A Toast to Beating the Sunday Scaries 🍷
It’s been a whole seven days since Jim and I stepped on the European continent, and this is the longest I’ve sat and stared at a screen since we got here!
Nonstop action and go-go-go are the themes of the past week, and I’m both grateful and maybe a teeny bit tired; hey, let’s be real. Afternoon espressos, late-night dinners, and early a.m. bedtimes - we’re making the most of every minute, and the French lifestyle!
I generally have no idea what day or time of day it is, especially considering the sun rises at close to 9 am here and sets before 5! 😲 That hasn’t stopped us, as we’ve used every waking minute, rain or shine, to experience as much as we possibly can in these two weeks.
We’re halfway through, though, so here are seven tips inspired by our week in France to help you take a new perspective into your upcoming one.
🍷 🥐 🇫🇷
1. Listen to Your People
Let’s talk about The Louvre. After waiting 30 minutes in the pouring rain (thank goodness for outdoor tech gear!), we finally walked through that beautiful glass pyramid.
Here’s the thing: I am not a museum junkie. At all. I appreciate them, but I am not one to linger over every word on a sign or miniature rock formation pulled from the ground 12,000 years ago.
Jim…that’s another story.
While my attention span for a museum is about three hours, Jim could spend three days there, laboring over every bit of history and letting his ADHD activate in the longest, most focused, and sometimes very painful-for-the-wife excruciating way possible. 🤪
Five hours later, including more pictures of the incredible building (my favorite part of the experience 🤩) and a near meltdown on the third floor, where my brain could barely consume any of the much-anticipated oil paintings, we departed.
Your lesson? When someone in your life or on your team says, “Hey, this is what I need,” be sure to listen, or at least give them a cookie so they don’t slog through the too-big-to-do-in-an-afternoon Louvre with low blood sugar on a toddler-like death spiral. 😆
2. Unexpected Stops = Big Highlights
Our journey from Paris to Rennes, where my work awaited us, included a harrowing drive through French streets and highways (the drivers here!!), a crap ton of tolls, and an unexpected stop in Caen, which has become one of my top three places so far!
Caen was William the Conqueror’s seat of power; he is buried in this gorgeous gothic cathedral which stands adjacent to the most stunning abbey we’ve seen, and then we went to his “house,” which was built around 1060 at the time of the Battle of Hastings.
But the BEST PART? Finding the only completely gluten-free restaurant in all of Normandy!
You never know where that random pull-off is going to lead. 😉
3. Don’t Focus on Disappointment
Mont-Saint-Michel. The island fortress - and what you will never convince me wasn’t the inspiration for Hogwarts. 😆
Talk about ingenuity: let’s build our city on a rock in the ocean that you can only access during low tide!
This place was incredible, from the moment we first saw it miles away to the tiny store-store-studded steep alleys that lead all the way to the top - and the abbey where we purchased last-minute tickets to tour before it closed.
Problem! The Abbey closes at 6, but the last tour is at 5. If only the website had told me that, I wouldn’t have wasted 50 euros and a whole lot of build-up only to be sorely disappointed in not getting to view what lay inside.
I could let that be the takeaway from our visit to Mont-Saint-Michel, but instead, I chose to revel in the fact that we got to see it in the light, in the twilight, and in the dark - lit up like an ominous beacon of eighth-century wonder.
Yeah, this thing started being built in 708 A.D. How could I possibly be disappointed?
Wins are wins, even if they don’t look like you think they will!
4. Let People Celebrate You
The first of my two days working with Harmonic’s leadership team in Rennes fell on my birthday!
What a unique way to spend your birthday, eh?
We capped off the first of the two days of training at a French cooking school, where Jim and I joined the team to make our own three-course meal. This was a special treat for us since we both love to cook, and it was a fun way to socialize with the leaders I’m coaching.
They also stuck a few candles in the Chantilly cream on the top of my carmelized apples and sang to me!
It was a wonderful way to cap off what is certainly the most memorable of my 44 birthdays.
Sometimes we need to be celebrated, and it’s ok to allow others to do so - even if it’s in a slightly weird setting!
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5. Hard Conversations are Necessary
Leadership isn’t easy! Developing and improving your skills as a leader takes work, it forces you to grow, and it reveals weaknesses you have to address.
If you’re willing to be vulnerable and push through the challenges, amazing things will greet you on the other side. If you’re willing to sit in a room of peers, who are all working towards the same goal as you, and do that - even better results await you, the team, and the organization you are all supporting!
Big things come when you do the work. I’m proud of this team for doing it, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to steward them through it.
Where can you do the hard work?
6. You Never Know Who You’ll Meet
As an extreme extrovert who loves people, I’ve always had this mentality in life. I’ve also had a hard time being in France where I can chit chat with people and often feel like a mute while Jim converses much more easily with his learned French skills.
I’ve also always subscribed to the idea that you never know whom you will meet or when you’ll meet them, which is why I always encourage high curiosity, openness, and approachability when networking (and in life).
During our 10-hour drive from Rennes to Avignon, we made an overnight stop in an off-the-beaten-path city, Clermond-Ferrand.
I loved it!
This town had a vibe, probably the coolest gothic cathedral, and an outdoor store with all of our favorite brands plus an adorable shopkeeper who was just as curious about our lives in the mountains of Colorado as we are about France!
We made a new friend, provided some good U.S. outdoor retail market intel, and shared some smiles with Doreen, whose parents founded this store which her entire family now runs!
Who knows where this connection will go - maybe we’ll ski with her one day in the U.S.; maybe we’ll see her again when we come back to Clermont-Ferrand (a goal), or maybe it was just a fortuitous exchange of info.
Regardless, don’t be afraid to get to know people. And if you ever find yourself in Clermont-Ferrand, be sure to visit this store!
7. Not All Who Wander are Lost
We are here! Avignon and Châteauneuf-du-Pape are the real destinations on this journey, along with Jim’s mecca. He’s wanted to visit this place since his early days as a sommelier.
[Secret] He teared up as we entered Châteauneuf-du-Pape for our wine-tasting day, but it isn’t just the wine that makes this place special.
This was the home of the Catholic Pope for a short time during a rift in church and state in the 1300’s. It is also the home of France’s entire AOC program (which protects cultural designations for agriculturally produced products) and of course the wine.
We had a whole list of wineries to hit for the day - SIX was the goal, but since we’re here in the off-season, we stumbled upon some unexpected closures that limited our options, so we let the day lead us.
Right into Gigondas and Les Dentelles, where in true Jim and Angie fashion, we found a peak to climb and a summit for amazing views!
This was an especially meaningful way to experience Châteauneuf-du-Pape—far more memorable than visiting an eighth winery. Surrounded by a landscape dotted with ancient abbeys, historic ruins, and architecture that predates America by centuries, we truly felt the depth of the region’s history.
Had we not been willing to wander - or been too rigid in our agenda - we never would have stumbled upon a winding path that led to the most beautiful view.
France is full of history; we appreciate it, learn from it, and revel in it.
Take some time this week to reflect on your own history and uncover the lessons you can carry forward.
It just may be the inspiration you need to push through another seven days without the Sunday Scaries!
Until next week - we’re off to Pont du Guard!
Ciao!
Your Friend and Coach,
Angie
Profesional independiente en el sector Traducción y localización
1wThank you so much for sharing. I enjoyed it from top to bottom.
Pastor Caring poor at BABIYATHAMISSION India
1wAwesome sharing Awesome experiences God bless you abundantly
Maintenance Manager
1wThank you for sharing