Memere's House

One of the best parts of my trip to France was the day my Aunt took my mom and I to Euville, the town where my maternal grandmother was born, and where she grew up. The thing about France is, like I've said before, they build things (even country houses) to last. So we were able to see the actual house where my grandmother spent her childhood, the church where she and my Pepere Joe were married, and as a happy coincidence we were also able to meet one of her best friends from when she was teenager! Marie Rose was her friends name, and she and her husband just happened to live next door. Marie Rose told us about how she and Memere used to sneak into the alleyway between their houses to meet boys and steal a kiss or two.
It was such a great experience to see for myself where my grandmother came from, and to meet her friend. I imagine it was probably pretty weird for Marie Rose to have coffee with the daughter and granddaughter of her old girlfriend. I can't imagine what that would be like.
Euville is definitely what you would call a "one horse town" and seems very unlike my Memere who was always much more of a fashionable city-girl type. I guess looking at it now it seems that she spent her whole life trying to shake the "Euville vibe". I thought it was charming, but at the same time I tried to imagine what it would have felt like to live there as a 16 or 17 year old girl, and I could see her point. It was a strange exercise to think of my Memere as a teenager or little girl and all kinds of new sides to her began to emerge in my mind. It was all speculation of course. I know I can never really know what she or her life were like back then. And I can't trace her exact footsteps, nor can I walk a mile in her shoes. But I like to think that following my own path in my own shoes through the places where she once played does in a very real way bring me closer to knowing the little girl who became my Memere Cherie.