Provence at last

September 2021
A 8-day adventure by Al
  • 9footprints
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  • 8days
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  • 1.5kkilometers
  • Day 2

    Verdun

    September 11, 2021 in France ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    I visited Verdun today, the site of a famous Great War battle, mainly between French and German soldiers. I was treated with a 100km drive through the most amazing French countryside, with high Sunflowers and Corn cobs. The weather was perfect and as normal the roads were empty. I cruised along with the room down and felt totally relaxed. I stopped along the way in a small town called Mouzon as I was drawn to the church from the road. Thereafter lots of coincidental things happened no doubt guided by a higher power. Next to the Abbey, which is over 1000 years old, were two BMW z3s the same as mine with proud owners cleaning them. We swapped pictures and brief pleasantries although communication was a struggle. I then visited the Notre Dame Abbey, which was an amazing place with high ceilings and stained glass and many private prayer areas. I lit a candle for my mum, said a prayer or two for her and spent time contemplating life. The experience was very peaceful and healing, and I felt, meant to be. After a good hour in the village I moved on refreshed and at peace. The river Muese meanders through the area being one of the longest rivers in Europe and a canal also follows a similar route down to Verdun. I am hungry now so Verdun will wait until later!Read more

  • Day 1

    A return to Eden

    September 10, 2021 in England ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    To this day I have led a very fortunate life. I have loved and been loved, helped others and to my profound regret, let others down. I have experienced the full range of emotions that come with life, and remain humbled by what life continues to reveal. Phrases once disregarded now seem to resonate, indeed ‘to err is human, to forgive divine’.

    Forgiveness, it seems to me, starts with a conversation with one’s own soul. To experience true forgiveness from others and to forgive without reservation are truly blessings. To forgive oneself, however, is a journey many never achieve. Nevertheless it appears necessary at this juncture of my life. I hope this trip allows me to finally forgive myself, to heal and let go and in doing so create a new relationship with myself. It feels therefore to be a trip to the past entwined with an opportunity to create a new future. A return to innocence, to Eden, to a place before the ‘slings and arrows’ of life, with a a new and optimistic future the prize, my Camino.

    Pandemic contemplation has led me to this point along with a recognition that time is indeed a precious commodity. I will undoubtably revisit these early muses, but for now I seek no further solace elsewhere. I am moving in the right direction and that will do.
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  • Day 2

    Verdun

    September 11, 2021 in France ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    I said that I would get to Verdun and now is the time. The drive to Verdun was epic and everything a soft top roadster is designed for. Winding roads, great weather, hardly any traffic and great vistas. The only thing that spoils the experience is French drivers who have to drive right up to your bumper before overtaking, wherever you are, town, city, open road. Complete chimps, I think they see the GB sticker and see it as a bit of sport. Anyway, the Cathedral at Verdun is an amazing place, with beautiful stained glass, and steeped in history. When I was there it was empty and very cool away from the hot sun outside. My drive to the combined war memorial was equally grand and as you approach it you can see literally miles of old WW1 trenches just left as a monument I guess. The memorial is significant and is testament to the 120,000 plus souls who lay in the ground in front of it, and the other 125,000 buried elsewhere or never recovered. My drive back to my digs left me with mixed emotions of an epic day tinged with a sadness that only comes with seeing so much loss. I have come to understand better that the French people did their fair share of fighting and dying in protection of their own soil, no doubt led by a desire to save France. I am humbled as ever by that loyalty to their country. I doubt the UK could ever muster such patriotism today. You come to realise that the tyrants who have emerged since the great wars trade on that even today, the likes of Putin and Trump understand the apathy that exists in people and steamroller their own agenda through, safe in the knowledge that most people can’t be assed or are too scared to argue. I guess you learn to fight for and tend to your own business as best you can, and keep your head down about the rest. Such as it’s ever been I suspect. Anyway there you go another life lesson I can put to rest and be thankful as ever for what I have from the sacrifice of others. I have also learned that the beauty of these blogs is that you can get things off your chest and say whatever you like. I’ve been thinking about keeping a journal for a while, the form matters not really. My concern is what happens if find penguins gives up, I guess you save it all somewhere else. I can see why some people still prefer pen and paper!Read more

