I have been in France for the past 2 weeks and leave on the 25th. I cannot begin to express how much more beautiful it is than I remembered. I was ten years old the last time I visited...

I arrived in Paris and took the train to Nancy, and I can admit I love the hustle and bustle of walks of all life. I sat fashionably at a café near the train station and watched each person walk past imagining what they must be like. I love watching people... perhaps its my inner sociologist! I sipped on an espresso and felt though cool air... it seemed so surreal that I was back in Europe once again.

Once I arrived in Nancy we were picked up by a friend and driven to the small but picturesque town of Thiaucourt, where my grandmother and her brother grew up. We have been staying with my 2 uncles who are now living in the house of my great grandmother (shes in a nursing type home down the street) and they just moved to this house to live more quietly away from the flat on the Seine in Paris where they lived for many years. I've visited all around Thiaucourt as well as the surrounding tiny towns of rolling hills, farmland, majestic churches, and castles. The life of simplicity here is beautiful... small towns here are not like they are in the US. The people look the same here as they do in Paris... the only difference is that they choose to live a more simple way away from the city. No one lacks ignorance here... everyone seems to be a walking encylopedia! I am so fascinated by the stories each person here has to tell.

I've also been able to visit the little city of Pont à Mousson which is very chic and charming and has wonderful restaurants, cafés, and shops. Perhaps my favorite place so far though (aside from here in Thiaucout, and Paris) is Nancy. The Place Stanislas is incredible... not to mention the beautiful cathedrals too.

Thursday we are staying in Paris until we leave on Saturday back to the states.

All in all I feel strengthened by seeing once again the place of my heritage... the way of life that is so naturally instilled in me. My uncle even made a comment that he does not see any American in me... that I am very 'french'... which I suppose is true, heh. I love the USA, but ultimately I know Europe is my destination... I hope that I will have the opportunity to go to school here in France next year for university. Perhaps in Paris or in Nancy. I just have a feeling my music, compositions, art, and state of mind will thrive more here than it ever will anywhere else.

I dont want to leave...