FRANCE: Foire & Jour Férié

Last Friday we had a jour férié which means a vacation day for all of France. It was Armistice Day – aka the day when the treaty was signed to end WWI. This war has much more importance in Europe since this is the grounds where the fighting actually took place. Each village in France has a ceremony and parade to commemorate the past. Emma arrived at my house that morning and we took off to catch the parade. The parade consisted of only a small marching band but what made it really cool is the fact that the whole community of Echirolles (the suburb I live in) was following. At the end everyone gathered, had drinks, chatted, and listened to the band play more music. It was such a beautiful, community event that reminded me of home. It really made me miss those middle school Memorial Day parades.

After, Emma and I sat out on the steps of my house, soaking up the sun. I did a little work while she played harmonica. It was glorious. Then, we decided to go for a run - my FIRST RUN post hospitalization. It was so exciting. It was a mix of walking/ running, which was frustrating, but it is a step in the right direction! I can’t get over how much more I appreciate life. The fact that I can move – I can walk, I can jog, I can stretch. It’s really incredible what our bodies have the capabilities to do and how well they work most of the time.

Anyways, after our run, we decided to change into sundresses and try to find the big fair that was going on a few tram stops from our houses. It was wonderful to hang out, listen to music, and get ready together. It reminded me so much of college! I miss the freedom of living independently with friends so much! Going from the independence of college to living with a family that isn’t yours is a huge transition. Wow, I am really wandering with my thoughts here. Let’s see, next we stumbled across this shopping mall that reminded me so much of the states but with a French twist. Then we found a skating rink and decided to chill in the sun a little more before going to hunt further for the fair. Got so much journaling done.

The fair was a super cool event that took place inside and sold literally anything and everything you could think of. We checked out the furniture, weird window cleaners, leather jackets, scarves, baby sweaters, and FOOD. It was like Annecy on repeat. We shared everything we bought and had the most delicious feasts. That weekend we were planning on going on a quest to find the best pralines (according to Vincent). The pralines were in a small town called Romans and had a special ingredient called fleur de l’Orange in the brioche. They happened to be at the fair. How lucky?!?! I have to agree, the brioche definitely stepped it up a notch. Unsure if they were the best I’ve ever eaten but definitely a good find. We tried the gross looking sausages which ended up actually tasting really good and tasting like beef jerky (yummy, right Kait?). We also found a dried fruit stand that sold the most bizarre things like dried grapefruit, starfruit, and aloe vera, which were all delicious!

I ended up going to bed early after studying for politics for as long as I could