I arrived in Paris after a sleepless yet uneventful flight. There was a baby a row behind me that wouldn’t settle and seemed to be yelling more than crying. I started out feeling sorry for the parents as only another parent can when a child is fussing on a plane but soon grew to hate them all. It was endless screaming. The baby was relentless and I started to fantasize that a stewardess would pop out a window and toss the child out.

I sat next to a young man who was flying to Paris from an adjacent town to Brunswick to be an au pair for the next 3 months. We talked about his plans, his youth, my dreams, and our shared hope for adventure. When it came time for us to part ways I could not help but feel protective of him off on his own in a new land all by himself. It certainly put my own apprehensions into perspective. I found the rental car kiosk and was handed the keys to a tiny pink clown-like car and waited for my dear friend Tori to meet me. The car was a manual which I have driven before and I was trying to psych myself up that this would all come back to me. Tori and I traveled as far as our sleepy eyes would take us and ended up at a gite in Le Neufbourg, Normandy. After an hour-long power nap, I was up communicating with local realtors and planning our upcoming days.

I shoved my running shoes on and ran around the town and countryside. I was stunned by how green, lush, and beautiful everything was. Red poppies, iris, lilacs, and bachelor buttons fill the fields with a rainbow of colors. I love the cows, the people and the smells. The air is sweet and the bread is fresh. I am anxious for tomorrow.