Monday, November 23, 2009

Bright Eyes and Foncée hit Europe

Hello, quite sorry. Well More just feel like I have to say that, because I've been having the time of my life with my sister over here in France. Except for that one moment where we bickered over what to wear to Monaco. But without some bickering we wouldn't be Grace and Claire. And to give us some credit we were headed to a different country with 4 minutes to spare and a couple of wine glasses in...

So I've been MIA. With my Bucky Dun Gun just Comin' Around. Ish. I've spent the last week (glowing as Caitlin put it) happy as a clam with my sister at my side. We went hiking, we played (DOMINATED) soccer, went to a french wine party at my school, marché-ed, got grace sufficiently high on coffee, late-night-kebab-ed-it, got Grace hit on my some HOT boys (then some that weren't so hot and got stood up for by some chivalrous french men) and all in all a wonderful week in Aix.

NEXT? A weekend in Nice with the one and only Lord Maximilian, el toro himself. :) We took the train to Nice on 3 hours of sleep and I dozed from the gentle swaying of the train and turned my dreams to turqoise blue water. I woke up gazing through my reflection in the window out to the Mediterranean Sea, crashing and pulsing.

Headed down to Old Nice or Veuille Nice as the french fly. We wandered through the streets there, lost in time and each other's company. The thing about being with Grace is this underlying yet overwhelming sense of timelessness. She has always been in my life, and always will. One moment I feel 8 again with my older sister telling me what to do and all the things we're going to do and I'm giddy like an 8 year old. Then I feel 37 where I can see us walking arm in arm in some other magnificent city discussing those crazy years in Utah. Then I'm 16 arguing with her because she is trying to do what is best for me and all I do is pick fights. If you read Harry Potter, sometimes I feel like my head got stuck in one of those time balls like teh death eater in the Department of Mysteries. If you don't read Harry potter, I am probably not friends with you and you don't get any of this anyway ( :D).

I was so utterly happy, just exploring cool leather shops, neat pottery places, tunisien patries, and of course some french bread. Then we headed back to the hotel to meet up with Max!! I felt like the luckiest girl alive. I was in Nice with Grace and Max! I knew a good weekend was on it's way.

To go through all the sights, conversations, laughs, smells, bathroom searching, 100-euro-winning moments would take longer than the weekend we actually spent together. We walked and drank and sat on teh beach watching NUMEROUS swimmers (Cold??) just sort of frog (no pun intended) around in the water. It was a blast from the past, yet so full of promise. Max and I were discussing our next weekend away, and helping Grace plan her trip here in the Spring. It was one of those short moments that you know are just a bead threaded on a long line of string that stretches across the years. Many more to come, each one trumping the last. As I said goodbye to my sister for 5 months and Max for shorter I still couldn't help but smiling. The smile lasted all the way back to the beach where I sat again for the last time this trip, soaking up the sun and waiting for my train. These feelings, moments, sights, stories, THESE are what we live for. Not the ones that are so obviously good. Walking along the beach int eh French Riviera with your sister and favorite Austrian, no. The moments I live for are when those people have left, you're leaving and you technically should be sad. But you can't be. You cannot be sad because you are so full of love and happiness and optimism. Beating the odds, overcoming the situation, that's when you know happiness has permeated your life.

Claire Winter Foncée Gorton
Song: "Electric Avenue" Eddy Grant
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuwxZSIS__4
Pictures are just a few, don't have all of them yet. Enjoy!Family Dinner for Grace!
L'unic meet Grace, Grace, l'Unic.
:DMount Saint Victoire ain't got nothing us.

1 comment:

  1. I love it. And I loved our discussion on gchat today. I am so happy you get to spend time with you sister in your stomping grounds! I will see my sister for Thanksgiving. There is nothing like it.

    Love.
    Alice.

    ReplyDelete