Bonne Annee!

I have had some unique New Year's celebrations... Urbana 06, making a wedding cake all night for Sarahrae and Daniel Smith, babysitting... and this year France...

Visiting Summer always presents the challenge of embracing French culture, but also providing space for her to celebrate American tradition. New Year's presented the same challenge. So, we decided to embrace both. After doing the ever American thing of going out for Chinese with our French friend, Claire, we decided to properly celebrate being in Paris by going to the Eiffel Tower for midnight... We spent so long talking over dinner-- recounting our 2008 and looking ahead to 2009 that we barely made it to the French landmark before the tower stopped sparkling... then, of course we spent several hours in traffic trying to make it to the other side of the city to join in a New Year's celebration which we were invited to which included several other Americans in Paris and a full night of dancing.

When we finally climbed into bed around 7 o'clock the next morning-- we were ready to put the old year behind us and step into 2009 with a good long nap! Bonne Annee and Bonne nuit!

Life Unexpected... Return to Paris!

A mind of a man plans his ways, but the Lord directs his steps... Prov. 16:9

I remember growing up, and hearing this verse quoted to me by my father. Regardless of the occasion or the situation it seemed to ring true. We can plan and plan and in the end; the LORD directs our steps... and in my case, our vacation plans. One month ago should you have asked me about what I was doing over vacation, I would have told you something very different... a month later, I am in Paris.

I came to have Christmas with my friend, Summer. The last time I blogged was my last trip to Europe (so I am a bit out of practice and have returned to European keyboards so bear with me). Last trip, Summer and I had an incredible month full of adventures on trains, climbing mountains, seeing history, and embracing life...

This trip is different. We came together to celebrate, but also to heal-- having both come out of very difficult years, we find ourselves in Paris together again... to pray, to reflect, to fight, to play and to refocus.

In 2003, during a visit to Chicago, Summer and I traced one another's hands and wrote the words, "Les Mains Ouvertes" (open hands)on them. Five years later, this continues to be our prayer-- especially as we head into the new year. Tomorrow like every year, Summer and I will spend time reflecting, praying through our years, and answering our favorite New Years questions.

What do you want to leave behind in 2008?
What do you want to cultivate in 2009?
What are five words to describe your year?
And the ever exciting Lord of the Rings characters and scenes which we found ourselves relating to.... (yes, we are nerds)

It is a good exercise, and I look forward to considering these questions, especially looking ahead. Where do I want to go from here? What do I want to see in 2009? 2008 was full of surprises... good and painful... and 2009 will be as well. It is part of living.

Yet, I hear Gandalf's wise words to Frodo, "All we can decide is what to do with the time that is given to us." How will I respond? What do I want to build that will help me to respond in love and in ruthless trust and surrender??

So Paris, a return to Paris... a gift to be held with open hands and see what the LORD might want to do in this year ahead.

There and Back Again

How do you pick up the threads of an old life? How do you go on, when in your heart, you begin to understand, there is no going back? There are some things that time cannot mend. Some hurts that go too deep…that have taken hold.

~Frodo, Return of the King

At the end of the timeless tale of the Lord of the Ring (the film), the four hobbits return home. Dressed in the finest and riding tall on horses, they return to the quiet shire-- to suspicious on lookers, and things which have remained the same as the day they left. The four find themselves in a tavern drinking ale. They have no words, but their expressions and their eyes tell the story... how can you go back?

I think every transition is much like this, and for me returning to the states after a month in Europe is no different. Frodo's words echo in my head this morning as I sit down to try to put words to my exploding thoughts. There are so many entries I would like to finish-- to complete my journey. Final days in Paris, unexpected blessings, final goodbyes... how to sum up my French cuisine class on making Ratatoulie and Crepes with Virginie, standing in the light at St. Chapelle, my flight being cancelled, and a perfect last night in the city with Sam, Andre and Summer. I want to write-- to commit these memories to blog, yet, my heart is so full and the words won't come.

