one day in saint-jean-de-luz

Last night, I watched Kung Fu Panda at an apartment in Belleville. Cute movie. "My friend, the panda will never fulfill his destiny, nor you yours, until you let go of the illusion of control," the old turtle told the tiny red panda. However juvenile the context, it resonated with me as I embark on my last full month in Paris and accept the fact that I still don't know where I'll relocate to after.

It also reminded me of a Buddhist lesson my cousin tried teaching me. “To let go means to give up coercing, resisting, or struggling, in exchange for something more powerful and wholesome which comes out of allowing things to be as they are without getting caught up in your attraction to or rejection of them, in the intrinsic stickiness of wanting, of liking and disliking.” -Jon Kabat-Zinn

Spending a day in Saint-Jean-de-Luz was a practice in such wisdom as well. Following a series of unfortunate events, Leslie and I found ourselves with 12 extra hours in le Pays Basque and one coastal city we hadn't yet visited. All we could do was make the best of it; and gosh, after all that rain, how brightly the warm sun shone to rouse the process. Paella and ice cream surely helped, too :).