A Village Tour
A few months ago, I was looking at the map of France on my laptop. At the time I was trying to decide where I wanted to look for a place to stay either in or around Nice. I had recently decided to put Nice on my official list of places to check out because of its location close to travel links. I knew though that I didn’t want to be in Nice proper, I have lived in many big cities throughout my life and the last 9 months in France has taught me that I am loving something a little smaller.
On that day, looking at the map, I saw it just to the north of Nice about 30 minutes it was a village that has the same name as my great-grandparent’s family name. Now my great-grandparents last name is very French and very long so to see it staring back at me on a map was a surprise. I do not know where my great-grandparents had been based in France and unfortunately at this point, I don’t have a way of finding that out but just the fact that there was a place by the same name, I knew that I wanted to visit when I was in the area.
Last Saturday, Paolo and I got up in the morning and decided it was time. After a quick coffee and Paolo’s breakfast we walked over to the garage where my car is parked, and we headed out. Early on a Saturday morning is a great time to drive around Nice because no one is out and about yet so the drive was easy and relaxed as we headed to the north the road running along a riverbed, with the snowcapped Alpes in the distance toward Grenoble. The scenery was beautiful.
Following the GPS directions, I was directed onto this small single-track road that wound up the side of a hill, I could tell from the map that this was going to be a windy drive up the side of this hill on a road full of switch backs.
The village was up on the side of this hill. As I pulled into the village I had to stop and take a picture of the sign welcoming you to the village. Further up the road driving along that same road with houses dotting the hillside I rounded a corner to find the center of the village. The mairie (the mayor’s office), La Poste (the post office), a restaurant (Chez Michel), the church and the gendarme.
We found the parking lot and headed out to walk around the village. It was small, quiet although the birds sang to us as we walked. The smell of jasmine hung in the air with blooms everywhere. It was such a beautiful place with incredible views across the valley.
I have no idea if my family came from here, but I am glad that I visited because what I found was this beautiful, quiet and serene place. It was the perfect place to enjoy a walk and be reminded of connection, connection to place, connection to community and family.
The photos that I am including here are from my walk around the village. I hope you enjoy them, and they help to bring my words to life.
The prefecture appointment went better than I had hoped, I passed the French test, did not require additional lessons (although I will continue taking the ones I am already doing) and I had tears in my eyes when I signed the CIR, somehow, I just felt my entire ancestry with me in that moment. I knew that my great-grandfather would have been so proud.
Then came the moment to schedule the next three cultural days when I would be required to be at the prefecture in Agen for the entire day. I need to get these days completed prior to submitting for my visa renewal to be able to apply for the 4-year renewal and not just a single year so I wanted to take the first available days unfortunately that means that for two Wednesdays in a row I will need to get to Agen which is a 6.5-hour drive from Nice. Ahhh…more planning.
I love questioning everything, I find it meaningful to explore the questions of life. The following are a few questions that you may want to ponder in your own journal, morning commute or mid-day walk.
- When you sit with your family name, with your ancestry, what comes up for you?
- Do you feel a sense of connection?
- Would it be meaningful for you to explore a place connected to your ancestry? Why?
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In case you missed it, I am getting ready to launch a YouTube channel. It will be called Renee Jenais, yes, the same name that I have been writing this blog under. The translation in French means Renée I am born! This channel is going to be about me telling my story of rebirth in France, the journey to me building a meaningful life here and how I have had to change the story I tell myself to allow me to finally choose my dream and take courageous steps every day to make it come true.
I hope that you will consider following me also over on YouTube and sharing that channel with anyone you think would enjoy it. I will let you know when it officially launches but it is getting closer.
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