I like life. OKAY???

Today has been one of my greatest Parisian days ever, and it’s not even 2 p.m. yet! I’ll start from the beginning…

I had the most wonderful wake up. At 8:30, my eyes just popped open and I was ready to go! Not the least bit drowsy, not hot, with sun streaming in from my balcony… It was perfect.

I walked downstairs to prepare my breakfast, and I had a lovely conversation with my host mother. She told me about this fabulous open-air market that would be going on just down the street today, and then she invited me to eat the Sunday meal with the family. Sunday is ALWAYS the fanciest, tastiest meal of the week, but my usual designated meal days are Tuesday and Thursday, so this will be a lot of fun. They have wine, appetizers, a great salad and a huge chunk of meat, then bread and cheese and dessert and coffee.

THEN she tells me that the whole family (except Eugenie, who’s my age and works each day at the supermarket) is going to one of their country houses (yes, they have two country houses) from Monday through Thursday. As wonderful as my French family is, that was music to my ears. As I’ve mentioned before, it can be a little exhausting to always have to be “on;” speaking and hearing French at school, at the store, and at home, my only respite when I need one is when I take walks or play with my American friends. I LOVE speaking French, but it wears me out some of the time.

So YAY, house basically to myself! And Eugenie and I get along famously, so it’ll be great. She wants to go to the pool with me to lay out, and I’m definitely game! My Buschhorn*-swimming-pool-induced tan had just about disappeared.

And the day just kept getting better. I set out for the Scots Kirk Paris, this English-speaking Protestant church that I had tried to visit with Michelle two weeks ago but ended up missing on account of a huge rainstorm. Then last weekend I was in Dublin… but THIS weekend, Katie Ramsey and I got to experience what I’m sure is one of the most VIBRANT churches in Paris! It was perfect, and I didn’t want to leave. It was so small—I counted 26 people in attendance—but it was enormously friendly and warm. It occurred to me that even in a church of that small size, it contained each element that I believe a church should have: discipleship, missions, outreach, praise, worship, solid teaching, accountability… and everyone was SO GENUINE!!! Katie and I stuck around for “tea and biscuits” afterward, and we were greeted with the greatest warmth, it was astounding. I WISH WISH WISH that I had discovered this place my first Sunday here, and I guarantee you that the next time I am in Paris, I will visit that church again.

And they didn’t do the “stand if you’re visiting” routine; instead, the pastor simply said:

“I can see this week that we have some new faces. It always encourages us to have visitors from Paris and around the world because that adds a deeper dimension to the fellowship of our congregation. Please, when you return to your home churches, assure them that the Body of Christ is alive in Paris.”

Before I visited the Scots Kirk I had my doubts as to the truth of that last statement, as I’ve written about before, but praise the Lord I’ve been proven wrong.

Katie and I made plans to visit a couple of museums during the week and parted ways. As soon as I got home, my host mother and I tackled the market she had told me about. It was amazing. I did the last of my souvenir shopping, and that’s where my host mother and I split; she wanted to go to the fish market (eww), and I wanted to take advantage of the street vendors’ fabulous wares.

And here is the best part: For the first time since I’ve been in Paris, I bought an entire baguette, fresh and warm, straight from the oven. Now, these things are HUGE, and everyday you see the Frenchiest women carrying baguettes tucked under their arms, circle skirts rippling in the breeze, little dogs faithfully marching by their sides.

And minus the little dog marching by my side (I do miss Jackson), I WAS ONE OF THOSE WOMEN. How COOL is that?

I have only five days left in Paris, and I have been thinking about how to make the biggest “Frenchified” impact for when I get off the plane and return to Texas. You know, ideally I’d be wearing a French outfit, have a new French ‘do, be riding a little bicycle with flowers in the basket, and be holding a baguette under my arm. (Haha.) Now, even if none of the other things happen, at least I know it’s possible for me to sport the baguette…

Tonight France faces Italy in the World Cup showdown. Believe it or not, I’m staying home to watch the game on TV with my family. I have friends who got bruised and tear-gassed when they went to the Champs Elysees after France’s win against Portugal, and I definitely want to play it safe. (And save some money. Going out is EXPENSIVE!!!)

That said, if the French WIN tonight, this will go down in history as the most perfect French day ever. They’ve got their work cut out for them against the Azzurri; odds-makers have listed Italy as a narrow 2.71 favorite to win the final game, with France’s odds sitting just lower at 2.97.

Either way, I am officially a fan of France. And isn’t Zinedine Zidane, the god of French football, incredibly good-looking?



Answer is: yes.

Okay, Allez les Bleus, and praise the Lord for a great day!

Happy,

Kate


*For those of you who don’t know, the Buschhorns are the people that I babysit for in Austin. You’d have to not know me very well not to know that though, cuz I’m told that I talk about them alllll the time…