Marlene Luce Tremblay

Monday, August 6, 2018

Life & Friendship

Part 3 – Thonon-les-Bains, France

Living in a big city like New York can be quite challenging and my friend, Philippe, decided that he could no longer live with the noise, the commuting, the constant hustling. After having lived the big city life for 15 years, Philippe left and returned to France, his home country.

I met Philippe on a date, however, we decided that we would be friends instead. Once settled down, he called me a number of times to express how happy he was to have left the city life for a more quieter way of life. He urged me to come & visit him in Thonon-les-Bains. I’ve been to many places in France, but never heard about such a place which is 30 km from Geneva, overlooking Lake Geneva and close to the northern Alps.

I had plans to visit my friend, Marian, in Geneva so I thought it would be perfect to stay with Philippe before going to Geneva.

Like most of my friends, Philippe is a very generous and kind human being who shared his life during my visit, introducing me to all his friends and clients in such a way that I felt totally at home. After having spent time in Paris and Athens, seeing green mountains and being closer to the natural world was very soothing, exactly what I needed.

When we lose our way, being in a natural setting is very humbling. Just being and without that chatter that we often have in our mind is what I needed the most and still do. It’s like being in a ship lost at sea, once we have some kind of direction it’s easier to aim that way but when our life takes on a different turn, we have to adjust and trust that all will be fine. Fear of change is our worst enemy, although not easy to process and adapt, changes are what life is about and the only way to grow.

I went through a great many changes throughout my life, which brought me to where I am today, and I feel so blessed to have friends who were willing to help me through this adventure. This may be the last chapter of my life for all I know, hence every minute, every hour and every day I count my blessings.