Coming back to France always stirs something in me.
France is home in so many ways. It is where I grew up, where my relationship with food began, where family and childhood memories live.
And yet, the United States is home too.
My life, my work, my family, my community; they are here.
For a long time, I’ve wondered what it means to belong to two places.
This summer, I found myself thinking about it differently.
Maybe I don’t have to choose.
Maybe belonging can be expansive.
Maybe I can carry the best of both worlds with me.
The French appreciation for lingering, pleasure, simplicity, and the ritual of gathering around food.
And the American love of possibility, reinvention, curiosity, and creating something new.
Perhaps Nourish Collective lives somewhere in that space between the two.
Coming back to the U.S., I don’t want to simply remember this summer.
I want to bring some of it home.
More meals around the table.
More seasonal food.
More time outside.
More permission to rest.
More pleasure in ordinary things.
More gathering with people I love.
More listening to my body instead of constantly asking it to keep up.
Because slowing down doesn’t have to mean taking three weeks off and going to France.
Sometimes it can look like eating dinner without your phone.
Picking up a beautiful peach at the farmers’ market.
Inviting a friend over for an impromptu meal.
Sitting outside after dinner.
Taking a walk without turning it into exercise.
Or simply asking yourself: What would feel nourishing today?
That is what I’m bringing back with me from France.
Not a perfect vacation.
Not a checklist of places visited.
But a reminder.
That nourishment is not only something we eat.
It is something we create through the way we live.
And sometimes, the most nourishing thing we can do is simply slow down enough to notice that we are already here.
If this message resonates with you and you’re ready to do something about it, how about coming over to my house for a community dinner?
Send me an email at sandrine@nourish-collective.com, and I’ll send you all the details. ❤️
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