May 24, 2012

La Belle Vie, S'il Vous Plaît

It is as my French tutor, Monique, told me today, "You are living the beautiful life!" Every session with her makes me wonder how far away my first completely French blog posting will be....

This year I definitely focused my adventures in France, especially in Paris. I only went out of the country five times: twice to visit friends in Belgium, on our Mediterranean Christmas cruise, a solo weekend in Munich, and the repeat tulip weekend in the Netherlands.

Last year it definitely helped having the Eurail pass for those two months - the freedom to explore was incredible! But without it this year, my trips had to be much more calculated and significant in purpose. My schedule also changed tremendously with the addition of coaching two teams, which crammed nearly every weekend of the year with volleyball. This is not a sad story, but just a difference between my few months in Belgium and this year in France. (Adding volleyball to life can never be a sad story.)


I have happily run-a-muck in Paris instead. If I had to be city-locked, this is the one place I would choose anyway. As we progress toward mastering the metro and bus systems, we continue to find even more of the treasures that the City of Light holds for us. Plus, France is such a huge country, we are not even close to having visited each region, let alone the cities!

On the priority tourism docket for next year are the following locations:

1. Chateau de Chantilly
This is just a day trip north of Paris, so it will be the easiest adventure to pull off after we return in August. There is always room in my life for more chateaux!

2. Mont Saint-Michel
I believe that next to the Eiffel Tower, MSM is the second most visited sight in France. It is an incredible island village built around a massive monastery. This place deserves its own weekend next year for sure.

3. Normandy Beaches
We got close this year in Caen, but this is a very time-consuming endeavor that requires well-planned transport - or your own car. There are several beaches and cemeteries that are not friendly to the walking. Both our American and French friends have all told us that "every American should see the D-Day beaches." It's relatively near Mont Saint-Michel, so we could technically combine these trips, but it will all depend on calendar availability.

Outside of France, I would really like to make it to Prague to visit my old roommate from my Belgian team. Marc and I also really want to do more of either Italy or Greece. We would also be ready for any last-minute deals hailing from Berlin, London, Zurich, Vienna, Dublin, etc. It's all a matter of matching up time and money, then jumping in and going for it!

The first week after I return, I am going straight to Den Haag, Netherlands, to work an American volleyball camp. Coaching in English never sounded so good.

www.ibin2014.blogspot.com

I am not ignoring Spain. Rather, I am insanely anticipating my Spain excursion, which is currently planned for the summer of 2014. There is just so much I want to see and do in Spain, there was no way I could pull it off in successive weekends. So instead, I am dedicating an entire month of my future life to Spain and Portugal. A trip like this is worth waiting for and doing right.

The very distant future (2015 and beyond) tells tales of Scandinavia, Russia, and Northern Africa. We are also very interested in the potential lifestyle Australia presents to us. But this is all way down the road. For now, we'll gladly stick to our Old World ways with the castles and fabulous food.

As far as your chance to experience any of this with us, we are going to be much more organized in our calendar next year. Now we better understand French holidays and our own hosting strengths and weaknesses, thanks to our willing "test visitors" this year (Jes, Kia, Tanya, and the 8 Simpson men!). I will be posting a calendar sometimes this summer on the blog that shows "open dates" for possible travel times.

We will be stateside in less than a week! It's going to be a very different kind of summer...

À bientôt!

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May 17, 2012

VLOG: Not Just Another Landmark

It is a rare thing for people from all lands to celebrate something beautiful together at the exact same time. If everyone had a few more sparkling Eiffel Towers in their life, the world would be a much happier place.


This finished up a great two weeks together - thank you for making the effort to raise the money, focus your time and energy, and give of yourselves to the French church, basketball, and us. There are too many great memories to recount here, and they are better reserved for our future times together.

We love you guys, and we hope the next time we see you again, it's at a different really cool world monument (the Sundial Bridge DOES NOT count).

Let's aim for something epic like the Colosseum or the Sydney Opera House.

What up?! Who's down?!

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May 10, 2012

This Magic Moment

This past Monday was a night I will never forget.

It was a great and amazing experience for everyone in the gym, but for me it was like having the different pieces of my world come together in perfect harmony.

The best way to put it is this: our Tabourot gym in La Rochette had 29 Americans in it...at the same time.

Get excited!
It wasn't at all about having "my people" with me. It was exactly about being able to show both sides of the story of my life in one glorious celebration of volleyball.

