So escargot was a snail.
I'd been in France for over a week and didn't know. The moment Elena showed me a photo, I couldn't hide my surprise.
A COVID morning
I woke up at 10:30 a.m. Elena and her mother were already up and had each finished eating.
Elena left a note in my room: "Breakfast is ready, come downstairs." Breakfast was two slices of bread with butter, jam, and coffee. For me, a Japanese person, it wasn't enough. In Japan we eat rice and miso soup and meat and vegetables and pickles and coffee and orange juice and lots of food. But breakfast eaten while jazz played was very elegant.
I washed the dishes. It's the only thing I could do.
I found out I had COVID, and my body felt heavy. I'd been at home since returning from the trip yesterday, so I really wanted to go out. I'll break a bill at the bakery and then go for a walk. I decided to go out with Elena.
The shock of escargot
After sending New Year's cards, I went to the bakery. Elena paid 50 euros, bought two pieces of bread, and gave me the change. I can finally repay her for the medicine and the postage.
Then we went for a walk together. Elena carried the bread and we walked around the local area. Nature was abundant and a vast landscape spread out. Her mother apparently often comes here for walks.
While walking we talked about many things. Studying abroad. Elena actually wanted to go to Lithuania. It's the cheapest and the architecture is beautiful.
Cyprus is apparently lower-level and very easy compared to France. I told her that when I was in Russia I already had enough credits so I skipped classes and went to Siberia. Elena apparently attended everything in Cyprus except for when she had a cold. She's way too admirable.
I hadn't thought at all about my plans for spending time in France and knew nothing, so I was talking about what I should do.
Then the conversation turned to escargot. A friend had invited me to eat escargot, and when I said there was no way, Elena showed me a photo.
What I had eaten was a sea shellfish, and real escargot were "snails."
Seriously?
I had no idea that the French word for snail was escargot. Elena said she won't eat something if she's judging it by appearance. Even when I asked, "What if it tasted like lemon?" she said, "No way."
As we crossed the kindergarten, there were lots of children. Elena says she really dislikes kids because they're too noisy and cry a lot. She wants a boyfriend, a nice apartment, a good life, and a good job. She wants to travel. But her worldview is that you can live a life without marriage or children.
I want to get married and have children, so we didn't agree on that. But I respect that she lives with a firm sense of conviction.
The galette and tomato incident
After returning I gave them 15 euros for the medicine and the stamp, and rested upstairs. Suddenly my body became increasingly heavy and I couldn't sit still. A fatigue I'd never experienced before. My head and body felt heavy, sinking as if into stone. I think I overused my lungs on the walk. COVID is really awful.
For lunch Elena made a dish from northern France. A galette. A crepe wrapped around bacon, egg, and cheese.
Parmesan, goat cheese, chèvre. She told me to choose my favorite cheese, but I couldn't decide so I tried all four types. Parmesan was the best as I thought. Neither Elena's mother nor I liked the strong-smelling cheeses.
And there were ten tomatoes there.
I don't like tomatoes. But since she had gone to the trouble to prepare them, I ate them all. I used to feel like I'd throw up if I ate them, but now it's not that bad. It was the day I ate the most tomatoes in my life.
When I told Elena that, she was somewhat angry. "Why don't you not eat it if you hate it! Why don't you say you dislike it!" I said that in Japan it's normal to eat what's served, but she was still in a bad mood. She couldn't understand choosing not to say no and eating something you dislike. In France it's important to properly have your own opinion, and "if you don't like it, don't do it" is a symbol of freedom.
She told me to say if I wanted seconds, so I went downstairs and had her make another. Elena made it with Parmesan. It was very delicious.
Old TV and Warm Love
I went back to my room and read a book. A book about an icon of Silicon Valley named Naval. "Leave the herd. Constantly update your values. Interact with many people and always be on equal footing. Don't believe things you haven't actually seen just because you heard them from someone or saw them on TV. Believe only what you see with your own eyes. If you want to be friends with admirable people, become an admirable person yourself." I really thought that was true.
At night, Elena brought a very small sample-like amount of chestnut soup. "Do you like it? If you don't like it I won't make it; if you do..." Of course I like it. When I asked, "Why are you asking?" she said, "Because Kota doesn't tell people what he dislikes!" Also, maybe because of COVID, I had mistaken last night's pumpkin soup for tomato soup. I deeply felt my taste symptoms were showing. Come to think of it, when something negative happens she always cute-ly says, "Nice!" That somehow gets addictive.
Dinner was chestnut soup, baguette, and bacon. A simple meal, but healthy.
While eating dinner I felt deeply. Elena often says her family is poor and that they don't have money. Indeed, breakfasts, lunches, and dinners are modest, overwhelmingly so compared to Japanese meals. But there's some warmth, kindness, and beauty in it. When I ate the baguette with bacon inside, I felt such immense love that tears welled up.
The TV is so old it often cuts in and shows horizontal bars. The car is very small and doesn't have rear doors. That's precisely why it has character. Everything being brand-new feels boring. In Elena and her mother's story, that TV and car feel truly lovable. They've lived together, and somehow a brand-new car or TV wouldn't fit. It's because the TV is old that the splendor of their lives seeps through. There's something warm about that.
Also, in the room where I work there are so many photos of Elena that no matter where I look I see her, which naturally makes me feel familiarity and warmth.
Since tomorrow is the last day, her mother and Elena will specially make French cuisine. Beef braised in red wine or stew. I asked for the beef braised in red wine.
Snow White and me, unable to break my shell
They lent me superglue so I could fix the ceramic ring that broke in Georgia. I ate the cake I bought at the bakery in the morning after my shower. It was very tasty.
Elena and her mother were watching a movie. A live-action Snow White. In France there are a whopping 31 channels, and if you pay you can get 200 channels. Mostly news, documentaries, and films, and apparently a movie is shown every day. I was surprised because in Japan there's only about seven channels. Also, everything is in French with no subtitles at all. This is France, huh!
Elena doesn't like Disney's Snow White, but she likes this live-action version because the story has been changed.
Maybe because of COVID my head was tired, and Elena's questions and my answers weren't matching, which made us laugh a lot. I'd spent most of the day alone, so times like this were really enjoyable.
After it ended, Elena cheerfully and casually said, "Goodnight~!" I wanted to imitate her and say, "Gooooodniiight!" but I still can't break out of my shell. My real self is even louder and way more annoying than Elena.
Only one day left. For some reason I already miss Elena and her mother very much.
