Bourse Aux Velos

Yesterday in Paris was a day to be remembered. It was the day I bought a pair of wheels for transportation. Now naturally you would probably be thinking I bought a car. But no. Even better. I bought a bike!

The ladies and I trekked into Paris for the annual Bourse Aux Velos, held each year in the 13th district of paris. The way it works is, those who own bikes and don’t want them, come in the morning and drop them off with a price in mind. Then in the afternoon those seeking two wheels and a pair of peddles for transportation, show up and find themselves a bike, on a first come first serve basis. Then those who turned in a bike, show up at night and either collect their cash, or their unpurchased bike.



There were all varieties of bikes to be found, from little tike bikes, to mountain bikes, city bikes, broken bikes, rusted bikes, tandem bikes, road bikes, and MY NEW BIKE.

The key to this bike sale is to get there early- so you can get the best selection. (Thus the first come first serve protocol.) We weren’t there first. But we didn’t get there last either. Once they opened the rope for us to pass through, it was like a mad dash Black Friday style to find the best bike for the cheapest price.

The Ladies are making their search for the perfect bike

The trick was in finding a bike you like and holding onto it, while exploring other options encase there was a better deal or bike to your liking. Have you ever tried holding onto one bike, while test riding another? With 40 other people vying for a bike? It makes for quite the scene.

The roomie is testing her first bike of choice

After making our dibs on bikes, getting adjustments made to ensure the seats actually do move down and aren’t permanently lifted too high. Imagine buying a bike, and then finding out it’s welded to a precise height. No more peddling for you my dear friend. And handle bars so low you could touch the floor- people would think you are in a rap video rather than riding your bike. Or maybe you are riding your bike Flo Rida style. Thankfully neither of the above situations took place for our biking crew.

Our bikes of choice right before going to purchase them.

We purchased our bikes, all one happy biking clan and headed home with six bikes for six girls.

Brugge-Stint Style

This last week the 5 Newbies, the Roommie and I went to Brugge, Belgium as a way to take time together as a team and get to know one another, and figure out how in the world this next year is going to function for all of us, and all together. After all, we are:

Taking 7 strangers, who were picked to live together, work together, and have their lives blogged and photographed- STINTWORLD Paris Style!

The Team!

Our time together was spent in Brugge. A lovely quaint little town in Belgium. As my friend Amy would say, “It slaps you with cuteness.”



It is candy for the eye in every direction that you look. Literally- there are streets filled with chocolate shops. Everything is so picturesque it almost looks fake. But you know it’s real- and the way the life was meant to be in this small little town that caters to horse and carriage.



And what would a quaint town be, without floating swans.



Many believe due to the name that French fries come from… France. But they are wrong. They actually belong to the Belgium’s, and when ordering you should ask for Belgium fries not French Fries- but whatever you do, be sure you indulge in some wonderful fries.

Picture taken by Teammate Hannah

The roads of the town are built all out of cobblestone- you won’t find a paved over road in this town. And streets are narrow and mainly built on the one-way direction system. This is highly inconvenient with construction and driving. Thus it is much more efficient and fun to take your bike and ride it all around town.



When you are ready for a nice a relaxing treat find a cute café and order a coffee and Belgium waffle- also known as a waffle- and watch people as they walk by.



This trip was a great start off on the right foot. We all got along together wonderfully and got started in the right direction for a year full of fun, memories, and experiences we will all remember for a life time.

5

Today I picked 5 people up from the airport. I picked up 5 people who are starting out on their own French adventure. 5 people who will get to grown and learn more about themselves, France, and life then they ever imagined.

I have known these five people would be joining my office for some time now. I have been excited for their arrival, for the most part because they are close to my age. However, today, a new excitement overcame me. One that makes me feel alive and a part of the French life. Today I was given the gift to give back all that has been given to me.

I was able to drive them around, get them settled into a temporary place to stay, walk them around like zombies when all they would want to do is sleep or cry. I was able to give direction to the directionless, and know that one day, sooner than they expect… they will be able to do this all on their own. I got to make them a meal and send them off to bed. And I got to dream, to dream about all that will come about for them in this next year.

I am excited for 5 new people. And the 5 new influences on my time here, learning, living, and loving in France.

Goodbye and Hello

The day before leaving I had the most incredible day, Filled with sunshine and a nice bike ride down The Pacific with a good friend. While cruising down the strand, all I could think was that life couldn’t get any better than that moment. The sky was a bright blue, with scattered puffy blue clouds, sounds of the ocean crashing played in the back ground, while my bike bell jingled and greeted those we passed by. While wearing a fun causual summer sundress, the smell of SPF lingered on my skin leaving the perfect scent of summer. The wind was blowing in my hair and left me feeling free from everything except my cherry red beach cruiser. It was perfection.

Flashforward to the next day when I landed in Paris. All the wonderful people at home imagine me in the center of the beautiful city, the Eiffle tower sparkling bright, and who could forget Notre Dame! (I mean, of course you see these out of the window of the plane when you land 40 minutes out of the city.) So imagine to my suprise when I landed and the first thing I see out the plane window is... a down pour of rain. I suppose it's time to trade in those flip flops for my parapluie (umbrella).

