Chasing History

Walking sticks. Romance languages. Thousand-year-old buildings and ruins. Calm demeanor. Spirit of Elijah.

Before I entered high school, I found out I was a large percentage French on my father's side. I saw the pictures and learned the stories of my Lecocq ancestors. Entering high school, I opted for French instead of the more practical Spanish of the area, just so I could feel closer to them. This was one of my hugest steps on the road to figuring out my identity.I studied more French in college, and did extensive family history/genealogical research after joining The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. But there was always a missing link.

How could a Catholic family with eight to thirteen kids immigrate so far from home and not have a living link? I searched and searched, but could never find anything past the ship manifest they came to America aboard. That is, until my grandmother passed away (and another distant relative I'd just learned of). Then, all of a sudden, a floodgate opened!

I found birth records verifying their location in France! I also found a French genealogy site with a mile long family tree dating back to the 1400s!

Ever since I found out I was French, I had this yearning to go to France, more than anywhere else outside of the U.S. And suddenly, a flight deal popped up cheap, two months after I got engaged! On a whim, my fiancé and I decided to go and spend two weeks there.

It took me some time to acclimate and remember my French (after a Spanish speaking mission). But between my broken French and their broken English, we got around pretty well.

Rough start at the airport at night; we couldn't figure out how to take the metro to the outskirts of Paris where our Airbnb was located. We ended up having to take a sketchy taxi, but we got there. The roommate of our host showed us around, with me struggling to understand everything. The next morning we were off to grand Paris, where castles and palaces, cathedrals and towers, giant museums and cemeteries awaited us. It is a shock how much of it is not crumbling apart after hundreds of years!We stayed the rest of our visit at a quaint little village called Malakoff. The town moved as slowly as the rest of Paris; a more simple and peaceful lifestyle than in the U.S., where everybody still says hello to each other. Where food costs extra with preservatives.

We took bus and train everywhere, visiting one or two sights a day, living off of baguettes, cheese, and strawberries: the best food I have ever had, though simple. Some places were sketchy, and seemed almost mafia-owned. Some were little cafés and bookstores hundreds of years old. The most beautiful views, the most sacred, quiet places. Most popular spots had tourists from several countries; I had fun identifying the language each person was speaking.

The most sacred experience was Notre Dame. The observed silence showed how many people were there for pilgrimage. The grandeur of the architecture itself states that it was dedicated to God. The tower where the Hunchback lies is the most beautiful sight you could ever see. Paris all around, in colors exactly as the paintings would have you see.

We weren't sure if it would happen, but we took the trip north to where my ancestors lived, a small town called Douvrin, dedicated with the cross of Lorraine—a symbol of freedom from the ever-changing hands between wars. The countryside was beautiful, the brick houses could've stood there untouched for ages, and I even got into a near-confrontation at the cemetery with a relative groundskeeper, the only person who was out that day. Every single person in that town is related to me. But, alas, we could only stay an hour or two by the time we got there. Long enough to document, see, feel the small town feel, and leave.

The more I think about these experiences, the more I thirst for more. More knowledge and connection to my ancestors. More slow, small-town living like Paris and Douvrin. More travel and cultures that are not local. And I will get there. Our travels are by no means over.

This is taking Wanderlust to a whole new level.