My New Home Café

If you know me, you know that I LOVE hot chocolate and I LOVE journaling.

One makes my tummy happy, the other makes my heart happy... or sad... depends on the day... but either way, they both help me to work through my emotions, to reflect on them, and to move forwards.

I don't know what my world would be like without either of those; yet, my time in France has only been spent with journaling! Sometimes I find hot cocoa but none of the cafés have a "come and work for however long you want" atmosphere! So even if I got hot cocoa, I wouldn't be able to enjoy both hot chocolate and journaling at the same time. ):

Yes, this is a big deal because this is what makes my heart happy and what allows me to escape the problems and the stress that each day brings.

That's when Mission Cozy Café commenced.

I asked my host mom if she knew any places that I could just sit and do work for a while but I don't think she understood the question. She looked confused and responded, "is your room not good enough?" I laughed a little and then she continued to say, "there are empty classrooms at the school you could sit in." That's when I realized how dysfunctional it may seem to any French person if I were to just sit and work for a long period of time, I can tell it's not the cultural norm here just by looking around. I would never see someone sitting at a café with their laptop, that's just not something French people do. Bookstores are for purchasing books. Libraries are for studying school materials. You think you know how quiet a library can get until you walk into a french library... I would be terrified to click my pen. Just walking through it I was holding my breath! Not quite the "cozy" atmosphere I was looking for. I explained a little more what I was looking for - a café, not a classroom. She said "of course, there are plenty of cafés around. Maybe ask your program director." I never asked him. Instead, I did some research.

I walked around after class today. I tried to be "adventurous" and look for a café without my phone. That lasted about 15 minutes before I got into a somewhat sketchy neighborhood and said "JK." I pulled out my phone as I started walking back to my apartment and saw a café about 20 minutes away on Google Maps called "Comme à La Maison - Coffee Shop." That's walking distance for me so I decided to give it a try. Along the way I saw a few other coffee shops but they also lacked the coziness that I was so desperately seeking to find.

When I arrived, I GOT SO. EXCITED.

I didn't think this kind of café existed in France... nevertheless, I found it (I'm taking the credit from Google Maps), and it is beyond cozy. (:

After I ordered a hot chocolate, I sat on a black stool and got settled in. I began to take out my homework, my laptop, my notebook, my journal, and of course all of my colored pens. A few minutes later, the gentleman who took my order brought over a navy blue mug and a spoon that rested on a petite serving plate.

My eyes lit up when I saw the cocoa powder design in the shape of stars and a crescent moon. Stars are my "thing" (read the about section of my blog). I looked to the girl next to me who also ordered hot cocoa and she had the design of a tree. Funny how that worked out. It felt like God was so obviously saying, "Take rest, here. Talk to me, here. Bring your friends and learn about me, here."

That's what I did in my home town at Spotted Cow. I had my very first bible study there. I had many meaningful one on one conversations there. Many tears fell on those tables, but that's how you know I always felt loved there. In college, Einsteins became my new Spotted Cow. It's where I always found my sweet friend Emma Lee. I had a few hard conversations and plenty more laughs. My tears soaked into those tables as well, from laughing and crying, my sweet coffee date friends sat with me and prayed with me. Now, I pray that this place becomes the next Einsteins to the Spotted Cow.

My God is Good.

Lauren