Coming back to France is like meeting up with an old friend that you haven't seen in a really long time...in this instance, 3+ years. It's great to see them, you get all caught up, hear what's new, what's changed, remember the good old times...and then you remember why you stopped talking in the first place. I do love this country...the history, the culture, the language of course, how ridiculously polite people are, all the baked goods and chocolate shops, cheese, wine...but over the past few days I've remembered all the things that royally piss me off about it. How people let their dogs shit everywhere and don't pick up...the terrible bureaucracy and how you have to see about 20 different people to get anywhere with anything...how no one at the grocery store helps you bag, it just flies down at you as they ring it in and you madly try to pack it before the next persons stuff comes hurdling down at you...the constant strikes and demonstrations (the transit system is on strike today to protest the change in retirement laws)...you know, just the little things that make life, eh, a petit peu difficile. But, there are definitely more ups than downs, and for now France is still very much in my good books. As long as I avoid stepping in dog crap...
The last couple days have been much more relaxing and I actually feel a bit like I'm on "vacation". The weather has been sunny and beautiful the last 2 days, hovering around 23, and Michelle and I have taken a liking to a certain ice cream and waffle stand in Place Stanislas and have been wandering around Parc Pépinière. We sat on the grass with our ice cream cones yesterday (I tried the very interesting flavour of lavender...it tastes exactly how it smells) and soaked up the sun before wandering around to look at the zoo (and saw monkeys!) We've also been taking lots of pictures while the weather is nice...I even got a "jump shot" in front of the statue of Stanislas, Duc de Lorraine (took poor Michelle about 20 shots to get the timing right).
Today I'm going to check out one of the MJCs (Maison des Jeunes et de la Culture), a kind of recreation centre that offers different sports and activities...I might sign up for yoga. I might wander over to one of the dance studios I've been looking into so I can continue with contemporary dance.
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