Good bye summer tan- Hello frizzy hair!

Chosing Thankfulness

Everyday since my return to the grand USA has been filled with overflowing Joy, love, and appreciation for my life here. And with 5 days left the reality of my leaving becomes ever present in my life.

When I was in 7th grade someone gave me a card with this quote on it

“I am convinced that life is 10% of what happens to us and 90% of how we react to it.”
– Charles Swindoll

I have quoted and recalled this line many times throughout my whole 26 years of life and really believe in what this quote represents. Whenever I catch myself not wanting to return to France, one of my first reasons is because here life is so, “easy.” It just works, I understand it, I can work the systems, and it clicks without breaking invisible boundaries I never knew could exist.

However, we have never been called to a life of Easiness… We have been called to live a life of thankfulness. After this realization, Today I decided to meditate today on the things that I am thankful for not just here in my “easy” life, but also in the place where I am continually stretched and grown into the woman I am to be.

- I am thankful for the hard times, because they have taught me how to be stronger.
- I am thankful for the lonely times, because they taught me a new level of self-confidence and worth.
- I am thankful for the places I get to visit, not because of the magnificent views and world monuments I see, but for the people I meet, and the stories I know.
- I am thankful for my first French friend I met in Dance class, who just thinking upon her brings a smile on my face and what a blessing that friendship will always be.
- I am thankful to know what a real croissant should taste like, cause the one’s here simply do not cut it any longer.
- I am thankful for the families that took me in and had me over for dinner and made me part of their family when mine was so far away.
- I am thankful for the opportunity to still be a part of the French community and for those who know who I am. My produce guy, my boulangerie woman, and my herb lady- I look forward to continuing to growing relationships with all of them.
- I am thankful for the ability to intricately know the streets of Paris and my small town, that I am not forever lost, but know the back streets- as much as I know the streets to the place I have always called home.
- I am thankful for all those who have loved me enough to let me go, and to support me through all my time away, and prayed for me throughout the journey.
- I am thankful for the ability to live an exciting life adventure and to take people on it with me.
- I am thankful I am returning to a place I know, a language I am competent enough in, and a roommate to have shared experiences with.
- I am thankful to have the ability to continue to learn French through emersion.
- I am thankful of not knowing the adventures that lay ahead, but have the firm foundation to believe whatever happens, I have been prepared thus far to handle whatever situation comes my way, and to have the confidence in knowing God never gives us anything we cannot handle.
- I am thankful to have had this time home, to restore and go back to see Paris, and do ministry well.
- I am thankful for the reminder that attitude is everything, and the opportunity to practice.
- I am thankful for every supporter who believes in what I am doing and having the summer to share with each of them.
- I am thankful for each person who reads my blog and follows my journey along the way.
- I am thankful for the life I have been given, the ability to live out my dreams, and the expectancy of what growth and greatness exists in the year ahead.

I am going to chose thankfulness and through the process of choosing to be thankful watch the fruit of easiness bloom into my life abroad.

Where's Katie?

I have heard from quite a few people that they are sick of seeing my Bon Dimanche posting every time they come to my blog- disappointed that there is no new posting. I am flattered that I have regular visitors to my blog and thus thought for those who want more, the least I can do is provide a post.

In my defense of not posting, my blog is about my life in France. And well… currently I am not in France. In fact, I am as far away from France as I could possibly ever be. Okay maybe not exactly… as far physically. But I am the furthest I have been physically in the last two years, and I am mentally so check out of the French world it is insane.

It has been so absolutely wonderful being home. Home is home. I knew I loved Dorthy as a child, but I never understood her words as profoundly as I do not when she says… “There’s no place like home.”

My brain is loving up the English language. I do my best to try to think in French every once in a while and it is impossible. Absolutely impossible. My brain refuses. A friend and I watched a movie the other night and half of it was in French, and it even took me a moment to let it sink in that I was understanding the words they were speaking. I honestly believed I shouldn’t be. Because… well because I only speak English. I love the on demand “say something in French,” requests I get… and simply sputter out a “'Bonjour,' 'Merci,' 'Au Revoir'” The basic words they would already know, and await the amazed looks. (They have yet to come!) But it is impossible to explain to people the level of French I can speak- so I think they believe I really can only say hello and goodbye. Not actually accomplish anything real. But that’s alright.

In all actuality I have had a really difficult time perceiving the last two years of my life have been real. You know the part in the Wizard of Oz when Dorthy awakes from her magical world and tries to explain where she was, and points to her friends saying, “you were there, and you were there, and you were there…” but ultimately she is left in a confused state. Many times that’s what I feel like I am doing. Waking up from a dream where a few people made a cameo, but mostly everything in my natural world is different from the place I have just been and been transformed by.

