La Petite Rose des Sables..and the grandma I'd never met -- Roxanne Rustand

While my daughter Emily and I visited  Paris in May, I took way over 1,000 photos on my cell phone, thinking I would share all of the best ones here.  Obviously, that would be a deluge, so I've just been using them in blog posts here and there.  :)  

Today I have just one photo...but what an experience this  was! Since this was our first trip to Paris, Emily researched things to do and restaurants to try for months beforehand.  I'm so glad she did!

We approached the door of this tiny restaurant and it looked closed....then a sweet elderly woman popped out the door and in rapid French urged us to come in. We still can't believe we got in, because it has excellent reviews but doesn't take reservations. It's a very small--just four or five tables in a tight space, very charming and homelike, run by just one woman (she referred to herself as Mami) and her husband, though he wasn't there that night.  

She was the hostess, the server, and the cook. Mami doesn't speak English but was so sweet, attentive and charming!  She kept coming back, offering more wine or her homemade liqueur, or her sangria, or little treats, and gave us each little gifts-- mementos of Paris. The food was excellent, the experience was unique and fun. And what an adventure, having a complete language barrier and yet enjoying every moment.

I left feeling like I had been at a beloved grandmother's house, because she hovered with such great concern for our happiness. Through her, I could almost imagine what it might have been like to be blessed to have a living, loving grandmother while growing up.   I still feel like I was a guest in this lovely woman's home and should write her a thank you note. I will never forget this wonderful evening!   

And it also made me think.  We are blessed with five young grandchildren, and I now hope that each time they leave a meal at our house, they feel just as cared for as I did that evening in Paris.

What are some of your favorite memories with relatives and special meals while growing up?

Roxanne Rustand

USA Today Bestselling Author

Montana Mistletoe, Love Inspired      12/2018Falling for the Rancher, Love Inspired  6/2017 

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