far from angry in angers, a stroll in parc de saint-cloud, figs for breakfast and dinner

don’t judge.

this is the result of having nothing left to eat for breakfast.

your eyes wandered to the tart dough just waiting to be used. and to that bag of frozen figs that have been untouched in your freezer. they also doesn’t miss the container of crème fraîche.

into the oven. a cup of tea. breakfast is ready.

that is how your first day of june began.

and you’ve fallen into old habits. specifically, the habit of being too busy.

so let’s catch up by jumping to last weekend when you went to angers.

to avoid any confusion, you were nowhere near angry. you were actually the opposite: happy. angers just happens to be the name for a french city.

the goal of this trip was not to explore france but to say hello to a good friend.

after a friendly carpool, it all began with strawberries, parsley, tomatoes, and cucumbers.

red – green – red – green.

these are the colors of spring, not christmas.

tuna and asparagus.

the good friend, his girlfriend, and james dean – this is your lunch combo.

the days are spent munching in apricots and cherry tomatoes and just hanging out in their apartment.

you love how your closest friendships are the ones where you can spend time doing nothing together.

but one must get fresh air.

“cathy, i was thinking we should go to terra botanica,” is what he starts with.

you raise your eyebrow. “what?”

“it’s, let’s say, a sort of disneyland végétal,” he replies.

“uh huh. and you’ve been already?” you wonder out loud

“nope!” 

“okay! on y va!” is your response because you’re always up for discovering something new.

on foot and by tram is how you get there.

it’s nice to take a break from the city.

paris is nice. angers is nice. but it is hard to top open fields and building-less blue skies. 

his description of terra botanica was correct.

after peddling in a walnut, it is indeed disney with an emphasis on nature.

you’ve arrived at the perfect moment as everything is in bloom.

reds.

purples.

even some artificial fog.

random activities.

greenhouses. 

water lilies.

terra botanica is far from real. but it is enjoyable.

your favorite flowers are found back at the apartment.

the ones on their balcony.

and the ones pinned to their wall.

all of this ends with wasabi peas.

oh, this couple has stories. but not for you to tell. at least not now. perhaps later. you say your goodbyes and head back to paris in yet another carpool.

but you make a little detour before heading back to your apartment.

because you needed to buy a certain book.

all the way in the southwestern suburbs of paris.

which, it turns out, to be one of your favorite walks so far.

can this really be paris?

and this as well?

you begin to doubt if maybe you are in normandy.

or the alps.

or back at ile de re. 

in fact, anywhere but paris.

ah. that is more like it. yes, it is indeed paris where you are to be found. so that is how you end the month of may.

and today, after a week and a half of not sitting in front of this view due to a somewhat confusing living situation, you are being anti-social on a friday night and trying to catch up on sleep.

you’re so tired that you snack on frozen figs for dinner because you don’t feel like using effort tonight.

but to your delight, they’re kind of like mini popsicles. it’s the perfect summer treat.

now that you’ve caught up with your angers weekend, it’s time to catch up on some sleep.

here’s another bambara blessing:
ala k’an kelen kelen wuli!

may you please wake up one after another.

because – when people wake up all at the same time together, it’s because there is bad news. an earthquake, a death, an emergency – these are things that people are obliged to wake up for.

but for peaceful days, everyone just gets up at their own pace and leisure.

so one more time:

ala k’an kelen kelen wuli!

bonne nuit!