Airbnb Guests to Lifelong Friends

I am an Airbnb host, and this French couple booked a room in my house in January for two nights. Within hours, I formed a friendship with Aude and Nico, and they extended their stay and have been living with me until just last week. In addition to their perfect hospitality, they brought all the charms of French cooking into my (mostly barren) kitchen. I would return from work and the enchanting aromas of the French cuisine would confront me with such delightful regularity that I sometimes wondered if I was entering the wrong house: pastries, roasted vegetables, souffles, quiches, homemade bread, crepes, etc. We celebrated birthdays, weathered snow storms, and discussed the flavor notes in a bottle of champagne. I introduced them to my parents and they borrowed my camping gear. Mostly, the whole experience was a daily reminder of the beauty of unexpected collisions and new friends.