Sunday
Throughout the week, Catherine had been texting me and insisting that we set up a picnic on Sunday to say goodbye. She wanted to invite the principals that I worked with and Madame Bodet. She insisted that we have it in Crémieu because of the beautiful views. I spent a lot of the week confused. No one seemed to know who was actually in charge of this shindig. Madame Bodet thought I was organizing it, Catherine seemed to think Mme Bodet was organizing, and I thought Catherine was organizing it. Finally, on Saturday I just told her that the weather looked grim and I didn’t think we should do anything. I insisted that I would say my individual goodbyes. Still, she wanted to do something together Sunday. She also asked that I show her my apartment so she could inspect it for the assistant the coming year. The place was an absolute mess so I scurried around to make sure it was clean.
I assumed that she meant a picnic, however, when I was picked up Sunday afternoon I discovered that it would be a long hike. Her daughter came along so we ended up speaking in French. I felt like I couldn’t get more than three words out before I was interrupted and Catherine wildly misinterpreted what I said. I really did appreciate the effort that she made to do something special, even if I was a bit frazzled by the end of the experience. We got to see several beautiful houses on the walk before we returned to the little city. From there, she drove us through the countryside to see a château on a lake where there used to be parties in the 90s.
Of course, after we got back, Catherine decided that she didn’t have time to see the apartment. She would have to come another day. I guess at least my apartment was a little bit more clean either way…
For dinner, I ate with the Bodets. We had white wine before dinner and talked about how my packing was coming along (I hadn’t started, but I wasn’t about to let them know that). For the main meal we had little kebabs of duck hearts and vegetables, sausages, and a side of rice. It was really a strange meal, not one of my top ten haha.
When I got home, I had a call with my sister and got to hear about her life. She’s getting vaccinated soon! Yay!
Mary-Est-En-France 