Tag Archives: Love

Red

April 8, 2015 Virginie the Frenchie Leave a comment

She stopped the car at the red light. She looked briefly into the rearview mirror and she noticed her eyes were still red from crying. The roses were lying next to her on the front seat. She was wondering who was sending the flowers; probably somebody who wanted to feel good about it! Each damn year on Valentine’s day it was the same old scenario: a beautiful deep red bouquet would be delivered to her work place without a card or a message. In a way it felt good that somebody cared about her, but at the same time it hurt so much because it also reminded her of the passion and love she once had, which had been tragically and irremediably taken away from her.

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This text is one of my assignments from creative writing class. Rather than starting to write from an idea, I was encouraged to start with a word that would act as a trigger for writing. The idea is to explore the sounds and meanings of words, to get new ideas and perspectives. I was asked to write only a paragraph (short story) using the trigger word: RED by sound or by meaning… it was up to me! I must say it was interesting because I never proceeded this way before… generally ideas or images drive my creativity! So it was interesting to start from a simple word as “red” and build a story around it! I am happy with the result because I managed to create a story in just 100 words! What I really enjoyed about this exercice is the fact that at the beginning I had no idea where my story would go… I just knew I would use “valentine’s day”, “roses”, “traffic light”, “passion” because they are deeply associated to the red colour but my story really took life under my pen with the words I was using one line at a time, growing like a deep velvet rose on the heart of my white page filling it with its warm colour!

australia, lifestyle

Moving abroad with or without your pet?

March 26, 2015 Virginie the Frenchie 6 Comments

“Until one has loved an animal a part of one’s soul remains unawakened” – Anatole France

A couple of years ago, I decided that I wanted to live the dream and have an international career. It was a project dear to my heart hidden in a little corner of my mind like forever. But at that time I was living in Paris with my 10 years old cat and his name was Paulo.

P1040237 — Paulo and myself sitting on the window of our Parisian flat

He was the most adorable cat you could ever have imagined, always purring, asking for cuddles, giving love. Paulo was neither the bravest cat nore the most agile one… First, he was scared to death when hearing somebody sneezing! Secondly jumping from the floor to the table or walking on the bed frame seemed to be too challenging: actually he fell a few times BUT he had a big ego and hated when I would laugh at him that’s when I learnt to do my Poker face (thank you Lady Gaga). But he was my cat and I loved him unconditionally no matter what. So it was obvious that Paulo would be part of my adventures should I move someday overseas. I started to enquire about how it worked, what kind of vaccination would I need, paperwork to deal with, pet carrier to choose… it seemed complicated and expensive but a pet is part of your family so you’re ready to face these kind of problems! Unfortunately Paulo was diagnosed with kidney cancer and passed away shortly after this heart breaking news. So I never got the chance to bring my cat with me abroad. But as a pet lover I can totally put myself in your shoes. So what is going to follow now, is not my own experience but stories from friends who live overseas with or without their pets.

First you need to know that the decision is not that easy… Moving abroad is a lot of logistic and stress (for you and your animal) so some people decide it is a too big an issue and they prefer not to bring their little companion. They choose instead to give their dog or cat to a friend or a relative. It seems “easier” on a logistic point of view but actually it is not… because I have seen these same people crying and missing their pet a LOT!

I mean when you adopt your animal at the first place it is because you want to love it forever! Remember the first day your pet arrived in your home, how happy you were, how much you cared about your dog or your cat! So having the feeling of abandoning your little companion to make both of your life easier can be hard to cope with! So think about it twice… if you decide to leave your dog/cat behind you, make sure it is in good hands with people you trust and who will be able to keep you posted and be ok to handle the situation if you change your mind and want your animal back. Because you can think at the first place it is going to be ok and then realize you are too sad and too depressed… Keep in mind that when you will move overseas you will have no friends at the beginning and you will miss your country, your family, your old life a lot! So the absence of your cat/dog could be the straw that broke the camel’s back, better to have a plan B just in case!

On the contrary, I know other people who can not possibly imagine their life abroad without their pet. My friend Nasim (from Iran) has a lovely dog named Judy that she loves very much. When she decided to move to Australia, her dog was part of the plan!

11081793_10152988999148876_573859500_n — Judy in her previous home in Iran

But it is not easy either because when you move with your pet to Australia, laws are very strict and you have a very long delay to respect and it can be extended depending on your dogs’ results, current health etc… http://www.agriculture.gov.au/cats-dogs . You have to live with the guilt of putting your animal through all these confusing experiences (leaving its home, its family and its routine for a while, long stressful trip, noisy shelters, cold cages, multiple tests, long time no see, strangers)… like I said there are no ideal solutions.