The Florida Southern College team tour came through the company I play for, Bring It Promotions, and we all worked together to create this successful evening.

I didn't spend a ton of time with the FSC team, but it didn't matter; once you've really given your heart to collegiate volleyball, you know and understand everyone because you are kindred spirits. They were friendly, happy, and played hard on the court. Their energy, communication/volume, speed, and athleticism was so exciting to be a part of again, but it was more important that my La Rochette team was there to witness an excellent example of the intensity of American university volleyball.

Some of my teammates with their new favorite uniforms!
Two other lovely "American" things happened: a) the team prayed before the match, which prompted questions from my teammates, and b) the team also gave my teammates their pink uniforms (breast cancer awareness jerseys). I am so thankful the FSC team displayed such positive traits and continued to triumph over negative American stereotypes.

On the flip side, my club went above and beyond their already unbelievable levels of hospitality to give the American team a true taste of real France (not the touristy version you can find in Paris, for instance). Everyone was kind, polite, and sincere; and we had a great turnout for the match. Two of my Benjamines (13-year-old girls) came through on my invitation, and everyone wanted to see more Americans. After the match, my club and teammates put together a wonderful post-game meal, and we were able to sit and chat a little bit longer, enjoying the life in France together.

And then to tie everything into its best place, the scrimmage was on a night that Marc's Simpson guys could come and watch. It was really meant a lot to me that they even wanted to come, and even better that they enjoyed the match and could see what had really prompted our decision to move to Europe last year. This group in particular has always been super supportive and it was a very fun experience to play for our American boys.

The Simpson World Serve "Amplify" Basketball Team...enjoying volleyball.
Monday brought three great times in my life together for one fabulous night: playing college volleyball, working at Simpson, and now living and playing in France. It was a testament to our adjustment to living overseas, and also to the willingness of everyone to bridge the gap between our differences.

Thank you, Florida Southern, for a great night!
There was an overwhelming amount of so many good things: grace, appreciation, joy, kindness, generosity, understanding - and every person gave these things openly and without pretension. I am still blown away by how just those few hours together were so flawless and beautiful.

In conclusion, God has blessed us beyond measure and we are grateful and humbled to live in such an extraordinary world. How incredible it is to have best friends from all over the earth!

"Freely you have received; freely give."
Matthew 10:8b

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May 4, 2012

Chapter 5: The Color of Monet

Claude, you and I have an issue.


You made your Japanese garden so enchanting and unbelievably alluring that one cannot help but lean over your famous green bridge and gaze dreamily into the lily pad dappled waters.

If your Impressionist pond ghosts really needed my sunglasses that badly, they could have just asked me. 


Did they really have to make it look like a hapless accident as the Italian shades slipped out from their perch in my scarf and landed gently into the water?

Really.

Well, better my Italian sunglasses than my Apple iTouch (which I had dropped onto dry land just moments earlier). Enjoy the view.

The Tales of Ki-Tan
Chapter 5: The Color of Monet


Monet's home in Giverny breathes even more life into Impressionism. He crafted his gardens like he created his paintings, paying detailed attention to the sunlight, movement of the earth and water, and blending lovely complimentary shapes with splashes of colors. 


Monet's backyard is very different when compared to the structure and symmetry of chateaux gardens. Instead you feel the natural flow of the land, the rainbow shades drawing you down another path to admire each unique bloom.


We could tell that the height of the season for Monet's home is definitely late summer and early fall. Many plants and vines were not yet flowering, but the garden was still able to shine brightly with spring tulips and daffodils.


The inside of the house was simple, but beautiful with his collection of Japanese prints and several of his paintings throughout. The gift shop is a highlight as well, where you can buy any size of any of his painting prints, along with garden-themed gifts and tokens. I definitely recommend getting there when the gardens open; the place was flooded with tourists from the get-go. It's also only open in April through early fall, so plan accordingly. And please, if you are so inspired, if you could just jump quickly into the pond and retrieve my sunglasses for me, I would be incredibly grateful.


We didn't rampage through this day trip like we normally would. Instead, we just soaked in everything as we went. It was a very calm day by Tanya and Christy standards, but it was the best way to finish Tanya's vacation. Giverny is one of the most charming villages I have been to in France (even the local church in Giverny had intentional Impressionist stained glass that we happened upon at the perfect time of day), and we wandered through the neighborhoods and city before heading back to Paris for one final perfect afternoon of hot chocolate at Angelina's.


The Tales of Ki-Tan, complete collection:

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