Easter in the village of Gillaume

Over the Easter break I went home with my friend Sabine Fontaine, who lives in a village called Gillaume. From Paris to Gillaume was a two hour train ride (in the direction of Luxembourg) and then another hour by car. Gillaume is a small village... their bakery is a van that drives by in the mornings.

Here Sabine is holding her niece and talking to her sister Veronique. Sabine is the youngest of five sisters, and they all came back to visit their mother over Easter weekend. The house was overflowing with the extended family of husband, significant others, children and the classmate from Hong Kong.

It was peaceful out in the country. I saw wild daffodils in the forest and their seventy dairy cows. I ate lots of souffle, quiche and talked non-stop in French about Chinese eating customs or Hong Kong language identity politics. Paris felt rather crowded and noisy in contrast when I got back.

Forêt de Saint Germain

Yesterday I did something very nice. I went off to the Forêt de Saint Germain, about an hour from my house by the RER train. I left early in the morning with only a water bottle and my fleece, and left the house before I could spent all morning preparing to go (deciding what notebook, what food, etc, to bring, buying a map, etc.).. I have a tendency to do that.

I spent about four hours walking around in the woods. There was hardly anyone there, just me and the trees freckled lightly with leaves. In a couple of weeks time I expect it will be all green.

It was extremely restful to be there, and for the first time weeks I felt that I had touched base. I can see a little bit more about why the Indian sannaysins retreat into the forest to meditate... there is such wisdom and acceptance in trees. I really felt that I was in a different world, a different state of mind...

I thought about how for many city dwellers, like back in HK, a forest or a clean sea is something that exists only in movies or advertisements. Something mythical.

I thought about how while what I am doing in school now may seem irrelevant to the problems of the world, the "problems of the world" may seem equally irrelevant to the earth. It doesn't mean we need or should stop caring, but rather, accept that this is how it is, right now.