Furthermore, Nasim’s dog could not do its quarantine in Iran and had to be sent to Canada in a shelter for the whole duration and it is been a long time now… It is hard because the duration was extended many times and Nasim is missing Judy a lot and wondering how her dog feels about this situation… she has not seen Judy for 8 months! But a few days ago, Nasim received a good news: Australia is ready to welcome Judy now, all paperworks have been approved and she will see her dog very soon! The next step now is to find a good pet doctor in the neighborhood, nice parks for dogs and most important a welcoming home! Bear in mind that many landlords don’t accept animals so it is important when you move abroad with your pet to find a place where it is allowed and mentioned in the leasing contract!

Whatever you decide, focus on your pets’ interests, find the “best” solution for both sides and try not to feel guilty about the situation (it won’t help anyway). Good luck ❤

“Tant que vous n’avez pas aimé un animal, une partie de votre âme sera toujours sans éclat, endormie.” Anatole France

lifestyle

All we want is…

February 19, 2015 Virginie the Frenchie Leave a comment

Five women sitting at a table: one is from Venezuela, another is from Vietnam, a third one is from Japan, another is from Australia and the last one is from France. What is the common point between these 5 women? They are all talking about the same feeling. A feeling we all experience, no matter our background, education, culture, religion, belief, skin color… a universal feeling that anyone can understand: LOVE ❤

I find it always interesting to discuss with people from other countries; somehow you always realize that besides all our differences, inside we are just the same. And I guess this is even more true when it comes about romantic relationships… and of course MEN… there is a lot to say about them too… a worldwide concept 😉

Many times I have heard that I come from the country of love.. “oui l’amour!” and I think it is cute… I want to believe this is true… that in France: you can bump into couples kissing at each corner of the streets, we do say “je t’aime” at least 4 times in the day and if not it is because we caught a bad cold and we can’t speak, we have regularly red roses delivered at work, we hold hands and kiss all the time, we don’t accept to have dinner if there is not a chandelier or candles on the table and we can’t imagine a dinner without chocolate, champagne and sweet little words whispered in our ears… I actually like this vision of France and I really want to believe in it, I really do! Afterall, maybe it is because I am French that I enjoy so much to hear about “l’amour”, “mon chéri”… when talking with my international friends.

Actually, my heart wants to jump when I hear about a beautiful love story, I want to cry inside when I hear about a painful break up, I want to believe that passion can come back when I think there is still hope, I want to explode when a man makes a woman unhappy, I want to spice up things when I sense there is routine, I want to believe that the perfect guy is on his way when I hear “single” . It is true, I love to listen to all these stories and I am glad when I can help… that’s what women do, we comfort and support each other no matter what because we have all been there, we just know what it feels like!

I am sure Cinderella, Snow White, Barbie… do the same when they are having coffee together (maybe not at Cafe Cibbo… Starbuck?). Surprisingly we never read this part of the story… All we know for sure is that they felt madly in love and they kissed the boy but what happened then? What about the 1 week, 6 months, 3 years and 7 years milestones? and why didn’t they leave us any memo?

“Falling in love” seems to be the easy part of the story… the love boat is sailing, the sky is blue and it is the beginning of a wonderful journey full of promises: remember your eyes have been replaced by 2 shiny hearts, you see “la vie en rose”, you can’t eat, you can’t sleep, you are glowing and giggling all the time, you can not possibly get rid of your smile, everybody but you can tell you are in love (it is written on your forehead) and of course that is when all the men decide suddenly to chase you…try to figure!

And then there is “being in love and in a relationship” and this is demanding because it is not the destination, it is THE journey! It is an adventure, it is the moment of truth where your dreams and expectations meet the reality! Sometimes you will travel on a beautiful and peaceful sea with amazing stars over your head and other times there will be storms, waves and rain… But you don’t learn to sail in just one day, do you?! It takes time, patience, compromises and a lot of love to grow together looking in the same direction without forgetting who you are, where you want to go, what really matters… but when you know, you know!

It is a long way to go but it is worth it… Because at the end of the day, what do we want? Pretty simple… to love deeply, fully with all of our heart and to be loved passionately, indefinitely, madly in return… universal ❤ so let’s embark on this boat and see what the future holds… and remember: