Mo Ghile Mear

If you'd like to help yourself with a cup of tea, it will give you something to do while I blabber.

Servez-vous une tasse de thé pendant que je bavarde... Cela vous fera passer le temps!

We don't celebrate Saint-Patrick's Day in France, except in all the Irish pubs, of course!

But I have a little personal celebration, because my last trip to Ireland was a life changing one.

La Saint-Patrick, c'est la fête nationale des Irlandais, et j'ai une raison tout particulière de la célébrer.

Lors de mon dernier voyage en Irlande, j'ai pris des décisions qui ont changé ma vie du tout au tout.

During that trip I took three very important decisions.

I didn't actually act on impulse.

It's more like the trip triggered the decisions.

Picture yourself on your sofa at the end of the day, watching a film that is not great, but ok. You know all along  you could watch something way better that you have on DVD, but that would mean getting your butt out of the sofa and you're just too lazy or too tired to do it. When the commercial breaks blasts loudly in your ears with the exact same commercials as the last time, you finally gather the energy to grab the perfect DVD. Does it ever happen to you?

My trip to Ireland was that commercial break.

Je n'ai pas pris ces décisions sur un coup de tête en une semaine de voyage... C'était là dans un coin de mon cerveau depuis un moment dans une sorte d'épais brouillard et tout un coup, l'Irlande a dissipé ce brouillard et m'a permis de voir clair... Assez ironique d'ailleurs, car la météo cette semaine-là, n'était pas vraiment au beau temps, comme les photos vous le prouvent!

I decided to end the relationship I was in. It's a big decision to make when you're thirty (which I already was at the time). But I had seen that coming for a while already. During the trip, it became clear that if I couldn't find magic anymore in a realtionship while on this magical island, it was no use to keep trying. Magic is very important.

J'ai décidé de redevenir célibataire. La magie, c'est très important, et il n'y en avait plus dans ma relation.

 I also decided if I wanted to be happy I needed to be in a celtic land because they have magic. Brittany immediately came to my mind. In France,if you're a state teacher like I am, you have to fill in "wish" files when you want to change the area you teach in. Two months after those holidays, I "wished" for Brittany and I got it. It was the first and only times one of my "job wish" was granted! - Magic! (did I tell you it's very important?)- I also wished for a permanent position but they only needed substitutes, so that's what  I am for now!

J'ai aussi compris qu'il me fallait vivre en territoire celtique près de la mer. A mon retour, j'ai demandé une mutation. La Bretagne? Impossible à avoir me disait-on. Mais surprise, je l'ai eue! Ne vous avais-je pas dit que la magie, c'est  très important?

 Last, I decided that I needed to learn how to drive. It seems unrelated, but it isn't. I hated driving. I was perfectly comfortable with someone else driving for me. But becoming single again meant I either couldn't move anymore or I had to drive. I was aware chances of finding a job in Brittany were scarce, chances of finding a permanent one were close to nul. "I need a car!" Oh, my! Did people make fun of me when I said this! But, magic happened again, because I somehow learnt how to drive and I even enjoy it now. So let's repeat after me: magic is very .... (Important! Who wasn't following the demonstration?)

Finalement, j'ai décidé d'apprendre à conduire: ça a l'air sans aucun rapport, mais il y en a un. Quitter la région parisienne en tant que célibataire m'y obligeait. Toute ma famille a bien ri quand j'ai annoncé ça, pensant que je n'y parviendrais jamais. Et au grand étonnement de tous, non seulement je conduis, mais j'aime ça. Là encore, je dirais que la magie, c'est très... (important, bon sang! Qui ne suivait pas?)

 

So every year, I make a point to bake or cook an Irish recipe...  Check this year's  recipe: Tea Brack A La Magali!

I hope you at least enjoyed the pictures while I was pouring my heart out to you!

Chaque année, je cuisine donc irlandais pour la Saint Patrick, une sorte d'hommage à ce voyage. A tout bientôt, donc, pour ma recette de Tea Brack. 

Merci de votre visite.

Thanks for visiting,

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