France or America?

After living more than 35 years in America, I've had my shares of doubts and ups and downs related to the wisdom of having moved from my beloved French Alps. This happened mostly during the early years, when we still lived in New York and when I was missing mountain living so much.

Even though I did a lot of shuttling back and forth over the Atlantic during those years, my heart was always torn apart when I wondered where it truly belonged. As both our children were born and grew-up in North America, they would become the catalyst that forced us to decide in favor of one place over the other.

We moved to Park City, and in so doing, made a commitment for the new world. Almost thirty years later we are so glad we did! The mountains, although not as spectacular as the Alps, are great for skiing, hiking and mountain biking, the climate is phenomenal and the place remains uncrowded, yet it offers the perfect blend of metro-sophistication and rural quaintness.

Not something found in my native valley where most people are still living in the past and consider their present “bubble” quite “normal” without knowing any better. People who've moved around can't just live in these French ski towns alone; they need a “pied-à-terre” in Paris or Lyon to make their existence more bearable and a bit more “civilized...”

Would I enjoy moving back there full time? I don't think so; I'd probably go crazy after two weeks. I would miss the Rockies and America so much that I couldn't stand it. Like a shell is to a tortoise, my French culture is attached to me so no matter where I go, it follows me.

The American culture is not as deeply rooted though, and I would miss it terribly if I had to live out of the United States. So that's about it; I cherish my alpine memories in the rear-view mirror of my life, but go full-steam ahead into the future of America, my new home!