  • Day 3

    Champagne

    September 12, 2021 in France ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    My good friend Guy Nightingale whom I have know for about 15 years suggested that I visit the champagne region. Guy is an Uber positive chap and always interested in the people around him, a hard worker and all round good fella. He started his working life in the vineyards of France and many other countries and has many friends throughout France in the business. Guy has suggested that I drive the champagne tourist route, through the vineyards on more empty roads and beautiful vistas. I have clearly landed at a busy time, with constant tractor movements and a large Romany community in the region helping with collecting the grapes. All seem to coexist well and it’s a happy place. The vineyards stretch for miles and the weather improves with each day I head further south. I have stopped in a village named Les Riceys right in the heart of the region. I took wine with a lovely German couple outside the hotel last night as well as a Dutch couple the guy having grown up in Milton Keynes. The crack was good and we shared numerous stories. I felt sad not to be part of the EU any more. The German couple live near the French border and both work in Switzerland, but enjoy a freedom of movement that post pandemic, I suspect we will miss. Only time will tell on that. You can’t help thinking that the UK needs to kind of grow up? The fine cultures you find across Europe, seems to me to be lost in the UK these days in a mad rush to make money and buy stuff, most of which we don’t need. When you ride motorbikes you realise there isn’t much else apart from family that you need. You watch the people in their cars racing around to get somewhere, with rather lost expressions, trapped almost, in their little boxes to go back to their house box! Many go far too fast and don’t give a toss about other road users. With what’s left of my existence I intend to breath in the air far more! Anyway tomorrow I lunch with one of Guy’s oldest friends in a town called Beurne another 100 miles further south. There I stay for two nights then I will start heading back, taking my Covid tests and contemplating the next chapter of my life😊Read more

  • Day 4

    Burgandy why not!

    September 13, 2021 in France ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Waking to the sound of tractors going through my village at 6am was not part of the plan. The producers are clearly busy, and unlike me, have to go to work. I went for a perfectly pleasant French breakfast and caught up with the people I met the night before from Holland. We said our farewells and I set off. I was treated to the drive of a lifetime down the deserted D953 backroad towards Beaune my current pit stop. More bonding with my lovely old z3 occurred and I think we have agreed that we are good for each other. There are moments that help you to gain clarity in your life and this was one for me. Living in the moment sounds good and almost a daily challenge but for that brief moment I get what it means. To just be, it’s a life’s work. Anyway I had to leave the road eventually and join the motorway into Beaune which I now get pleasure in driving much slower on, listening to my 2.2 straight 6 burble away. I met my good friend Guys pal Vincent in an outdoor restaurant and had a thoroughly pleasant lunch learning about the region and wines. It truly is the heart of wine making and I am ignorant of all of it. I then went for a drive along the Grande Cru route, about 35km of grape vines, apparently a sharp frost and an early wakening of the vines in February cut production by some 50% in some areas this year, so naturally prices are up. I don’t know enough to comment but the area looked pretty well to me!

    I then drove to Nuits Saint Georges on the route mentioned, a beautiful small town which encapsulates the best of the area. By 5 o’clock I had had enough and stopped at my hotel for the next two nights. A lovely place with everything I need. I went to Aldi’s bought dinner and have chilled in the room.

    To be contacted by Matthew having had somebody rear end him on his motorbike. One’s other world is never far away, oh and the dishwasher has packed up, which clearly is a tragedy, for Chris.

    What have I taken from today. Less is more, the simple pleasures of good company, food drink, a slower pace resonate with me still. I like making my own plans and I have learned the joy of driving a roadster all over again. I ponder selling my second bike to improve on my z3, but that seems disloyal now. Perhaps sell it to improve the z3. We shall see, I shall discuss it with her tomorrow, meanwhile she rests.

    I suspect an auto 2.8 would suit me better but finding a good one may be a challenge. Either way I am lucky to have what I have.

    I have also learned that I am ok with being me. I still like myself and I am enjoying the introspection time that I have. I don’t let it take over my days or head, I just go with it when it appears, perhaps I should name it and have proper conversations with it. I might give that a go tomorrow.

    I am doing more of what dear old mum would wish, being me. Walking tall, being proud of what I have achieved so far and helping others to help themselves. Like living in the moment these are basically skills that you need to work on. I’m writing myself a checklist for tomorrow.
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  • Day 5

