One day, my friend, Mickaël brought a bouquet of roses that his aunt, Zora, had picked up for me. Both Zora and Mickaël had taken time (their days are mentally and physically demanding, and often long) to pick out and bring me the flowers. It was a beautiful gift, given with no expectation other than the wish to make me happy. It made me cry. I decided that this bunch was special enough to try to preserve. I pressed two of the roses to make it easy to transport home to California, where they will be displayed in glass.
The rest of the flowers have been dried, and are currently in the town of Cluses in the French Alps, near Geneva, with the bestower of the second kindness. Didier is one of my oldest friends. I have not seen him in over 20 years, but he is storing four boxes totaling four square meters and 20 kg of my junk for me.
For whatever reason, my perceptions of my life experiences have made me a glass half empty sort of person, but I want to believe in happy endings. Since these two people brought happiness to me with their kindness, I think this is a good time to close this book with a happy ending. My time in Lorraine came to an end far too soon, but I hope to return soon, and if I do, I may just reopen it! Until then, please feel free to visit me on my main blog, Mindless Meanderings of a Middle-Aged Maniac (click on the blog name to get there from here).
Pour mes amis à la Lorraine, j'espère de vous voir bientôt. Ma porte est ouverte à vous, où que ça soit!
Below, one of my final views of Paris on this trip, from Gare de l'Est. Across the street at l'Ecu (on the right), my new favorite Parisian waiter, Chris, works breakfast. Okay, technically, he isn't Parisian, he's English! If Chris worked at l'Insulaire, my favorite restaruant (thanks to my sister for bringing me there), that would be the perfect combination for me.
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