A weekend that feels home - Nogent le Rotrou

Maybe I'm too lucky, or maybe I speak so much even knowing my french is not good enough, I simply is grateful to have make so many new adorable friends in France. Of all nationality, and also French, who people always described as "cool-non willing to speak english-small circle" ones. But this is not that true to my experience in this past few months.

I chatted with a french classmate two weeks before.
-Je vais revenir à Hong Kong en Février, mais il y a beaucoup de villes je n'ai visité pas encore ><
(I will be going back to HK in Feb, but there are so many cities I've not yet gone to) I usually start my conversation with my crappy french.
-Alors donc tu voudrais visiter ma ville? tu peux venir pour un weekend! My family will be happy to host you :) 
(Well so would you like to visit my city? You can come for a weekend! My family will be happy to host you) Yes most would answer in french, but some wouldn't mind switching to english even if they are not really good at it.
-Vraiment?! Tu est sûr?!
(Really?! You are sure?!)
-Oui oui c'est sûr! Tu peux!
(Yes yes it's true! You can!)

So in the next friday evening, I boarded the train to Nogent le Rotrou with my friend. I didn't let myself google how it looks like, because I would want to be amazed.

The Home
Arriving there at night, I was already hungry. An aged-looking car came to the station and there was my friend's mum. 
Nogent le Rotrou is a small town in the Perche (a geographical region) area of Normandie, and my friend's family lives in the countryside of the town. So basically a little bit far from town. On the way to his home, for the first time of my life I saw a moon so yellow and soooo low, dimly lighting up the grassy horizon. It was an elegant picture. Turning to the right was a sky full of stars, where I saw the Orion and Sirius.
I guess I was the only one in the car excitingly gazing out the windows, awing at the stunning sky.
It was a simple house, but with the welcome of a passionate big black dog as well as the decoration and furniture, I felt that it was a place that you would call "home".

The Family
After this weekend, I truly realized that language is not a barrier when you are willing to communicate. The parents don't speak english well, but they talk to me far more than an english-speaking french papa of a friend who I met one month ago. We talked about many things and at most times, from going out to eating to watching Ms France. 
On the sofa I sat lazily with my friend and his brother/father watching TV. 
At the kitchen bar I sat with my friend him using his computer me reading my favourite Tintin (in french) I found at his shelf. 
In the kitchen I made an apple crumble with my friend's maman. 
At the corridor I patted and hugged my friend's big cute dog who always followed me and asking me to do that again and again by lifting its right front paw.
I felt like being treated as a member of the family.
This meant a lot to me, as I had adapted to a life living far from my family. (And yea because I am those super-homesick-girl)

The Town
In the next morning, my friend drove me and his mother out to the town centre, where they brought me to some streets with shops and a traditional/christmas market. There I tried vin chaud and marrons. 
It is always double enjoyment to enjoy something with a friend than having the pleasure alone.
Just as a weekend walk a local would do, we walked into shops, tested perfumes, ate outside shops, looked at shopping windows.
This town is so small that my friend would always bump into people he knew. What a neighbourhood.

The Meals
WARNING: THIS IS THE EXTRAORDINARY PART OF THE TRIP!!!
I couldn't feel more grateful when a lovely mum knew that you were leaving soon, AND that you loved food, AND that there were still so many french food you hadn't tried, AND SO SHE TRIED TO FILL YOUR MEALS WITH DIFFERENT- TYPICAL-FRENCH-DELICIOUS FOOD!

The Drive
It was just a short Saturday afternoon, and my friend decided to drive me around the place. He told me in fact there wasn't much to show me, but to me the road and the views were already the nicest for a zero-stress weekend. 
Between the fields, we drove on curvy roads he loved. There we could see agriculture fields, wild grassland, mountains far-away. I also met cow grazing, birds flying, and even, for the first time of my life again, a young wild deer lightly jumping across the road and disappeared into the woods. 

These were the scenes I never found at home. Only a land with such capacity could create an environment like this.

The Walk
We didn't stay in the car at all times. My friend brought me to some big manors where the lords once lived. We also arrived at a national park where there were walkways on slopes and paths into the wood. I didn't forget to pick some collection from the earth, even my friend helped me with that haha. 

The last stop was the castle, where we walked around it while my friend told me about the role-play treasure-hunting game he once played with kids from the town. I wished I could be in that game, dressing up like a medieval-times girl and have a feast with the lord.

This weekend was short, but I enjoyed it fully.
And then I realized: the best times you could find at a far away place is the time you feel so welcomed that it touches your heart.