I SAID OUI

Hello my beautiful people—

I’m writing to you with a happy heart and a gorgeous Victorian era ring weighing down my finger.

That’s RIGHT, while in France, I got more than just a welcomed escape from Morocco.

While in Morocco, we met so many French tourists that they may have outnumbered the Moroccan people. Not only did I get to discover that my French is horrendous and should never be spoken aloud, but I also learned so much about French geography; we met people from all over the country.

France has quickly become a country I’d like to explore more of. I want to visit the Alps, and Lyon (highly regarded by all the French people we met as the best city outside of Paris), and visit the coast near Cannes and surf in Brittany.

But on this trip, we got to experience the French Pyrenees, an area in the southwest, where a huge mountain range separates France from Spain. Nestled in between the two countries, and the sharp mountain peaks, is Andorra, a teeny country that is known for it’s quaint population and popular ski slopes.

I’ve included a picture, cause if you’re anything like me before this trip, you have zero clue where I’m talking about. We stayed just to the right of Foix in a tiny town called Puivert (pr: pwee-vair), where Nathan’s family friends have a holiday home.

Lake Puivert

We arrived in France in a flurry, ecstatic to be concluding the part of our trip that was less than dream-worthy. We touched down in Toulouse, a gorgeous, tree lined European town with a little river winding through it, people biking peacefully, and a lively population of all kinds of people enjoying downtown. It was like a breath of fresh air as we sat down in a little Colombian coffee shop, and conversation bubbling around us was all Spanish. (Random, I know, but it felt like a warm hug.)

For our first weekend, I asked Nathan to plan a nice day out so I could focus on catching up with work. Unbeknownst to me, he was more than happy to finally have a day where I wasn’t managing the itinerary, as he knew that France was the perfect place to pop the question.

We visited a local market in the morning, and stocked up on cured meats, cheeses, local produce and fresh bread for a picnic. My favorite find from the market was a $7 bottle of wine from a local vineyard, a Merlot Cabernet which blew my mind.

Nathan found a local hike not far from the market, and as we hiked higher and higher, a gorgeous view of the Pyrenees unfolded around us. We turned around a bend and church bells could be heard from above us. Behind the trees, an incredible chateau perched up on a hill came into view. As I’m typing this, it’s a bit ridiculous that it’s not made-up.

We still hadn’t found a good picnic spot as we approached the castle, until Nathan said “there’s a tree over there, might be a good spot.” I looked over, across a field full of tall grass, a row of brambles and beyond that, the top of a scraggly pine tree. I was not impressed.
Nathan, however, demanded that we trudge through the spiky bush rather than continue to the castle, and I went along, cause I’m always down for a good story.

Once we got there, the view was magnificent. It’ll be impossible to ever forget it, since we got to memorialize it with the photos and videos of the special moment.

It’ll be the only opportunity Nathan has for the rest of time to ‘help me with an Instagram video’ without raising suspicion. But I’m so grateful that he recognized how special it is to record my life and it’s special moments, cause now we’ll have that forever.

Anyway, of course I said yes, but not before saying “Are you fucking forreal?!”

Which I’m sure comes as a surprise to no one.
The day was better than perfect, and we spent the afternoon eating grapes from the market between calls to our family, and enjoying the panoramic view of the mountains from the castle.

The engagement wasn’t the only great thing about this leg of the journey, though it did paint the entire thing in gold hues. We got to relax, unwind, and exist in an environment that was laid-back, comfortable, and clean. (V important for our soul recovery.)

We went on road trips through winding mountain passes and blew kisses to Spain and to Andorra, nestled between the peaks and glacial lakes.

We hiked along the ski slopes, lush with summer greenery and grazing cows, horses, and sheep.

We walked to the banks of an electric blue lake, and I watched Nathan skip rocks along the surface, Pic de Montcalm towering in the distance.

We toured The Medieval City of Carcassonne, a fortress, brilliantly preserved and teeming with life. An entire thriving village packed with shops and restaurants and hotels, breathing youth into a relic. Blue turrets twisting up like something out of a fairy tale, and ramparts that take you back in time while giving you a complete panorama of the city and countryside beyond.

I’m so grateful for the time we got to spend there, and the appreciation I now have for that region of the world.

I think these moments happen for a reason, at the right time, and that’s definitely the case for France. In the spring, I read a gorgeous and tumultuous story called The Nightingale– a Reese’s Book Club find that Nathan got me for Christmas.

It follows two sisters in Nazi-occupied France, and the story winds through Paris, the north along the English Channel, all the way down to the Pyrenees. Before this year, I never would have had the characters, emotions, and appreciation of that story accompanying me on a trip like this.

It’s allowed me a lot of room for thought – about how powerful art is to our wordly experiences, and how movies, literature, and all mediums influence the way we see and appreciate the world.

And also, how grandiose, unrealistic, and detached those stories can seem when they aren’t paired with real experiences: running your hand along ancient stone walls decorated with vibrant green vines, dark purple and pale green clusters of grapes peeking out beneath the wide leaves; watching the trees sway over townsfolk who are dancing atop the pine needles, jaunty sounds of accordion and harp and drums beating with an energy that mixes with the pull of the earth; standing in the shadow of a towering fortress, knowing it’s held millions of lives and stories before the moment you found yourself before it.

I’m so appreciative, not only that I’ve had these experiences, and that I continue to learn and grow, but that you all join me in the journey, ever patient and championing.

Sending love,

Lau x