I haven't written many entries on this trip that are so fresh, so raw-- in the moment. Rather, I have mulled over what I want to say and then attempted to poetically (or not so poetically) capture the memory. For now, Frodo's quote stands. Of course, it is always good to come home, to return to friends and family and familiar sights, but can you really go back? I know I have changed, that entering back into life on the northshore, trying to pick up the threads of an old life is impossible. How do I take this last month and move forward into what is ahead? Where do I go from here?

Continued steps and the Way of Trust seems to be the only answer. My last night in Paris, Andre asked me, "What are you looking forward to in your return?" The simple answer, "my family, my cat, my church..." And this is all true, but what am I really returning to?? Uncertainty? Questions? Continued waiting? Saying goodbye to Summer, she said to me, "I think their are many stories that have begun during this month that are not finished." I agree. For me, Europe was the next step--the next thing. Though I have yet to understand why-- I don't need to... The whole trip was a gift, an unexpected blessing with surprises around every corner. How do you go back? Is it really a tale of "There and Back Again?" Or does going back require some sort of moving forward? These are unanswered questions and for me, the journey, the Way of Trust continues... Ruthless trust.

Saying Goodbye... Again

Saying Goodbye is never easy, especially when you end up repeating those goodbyes. For our last day together, Summer and I enjoyed a leisurely lunch at a cafe in Clamart and prayed together for the things ahead. Over lunch, we spent time saying our goodbyes, recounting the last month, sharing our unique highs and lows, and of course, our LOTR scenes from our time together.

On our walk back to the house to collect my luggage and head to the airport, a woman called claiming to be Air France. We had joked about me not really returning and that wouldn't it be funny if my flight was cancelled, so when the French accent on the end of the line said, "Mademoiselle DeLuca, your flight has been cancelled for this evening, and you have been rebooked for tomorrow night," my response was, "Is this a joke?" Thankfully, the woman was gracious, convinced me it was not a joke, and I hung up the phone laughing hysterically. Well, I guess I was suppose to stay and say goodbye one more time.

di lucca

Little town, in a quiet village,
Every day like the one before.
Little town, full of little people,
Waking up to say, "Buongiorno!"

Even though the story is written in France, these few lines from Disney's Beauty and the Beast would dance through my head every morning as I would open the old, Italian windows and peer out into the street below. Old cobble streets, remnants of churches on every corner, sweet little cafes, and bicycles everywhere is what greeted us in the quaint walled city.

As any child does, I too wrote a paper on my heritage-- where my last name, "DeLuca," came from. Through conversations with Grandpa DeLuca, I discovered our last name came from a province in Italy called, "Lucca." In Italian, to say "of" is "di"-- so over the years the spelling was changed to its current state. Since this time, I have always wanted to travel to see this part of the country, and when I discovered Lucca is an old, walled city, I was even more excited. After checking with our "travel guide," Rick Steeves, spending hours on line and searching for a place to stay in Florence, we decided to instead stay in Lucca. So, despite our lack of Italian and our limited finances, we made reservations at Le Violette with dear sweet Anna who spoke limited English.

Lucca, originally, a Roman settlement, dated back before the 4th century, and in the center of the town stands the remnants of an old, Roman ampitheater-- now the busy, center plaza for restaurants, shops and tourists. The town at one time had almost 70 churches within its walls and a tower on every corner. So armed with our small Italian phrase book, and our "travel guide," we found our way to Lucca.

I think Lucca may be my favorite place in the world. While there is no ocean (my true love), it's beautiful ramparts, and small Italian streets truly began to feel like home after four days. Anna, our host at Le Violette, was a sweet woman serving us breakfast every morning with a smile on her face, and a hearty, "Buongiorno!" During our visit we took in a Pucchini concert at an old church, sat at cafes, and took a full course Italian meal on the Piazza San Giavanni. What a sweet place... I am even more proud of my "Luccan" heritage. Maybe someday soon, I will return with some other DeLucas-- what do you think family? :)

Italia! Without Reservations

Today is a day of recovery. Although, I am not sure "recovery" is necessarily the right word. One recovers from surgery or from a broken bone... thankfully, my recovery simply requires laundry and trying to figure out how to express in words our week in Italy. I wish I could write a sonnet or paint a canvas or even sculpt clay to express the memories, emotions and snapshots of this past week. After years of dreaming about visiting this country, it is hard to believe that I have already come and gone and now I have to try to sum up a very full, one week visit to Italy.

