Crazy Adventures in the Life of a Redhead

Fortunately for me, I have three days when my little charge is off at daycare, meaning I can take Burgundy by storm. Well, one of those days is my day to get errands done and you know study French a little and things like that; however, I have decided that on those days I am going to take a bike ride around this area. Afterall, it is truly lovely here and the weather has been great. So, I hopped on my my bike two days in the past two weeks, and I visited some amazing things. This blog is therefore going to be two parts because I saw very different things and had completely different experiences. That is all to say that one never knows what can happen. ABBAYE DE CITEAUX This abbey is a Cistercian Abbey, started by St. Bernard in the 12th century. He built many abbeys around France, and at that time, or at the height of the Cistercian commitment, there were something like more than 2000 different places where Cistercians lived and served. Same as the monks who lived at the Abbaye de Font

Another adventure; let me tell you. I am not sure if it is me or if for some reason adventure just seems to follow me. Not a problem for me, because I thrive on adventure and detest when things are all as they should be, unless of course, I am responsible for someone else, then when things go wrong, I kick myself. Anyway, that is a whole other tangent. But, Montbard…I decided that since I was going to a new city, I would dress up and look very nice since normally, I am dressed in my pajamas for most of the day until I take a small walk with my charge, before which I get dressed in grubby jeans and a t-shirt. So, I had this pretty white dress on and my favorite yellow jelly shoes on…a very nice summer outfit, blending well into the beautiful day with which I had been blessed. I get to Montbard and make a beeline for the Tourist Office, like usual. It was nice that the office was ten steps from the train station (come to find out, it is like 10 steps to see the whole town), so I asked t

There is one problem with the place where I am staying: it is in the middle of nowhere. Well, not in the middle of nowhere, but far enough away from the well-known places to seem a little isolated. Conveniently, however, there is a train that goes from Seurre (the grand town in the area --- 2500 people) that goes to Dijon. Liking to be prepared, I had looked on the Internet of a place where I could go and see something extraordinary, so I thought I was just one step away from discovering for myself what the Internet had exposed. Soon enough, when I went to buy my ticket, I realized I had been mistaken, and there was no train going to the city I had planned. I stepped back away from the line with a sorry and a confused look on my face (those are so commonly ingrained in my face now, that maybe even when I do know what I am doing, people think otherwise) and looked at the map. It was like closing one’s eyes and pinning the tail on the donkey. I had no idea what to do. I went up to the ti

I decided today that I was going to run on some paths I had earlier seen. They were probably private property, but I didn’t see any signs and no one yelled at me, so I kept going. I encountered this beautiful little alcove nestled between some corn on one side and a couple trees on the other and facing the river. There I stopped to talk with God and really get some things off my chest. You see, the place where I am living is beautiful. Truly like a fairyland, but that is also a problem, because I find myself almost devoid of any real emotions or thoughts, like they have all melted away into a big vat of Brie cheese. I do not know, so there at that moment, I saw the nature and I regarded the calmness of the water, and I asked the Lord to give me the right perspective, a perspective centered on him and widen by the world and all of God’s creation. I was given a very deep peace from my Creator, a quiet assurance that this place, even though it is seemly without fault, is also a place wher

I just visited one of the prettiest towns I have ever seen; Beaune (pronounced bone). Of course, it was pretty in the very European sense, with its ancient-looking homes and dazzling yet mysterious churches and lovely cafes and places to eat the most wonderful cakes ever imagined (I personally tasted one of these, and my goodness, I do not think that I have ever eaten something so delightful). Well, this trip was surely a unique experience --- very worthy of a story and surely of a blog post. It is not a surprise, I do not think, to say that I am a bit stubborn in what I would like to accomplish. Today, I set out to discover Beaune, and that is what I did. However, it was a bit difficult to convince my employers that using the scooter was a good idea for going to this town. Apparently, they thought that the slow scooter that only goes, at its maximum, 70 km per hour was not a sufficient or safe way to travel. Not for me! I really had romanticized the idea in my mind…how lovely it woul

I know this might seem like a strange title for a blog, but when I explain, you will see. So, I think that I do pretty well with my French pronunciation (I might not always know what I am reading aloud, but I think that I sound fairly French…) but there is one word that I cannot seem to get right, and that is the word for yogurt. I wish that it were a grander word, so at least I would not feel so bad about not being able to pronounce it, but in fact it is a very important and extremely simple word that I use every day. My charge, Sarah, loves yogurt (consequently, I have really come to love plain yogurt --- not a bad thing since the bacteria aids in digestion and there is no sugar!) Well, she eats yogurt twice a day, and I always have to tell her mother what she ate. That is when the embarrassment gathers around me as I try to spit out this word and absolutely cannot say it. Today was not a particularly great day for my French anyway, but whatever, that is beyond the point of this entr

I went to the beautiful city of Dijon, yes, where they make mustard. I just cannot get over that, so pardon me if I say that a ton of times in this entry. Yes, the lovely mustard town, what a place. I loved it. Not only was there mustard, but also there were cakes and bread and cheese and wait, yes, there were other things besides food. (I tend to be preoccupied with food when I am traveling, maybe because there is always so much of it!!!) The center part of the city, where, let’s face it, all the beauty of Europe is found. Never expect that a European city is beautiful outside of the one or two square mile downtowns, it will never live up to your expectation. This was the same, so I saw when regarding what lay in the nether regions beyond the train station, so I stayed in the center, where there was plenty to keep me occupied. You know, a digital camera is almost as good as having someone with you. Yes, I was that weird person taking pictures of herself, in windows and reflective mir

Okay, so this is me in Chicago, but hey, I had just received my French visa, so that was an important day for me. Man, was I glad to get that; like usual, I had to talk my way out of the specifics, but thank the Lord that good old fashion smoozing still works. I didnt have to bribe my way out of anything or use other more messy ways of getting a necessary document (you probably know what those methods are, so I do not need to elaborate :) Sometimes people can remain at the French consulate for the whole day, but I was in and out in a half hour...amazing! and something I attribute to the blessings of the Lord, I mean, I was kind of pushing it (three days before I left). I just realized that I do not know how to operate this blog thing, so the pictures will remain as is, which is not where I want them, but whatever, I think that you can handle it. The pictures on the top are of my home, room, and the area where I live. Beautiful, right? I mean, come on, how French can you get. I was thin

So, I am in France now, and my goodness, it is so beautiful. Picture a place that has been untouched my modern architecture, like siding on houses and wide roads and street lights. I have seen none of those here. I live in a place called Lechatelet which is a small village of 140 inhabitants. The city in this area is called Seurre (pronounced sir), and it has the grand number of 2500 inhabitants. I do not think I can handle this type of metropolis :) I rode my bike here, and it took about 25 minutes for 7 km..okay, I am not that fast and I left my glasses at the house, oops! Oh, well, the cars seem to be familiar with bikers, but maybe not runners. There are very few runners in France, which is maybe why my family gave me the strangest look when I said that I was training for a marathon, or maybe it is because I am crazy for doing that, which may be universal...who knows? I think that I am going to absolutely love it here. It is peaceful, and the house (of which I will later in the wee