what it was for because we walked around the other side of the building & walked right in. It helped that we had already bought our tickets for here before leaving the states. The thing we realized is that at many of the iconic sites you can go up in either a tower or a dome. Yes, the city is magnificent, but it's the same views from slightly different heights & different points in the city. The good that I think this trip did for both Z & I is that it awakened our spirits of adventure & travel & thinking outside our comfort zones of only speaking one language & knowing exactly what we were ordering for food or drink. Here in the picture you see Zack's café crème which he ordered at some point almost every day. Too bad I don't really like coffee because the tea options were limited. I did enjoy a nice chocolat chaud at least once though & daily enjoyed a glass or two of vin rouge or rosé.
BAD: A dear friend passed away while we were gone. His death was not unexpected, but after living with colon cancer since 2009 one begins to think that he would just live that way for many years to come. Mikey was charismatic & vulnerably truthful about life which made him openly true friends with people he maybe never even really considered more than acquaintances. My prayers for God's peace are said often to fill the lives of his wife K, son N, sister C (all my friends as well) & their families. Upon returning we realized we needed to check in with one or two ailing people in our lives & I listened to Z essentially say g'bye to a good friend, colleague & mentor of his on the phone.
AWESOME: The promise that I believe in that Easter brings. Plus, let's be real, I spent most of this past week exploring Paris, France. I got to go up the Eiffel Tower & enjoy champagne with my best friend. AND we came home to a very wet MI, but there is no snow left!
WORD: 1 Peter 1:13-16. Breathing this in a little bit each day. Plus still working on 'The Help' & started reading 'The Color of Tea.'
coming up: A trip to hoosierland & a visit with Gma Dixie! Some work & prep for the Summer & being reunited with my Horton (my big gray Mazda).