Italia has captured me completely--heart, body, and soul. The language, the people, the land. I love it! Briefly, our trip was from Paris to Lucca, where we stayed for four nights in a bed and breakfast, taking day trips to Florence, Pisa, and Viareggio. Following our tourist days, we headed north to Milan to stay with CrossWorld missionaries and enjoyed hearing and seeing what God is doing in Italy and learning about the desperate need for workers in Milan and this northern part of the country.

Hopefully, the next few blogs will offer snapshots of the week. Summer asked me, "What was the highlight of the week?" I replied, "There are far too many." Somewhere within staying in Lucca, where my family's named from, climbing Giotto's Tower in Florence, seeing the Bell Tower of Pisa (though actually all four buildings lean), walking on the sand along the beautiful coast of the Ligurian Sea in Viareggio, Staring up into the eyes of Michaelangelo's David in the Accademia, crossing over the Arno River on the Ponte Vechio bridge, Attending a Pucchini and Mozart concert in San Giovanni in Lucca, Getting lost in the Fresco of Florence's Duomo, worshipping and praying with an Italian church in Milan, and eating gelato and good Italian home cooking is suppose to be one highlight?!!


As I have reflected on the gift of this past week, I have returned to my original theme for this blog... without reservations. However, I have found it to somehow have been reversed. I wrote of traveling and loving people "without reservations," but our week in Italy has been God's abundant blessings and grace poured out upon US without reservations.

Monet, Girl's Day Out, and Real French Cuisine

Flipping through my Italy pictures on my Nikon today on our way back from Florence, I returned to Giverny, the home of the Impressionist artist, Monet. I realized that I had not written about this amazing day with two incredible women-- girls day out; nor my first encounter with real French cuisine the evening prior to our Saturday venture.

(August 31)
After a full day of Paris, I met up with Summer and new friends from France, Claire, Sam, and Cyril for dinner and an evening stroll through the city. Here I tasted my first escargot (snail) and canard (duck). Both I thoroughly enjoyed although I think Summer may have enjoyed watching me eat them even more. Claire, the sophisticated, beautiful, French woman (not to mention amazing :) demonstrated the eating of this French delicacy and I followed her every move drinking the last bit of garlic and butter from the shell of the creature I had just injested.

Following dinner, we took a wonderful evening walk around the city. At some point, late in the evening, we wandered into an art book shop and found ourselves admiring the work of Claude Monet. It was suggested by Claire that the following day we visit his home and gardens a few hours north of Paris. After saying goodnight, we agreed to meet the next day to take our drive out to Giverny.

(September 1)

We drove through beautiful, French countryside and arrived at the house mid-afternoon. The gardens were splendid, full of bright colors and fragrant smells. It is hard to put into words the beauty in so many varieties of plants and flowers, and standing on the Japanese bridge, it was easy to see how easily Monet was inspired. We finished the tour, snapping a few more pictures of the attendant closing up the house for the day, enjoyed tasty gelato and headed home (though not before hopping the fence and stealing a few quiet moments on the grass in the sun in another garden nearby).










We ended the day by watching Ratatouile in French-- Claire on my left and Summer on my right graciously translating so that I would understand the general plot. It seemed only appropriate to watch it in French and in Paris (though I do look forward to seeing it in English for the Pixar humor). After a full, wonderful day laughing, snapping thousand of pictures, we returned home to prepare for our trip to Italia. Maybe I will buy a rat and name it Ratatouile in honor of this day :)