Yesterday I cried for the first time about the thought of leaving California going back to France. I will truly miss leaving home once again. But I am also very excited to get back to France and my life there. This is my once chance and opportunity of something so unique and wonderful in my life. I am blessed to live in such a fabulous place, and be at a place where I am thriving in a foreign country. I am excited to see what the Frenchies are going to teach me in the year to come and excited to reunite with the friends I have there. To know that they are all real and not just some figment of a quite vivid two year dream.

I will be returning to France and blogging soon!

A Bientot!

Bon Dimanche

I can’t state how much joy my Sunday market brings me. But it should be obvious to the readers because I feel like I mention it often. I want to blog about it every Sunday because every Sunday it brings me something refreshing. I am always learning something new, whether it’s about what is in season when, discovering a new food I have never seen before, or having the opportunity and time to practice my French with the Locals. I love that I have vendors who know me and greet me each Sunday- and who notice when I haven’t been around for a while, or comment that I got too much sun the day before (an impossibility here if you ask me.)

This Sunday, nothing out of the ordinary particularly happened, but I want to share my experience – to document it, so that I may never forget the joy it brings to me. Today is a beautiful sunny day. The walk down the cobble stone street that leads to the main market road was sparkled with people carrying baskets of fresh produce back to their flats. The line at the “Coeur de Pain” (Heart of bread) boulangerie was out the door with people waiting to get their baguettes to accompany their family Sunday meal. And on the corner the tabac was filled with men sipping their cafes probably discussing the events of this last week.

My first stop at the market is always the produce stand. Here there is a young French guy who typically helps me, or was the first person I interacted with and he patiently helped me get through the proper pronunciation of French produce. There is an older man with a mustache who is always smiling, and a quaint woman who always walks around to the waiting patrons and offers samples of fruit, “Fresh cantaloupe! 1 euro, Lovely Strawberries 2 euro per kilo.” My next stop is generally to the woman who sells herbs. I like her a lot. Today was the first time we talked past what I actually wanted- my typical order each week is either Basil or Coriander (Cilantro)- however today I stepped out of the box and tried something new.

I am not sure if it because it is summer- the beginning of the new season, but today I discovered many new foods I had never seen before. Not only discovering new foods was part of today’s fun, but also the delight of picturesque colors displayed on all the cherries, strawberries, peaches, and nectarines, they are like a bright floral arrangement of fruit, bursting with flavors of bright colors.

In celebration of the new goods from today, I want to highlight three of my indulgent purchases today. Two are new goodies to try and one is and oldie but a goodie- but tastes more extravagant than ever before. I am so sad I cannot put a sample on my blog for you to try, but can only tempt and tease you through the pictures and writings. Today I bought- some type of exotic Mushrooms, Nectarines, and Coco Haricots- but I have no idea what they would be called in English.



Last week there was an abundance of new mushrooms on display- I was tempted then, but resisted. However this week I went to the market in pursuit of mushrooms. When I made it to my herbs lady who had on display about 5 different types of mushrooms- I asked her what the difference was between them, and she said they were all really different, it depended on what I wanted to make. I explained that I had no idea, this was my first time, but they looked all so beautiful I wanted to try some. She pointed out the mushrooms pictured and said they would be easiest.



They also happened to be the ones I was eyeing last week. She then instructed me how to prepare them and gave me a free bunch of chives to sauté the mushrooms in. I can’t wait to try them- I love the shapes and colors of these- I am interested to see how they change form when cooked, and what aroma they will fill my apartment with.



Last week I bought a half kilo of Nectarines and regretted it all week long. Why in the world would I have deprived myself? These Nectarines are one of the best things I have ever enjoyed in my life. The color of the skin is like a perfect Californian sunset and the flesh inside is as bright as the sun on a clear day. The bursts of flavor overtake your senses and is the purest taste of a perfect summer one could enjoy.



In response to only buying a half kilo of nectarines last week- this week I bought 4 kilos (8 pounds) of nectarines. Obviously I cannot eat 8 pounds of nectarines in a week- but the plan is to chop some up and freeze them to be enjoyed all year long. Genius I know!

And finally- the most exotic award goes to my coco Haricots. I have never seen these before but was intrigued as soon as I saw them. I have no idea what they will taste like or what the texture will consist of? Will it be like a kidney bean or will it be like a snap pea? I initially thought the color of the shell was pretty the gentle wisps of purple color.



But then the guy helping me opened up the shell and inside was 5 pearls of speckled jelly bellies. My friend Andrea was talking about how much creativity God used when giving us food and when I saw this, I thought of Andrea, and am interested to see what this creation will bring to my palate once perfectly prepared. I was told to unshell the jelly belly contents into lightly boiling water for 40 minutes, what I forgot to ask was what I should make with them. But here’s to trying new things.



Overall, today’s market experience was a success. I was able to collect a plethora of goodies to be enjoyed throughout the week. I was able to have good conversations in French not only about the food but able to learn more about those who help me week after week, and reconfirming the relationship with my hosts. I am so lucky they are able to share their knowledge and nutritional treasures with me. I am excited to have something new to try to make and taste throughout the week. Hopefully I will follow their instructions properly and have successful stories to share with them next week.

Bon Dimanche! (Happy Sunday!)