A Perfect Day in Normandie

Perhaps it is simply human nature, our desire to be able to predict the future. To see all the twists and turns ahead, so you can plan accordingly, make the most of your opportunities, and avoid any unnecessary suffering. 

But that’s not really the way things work is it? Often the beauty of life is the unexpected, the interesting little pit stops and connections along the journey.

For example, when I was in middle school, I performed a dance routine to Justin Timberlake’s “Like I Love You” at a school talent show in the gym. Another one of the performers was this guy named David Lee, a burgeoning young musician at the school. While we met during rehearsals for that talent show, we didn’t really become close until I joined choir in high school. David was the ultimate choir/band kid and we became fast friends.

Fast forward about 20 years and David and I are both living in LA, practically best friends, and live only 20 minutes apart. 

I would never have predicted that back in middle school. 

Similarly, you never know what friendships or connections will eventually lead to other friendships, connections and experiences. 

One day I was at David Lee’s apartment in LA and there was a little kickback at the rooftop pool. There were some of the other residents of the building I had met a few times before, and there was a relatively new resident I had never met.

A gorgeous, twiggy, caramel complected young woman with an amazing head of curly hair: Kendra. 

She was French (but also American and British at the same time somehow), she was a model, she was funny, I was incredibly intrigued. 

Over the course of a couple of years I would run into her from time to time if I was hanging out with David at his crib. Sometimes randomly bumping into her at the Trader Joe’s next to their building, or going for drinks at the Little Bar down the street. We weren’t necessarily close per se, and at some point during that time she had a boyfriend so I didn’t make any headway in the romance department, but I always enjoyed seeing her the few times we did get to hang out.

Life of course being life, a lot of things happened and Kendra left LA in a flash. She moved to NYC for a brief moment, moved back to the town she grew up in in Normandy, realized she was pregnant with the baby of someone she was dating during her time in New York, and subsequently became a mom. 

As it so happened, we had stayed in contact online and I mentioned that I would be in Paris for a week and wondered if she was close by. She said that the town she lived in, Rouen, was only a 90 minute train ride from Paris, and that she would just be getting back from the south of France towards the end of my time in Paris. Luckily, things worked out and I was able to spend a beautiful day hanging out with Kendra and her lovely daughter Anaya in Rouen.

Moi, mon ami Kendra et Anaya

Kendra and Anaya met me at the train station in Rouen and she basically gave a mini tour of the town. We toured the Joan of Arc Tower, a remnant of the Rouen Castle, where Joan was held captive and interrogated. The remaining tower was also occupied by German forces during WWII. The tiny museum in the tower features both medieval armor and Nazi propaganda and WWII era radios and weapons, paying tribute to the long and varied history of the tower.

Next, we walked over to the Rouen Cathedral, a grand Catholic church with a mix of Gothic and Renaissance styles. The cathedral was at one point in the late 1800s, the tallest building in the world. We took a few pictures and then found a cute little cafe for some lunch. 

While we had a wonderful lunch of lighter than Paris faire: roasted aubergine with miso, steak tartare, a nice lentil salad, grilled fish with cous cous, with bread pudding and chocolate mousse for dessert. It was a nice change of pace from the heartier bistro food of Paris. 

After lunch we walked over to a little bar and found two of Kendra’s friends from high school playing petanque. We sat down for a drink and chatted with her friends for a bit. After a quick diaper change for Anaya, we decided to actually step inside the Rouen Cathedral, and were lucky enough to sit and watch a choir perform a few cantatas. The inside of the cathedral is bright, airy, and not overly ornate like some of the other ancient churches I saw throughout Europe.

Kendra continued playing tour guide and showed me the spot where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake next to the old market square. She also showed me the oldest restaurant in France, La Couronne, famous for its pressed duck and for being the place where famed cookbook author Julia Child had her first meal in France. If I ever go back to Rouen I’ll have to eat there. 

If you would have told me at any point before this day, that I would be pushing a stroller around the city where Joan of Arc was executed, I probably wouldn’t have believed you. But there I was pushing Anaya around in the stroller as we made our way to a local grocery store. Kendra offered to make dinner at her apartment before I took the train back to Paris that night, and I of course obliged delightedly.

Gathering up supplies for dinner felt very much like the opening scene of Beauty and The Beast, when Belle is walking around her town in the morning and all of the shop owners are shouting “Bonjour!” to her. We stopped at a grocery store to get olive oil and tomatoes. I went next door to the wine shop to get a bottle of burgundy, then we proceeded to the butcher for some jambon, the cheese shop for a few cheeses, and of course the boulangerie for the crustiest of baguettes. Rations in tow, we walked to Kendra’s cute two bedroom apartment and following a tour of her living quarters, she prepared a nice light dinner of tomatoes with mozzarella and olive oil, bread, cheese, ham, and of course wine.

At some point, as I drank a glass of wine and watched Kendra cut tomatoes while Anaya played and watched her mom, I began to get this rare feeling of hyper awareness...hyper presence. This overwhelming wave of awe, gratitude, and peace washed over me. I was simply enjoying the most peaceful scene: a mom prepping dinner while her daughter happily danced and played without a care in the world. The gratitude of recognizing how lucky I was to be there in some strange old town in Normandy, sitting with a friend I made through a friend years ago and thousands of miles away. It was one of those rare occasions when you realize in the moment that something special is happening, even if it is something as ordinary as a mom making dinner. One of the moments where you know as it’s happening, that it's something you’ll remember forever. Moments like this are what make travel so awesome, and life worth living.

Dinner was delicious. We ate, drank wine, and watched a little bit of Beauty and The Beast after I told Kendra her town reminded me of the opening sequence. Kendra’s brother stopped by after dinner to watch Anaya so that Kendra and I could go have one last tipple or an “apéro” as the French say. 

We hopped on a local bus that took us to the train station. Kendra led us into the Hotel del Dieppe 1880, a hotel right beside the train station in the center of town. We sat at the bar and drank a cocktail or some sort, something Kendra said her and her friends would always come and drink before a night out. I finished my drink rather quickly as I only had a few minutes before the last train to Paris would leave the station. Kendra had the bartender hold on to the remainder of her beverage and walked me to the platform. We hugged, did those very European kisses on the cheek and said our goodbyes. 

It was honestly a perfect day, and I felt like I actually got to know Kendra a little bit. I’d always been intrigued by her, admired her quirky sense of humor, and of course thought she was incredibly easy on the eyes (I’m a simple American boy and she’s a French model, I mean come on?!?!?). 

But she’s also an incredibly gracious host, a great impromptu tour guide, and a good mom. 

It was honestly my favorite part of the whole Euro trip, and made me think of a quote from my guy Anthony Bourdain:

“My happiest moments on the road are always off-camera, generally with my crew, coming back from shooting a scene and finding ourselves in this sort of absurdly beautiful moment, you know, laying on a flatbed on those things that go on the railroad track, with a putt-putt motor, goin’ across like, the rice paddies in Cambodia with headphones on… this is luxury, because I could never have imagined having the freedom or the ability to find myself in such a place, looking at such things.

To sit alone or with a few friends, half-drunk under a full moon, you just understand how lucky you are; it’s a story you can’t tell. It’s a story you almost by definition can't share. I’ve learned in real time to look at those things and realize: I just had a really good moment.”