Nice and beyond

I have been home for a day, I have barely even re-capped our trip to friends and family, let alone blogged it, and I am already way behind and pressed for time. How come? Well, school starts this week for me (really next, but I have some orientation things later this week), and I have to get Munchkin packed to move her back home from her fantabulous summer adventure.

Oh, and I am getting married in three weeks (less than three weeks). And some other stuff that I will keep for later. Other than that, though, there is not much going on:-)

So, where was I? Right...we took the train from Paris to Nice and stayed for the rest of the time there. Their house (again...gorgeous) was not actually in the city, but was right outside in a smaller, quieter, adorable little seaside town. I sort of wanted to go to Monaco just to see it (it is pretty close to there) but couldn't really find the motivation to go. I also never made it to a topless beach...I sort of wanted to go, but not by myself, and while she may have thought it was an awesome idea, definitely not with Munchkin.

Mostly I sat on the beach, or on the patio, gazing out into the Mediterranean;-). I did wander into the little town a couple times to hang out, but didn't do much of note. I "shopped" but bought almost nothing except a super cute beach dress. I read a lot, did some prep-work for school that I needed to get done, and basically just relaxed. Munchkin was busy with Frenchie and his friends a lot, but we had some time to ourselves, too, which was nice. There were all sorts of things that seemed like they may be a good idea...like the trip to Monaco or Saint Tropez or a boat ride or a day trip to some historic castles and things...but when it really got down to it, I just couldn't bring myself to be anything more than a beach bum:-). I felt pretty motivated while I was in Paris, but not so much when the ocean came into view!

OK...on to the real purpose of the trip. I find myself with a lot of somewhat confusing emotions on behalf of my sister. I guess there is a part of me that maybe thinks need to feel things for her to kind of share the emotional burden, as if I could either do that, or even need to. Obviously, sharing any of her heartache isn't possible...and really it is not necessary. She is much more equipped to deal with this sort of thing than I ever was, or even would be now.

First things first, she is totally and completely (as much as you can be when you are 14), head over heels, madly in love. Just positively nuts about him. And I can see why...he really is adorable, super sweet, and probably even more crazy about her. Given their limited actual time together, and the complexities of trying to have some sort of friendship/relationship with someone who is that far away, I was definitely worried that things would not go well.

My biggest actual fear was that they would have a huge fight on Day 2 and decide to never speak to each other again. Thankfully, that didn't happen, because I am not real sure what we would have done then...lol.

So, nine straight days of being together all the time represented a pretty big test of their actual attraction. That is a whole lot of time to spend together when you have actually spent a total of maybe half of that together previously. But it all went swimmingly:-). As I noted when he was here last spring, they just get along really well...they laugh and joke with each other, and they have no problems being together with other people (like, you remember when you were that age...and there were always "couples" who were incapable of interacting with other people if they were around?).

They were also good about not wanting to spend too much time alone. I had a brief talk with her before we left about how I was not bringing her over there so they could sneak off and make out in the basement for four hours every night. I think that maybe his Mother had set some similar rules for him...or maybe he was just respecting Munchkin's wishes (either he obeys his mom or he obeys Munchkin...I am OK with either;-)). There was one night that they wanted to be by themselves and watch a movie, and that was fine...it would be a little hypocritical for me to tell her to act like a nun. I still think she feels comfortable talking to me about those things, so I believe her when she tells me that nothing too mischievous went on. Overall, both she and Frenchie were very respectful of each other and the other people around

She loved his Paris friends, and liked most of his Nice ones, too...although she definitely liked them less;-). I think it is maybe a little more pretentious crowd down there, although I was happy that she appreciated how neat it was to make so many friends from so many different places (it was a pretty broad mix of French, German, English, Italian, Spanish and probably some others). Not that she had any real issues...I just think she liked the kids she met in Paris much more right off the bat.

Leaving, of course, was tough on her. She managed (I actually thought this was less hard on her than when he left last spring...maybe because she knows with more certainty that she will see him again?), but she didn't really say a whole lot from the time they dropped us at the airport until we changed planes in Paris a couple hours later. She didn't cry a ton, but she definitely spent some time curled up in her seat (and a good portion of mine...lol) crying into her pillow.

By the time we had lunch and got onto the home-bound plane, though she was in better spirits. We talked a lot about him on the way home, and she was able to rationally articulate her feelings pretty well. I know she will miss him, and I know that she wishes he lived closer and that she could see him more often, but I still like the way the whole thing is going. There was no need for an all-out girl power intervention to cheer her up when we got hom (but thanks to Smoking Hot Roommate and Big Sis for being available in case it was needed:-D).

Not totally sure where it goes from here. They have definitely reached a status that they are both happy with...for now, at least. The French have a similar school calendar to us, so the next lengthy break they both have is around Christmas. Will she want to go back to France? Will he want to come here? Maybe he has a family vacation to go on? Maybe she will go away with one of her friends again? I don't really know at this point. But, I don't think I have seen the last of the French Boy with the Girl's name;-)

At one point on the plane ride, she summed up her feelings (I am paraphrasing) thusly: "It hurts that he is so far away, but I would still rather have to deal with this than never have met him." Very profound, that Munchkin:-)