finding my way
I’m back! One week later.
I arrived Wednesday morning fresh off a redeye to a cloudy morning on the French Riviera. Fall had fallen.
One short nap later and I went to the flower market to make a bouquet in honor of our newly minted friend, fall. Hydrangeas in deep shades, and alstromeria in verregated shades of orange and yellow. Fresh flowers can do wonders to an apartment that has been locked up with no life for a month and a half.
Saturday, feeling like the apartment was back to being functional, I invited some friends over for a cup of coffee, which turned into a long, rainy afternoon of card games. I enlisted the extra hands to help me hang things on the wall. We ventured out afterwards to pick up some things and stopped for a gooey pain au chocolat from the boulangerie just below. I think it tasted even better in the drizzling rain.
Today, after a scour of the antique market, I found myself near the sea which I still hadn’t been in since August. I grabbed my suit, went for a quick dip, and dried in the golden afternoon light, finishing up a book and remembering that incomparable feeling of salty skin in the sun.
Coming back, Nice is starting to feel like home. When we first moved here, I longed for immediate connection. I wanted to know all the best spots and have a community that welcomed me right away. To me, a friendship feels its most authentic in the mundane. When you get to run errands together, meander through the grocery-explain what items you always thought were one thing but are actually an entirely different thing, and laugh at the rudeness of French service together. It hasn’t been as easy here making my village, but it’s starting to feel in reach.
I just finished a book by Shauna Niequist, whose books my sister and I have loyally and enthusiastically consumed every time they come out. This time, Shauna talks about moving from the city she spent her entire life in, and starting over in New York City. I included a few quotes she wrote about change that really resonated with me in this season here in Nice.
“It’s okay to let yourself change, to let an environment change you, a city change you, a season change you.”
“Here I am, realizing home isn’t singular, that you don’t lose one, but rather your world and your heart expand with each new home and new set of experiences, each new self and new street.”
Things that brought joy this week:
Thrift store finds-the bobbin legged fireside stool I snagged for 20€ at the thrift store, a coastal painting and cracking bread bowl
Mirth caftans-joyful prints from a brand I love, reminding me of home and elevating my pattern-less wardrobe
New tennis shoes-nothing makes me feel like more of a kid on the first day of school like a clean pair of tennis shoes
Flowers
Spades and Bridge-my inner 90 year old heart couldn’t be happier to have a complete foursome to play with
