It has been a hard, sad month with calves dying in the snow, the Boston bombing at the Marathon, a fertilizer plant explosion, my little dog had a stroke yesterday (lived, but tips to the left badly)! I had forgotten completely that I had gotten a new magazine in the mail, having laid it aside for more comforting reading. I picked it up yesterday and it was good medicine for my heart! I've been meaning to share it with you since December, but obviously pictures of cows in the snow take precedence...*rolling of eyes, here*
I know we get magazines (NOT IN BROWN PAPER WRAPPERS) that make the postmistress say, "Huh...!"
National Geographic Travel, Boston Magazine, Bon Appetit and...
France magazine;
the topic of this post.
It's a delightful publication that is delivered every two months, which in my opinion is not nearly often enough. It has travel articles that are not flowery or run of the mill, very specific advice on where to stay and local (not popular) sights. It also includes a section for people like me who are trying to learn French and really want to make certain we're translating what we're reading, correctly. In this section, one half of the page is in French, the other half in English. I read the French side first, then flip to the English to see how close I got to the gist of the article. I'm getting better! There are puzzles in French, reviews of French movies/music/books/style, food news (AND recipes!), and every issue profiles a different Paris arrondissement (area of town...think Billings Heights and the West End). At the very end of the magazine are rental properties in France to be had.
That's just cruel.
But for the most part, for me, it's a multi-page postcard and letter from France...not incredibly touristy, but not snootily local.
Yesterday, when I could bear no more sadness, couldn't pray another thought, I happened to see the France magazine and opened it almost absentmindedly.
It was mostly rural France, with the exception, of course of the Paris section. Brittany, Burgandy, St. Helena Island where Napoleon was exiled and eventually died....
A recipe for beef stew, another for coddled eggs, a review of a family movie (that I need to get my hands on) called Le Petit Nicholas, a snarky article about how to be French if you must (complain constantly).
It was almost like a hug.
For 15 minutes, I wasn't fretting or sick to my stomach...I was enchanted!
I don't know if I'll ever get to France. Even Paris, Texas is a stretch of the imagination, really.
But every two months, I fall into her culture and remember why I love her!