    A day to drive

    September 14, 2021 in France ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Sat in my air conditioned room as I conclude my day I am left feeling further strengthened by what occurred. Strengthened is an interesting concept because I wasn’t really aware I was weak until I slowed down this week. True to form I appear, on the outside, fairly strong. Like my buddies I travel abroad alone, planning and preparing the whole event (strength). Like my buddies I navigate language, cultural and ever present legal/medical challenges intelligently and without issue. However, on the inside I forget all this and feel vulnerable. Perhaps it’s an age thing, when your knowledge and problem solving abilities are at their peak yet your body and soul wears the slings and arrows of a life well lived! Anyway my day was spent reflecting on all this and driving to locations in my trusty car that I selected the night before. It was a great day albeit somewhat aimless. I went to Autun today, deep in the heart of the Burgundy region and the site of the one of if not the oldest Carmalite Cathedral, Saint Lazare. I lit a candle for both my parents at what is another impressive Cathedral. The town is Roman walled and has a history dating back to the story of Lazarus, the brother of Mary Magdalene. Apparently parts of his remains exist throughout the South of France and at Autun, he having travelled to France with Mary after the Crucifixion. Autun is a beautiful town with a modern shopping restaurant vibe within the confines of a very old Roman fort. The town was almost empty, which is both a reflection of the lack of tourists and the locals having long lunches thereby closing up the town. It’s clear Covid has had a massive impact on the area as there are little of no tourists, and everyone I speak to is pleasant and welcoming far from the French tradition. The area also suffered an early hot spell in February, which awakened the Grape vines too soon. An equally late frost stunted the growth of about 50% of the grapes, which as I mentioned previously will push the prices up for the lucky people who can afford it.

    I had many chats with myself today and most concerned where I was heading or had been. I prayed for my parents and I had a long running discussion about what worth one adds to the world when work stops. I have concluded that life is a bunch of events, some of more collective and individual worth than others. What makes something worthwhile can be an emotion you leave yourself with or in the hearts and minds of others. It’s this last emotion that I think we necessarily give too much weight to. Not that it’s not noble to improve others life experiences but when this desire overtakes ones own pursuit of worth and value our lives become out of kilter. I suspect this is where I am at. I have given a lot of time and emotion away helping others and not really ever stopped to see how it has improved my life. I don’t regret my actions as much as I used to as I have clearly helped people, it’s just that I have never stopped to take pride in that, only to feel resentful. This is stupid because I could have said no, so on reflection I am pleased with what I have done. I may manage my desire to give my time away more effectively moving forward but that again requires a new model of being, which I also need to work on! Onwards and upwards!
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  • Day 6

    Wine? Yes please!

    September 15, 2021 in France ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Today started well a traditional large quassaunt dipped in hot chocolate. It was then time to do my return to England Covid test, which one does three days out or nearer the time. It plays on your mind, what if I fail it. Well if you do you have to tell the authorities who cart you off to a Covid hotel, full of other Covid failures. Here you pay a fortune to stay until you pass a test! I bought my test on line through a respected company, you then photograph the outcome having logged in and they confirm if you do not pass go and go to jail. Luckily my test was fine so I can now travel home. Once, that is, I have completed the passenger locator form, which I can’t do outside of 48hrs before your arrival time. I’m sure better brains that me decided to make one a potential three day process then linked it to a 2 day out one! So it niggles in the back of your mind that you have to log in again, if you let it. I find with enough red wine not much niggles! Having got as far as I could test wise, I then drove to the Rock of Solutre, an area of outstanding beauty. There I found a beautiful valley to have some lunch with my car, and do a final toast to my parents. Sadly I learned last night that my favourite folk singer, no female singer of all time Nanci Griffith passed away last month, aged 68. Nanci wrote and performed many wonderful songs, some of which still resonate very deeply with me to this day. So I raised a glass to Nanci too and thanked her for the music. I’m sure she will entertain many with her songs and story telling upstairs. I then came back to my digs and went round the corner to a very famous wine producer, Louis Jadot, for a freeby tour and tasting, courtesy of Vincent whom I met the other day. I played a straight bat and enjoyed the sights and smells, basically hundreds of oak barrels full of highly prized vintage wine, then didn’t misbehave at the tasting! I walked away amazed by the attention to detail of the top names, and prices the Grande Cru wines command. I came back to my digs very content, and have since booked myself a slap up meal at a local French restaurant recommended and booked for me by the hotelier, who plays golf! We are now best friends! I have pushed back my tunnel crossing on Friday so I can do the whole drive to Calais on Friday and enjoy another day here in Beaune tomorrow. More to follow!Read more

  • Day 7

    Passenger Location Form

    September 16, 2021 in France ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    I have just completed the passenger locator process and loaded it on the Eurotunnel Web page. What a complex process that is. I am not surprised people have complained. If you are travelling as a family it’s half a day written off right at the end of your trip. Heaven knows what would happen if one of you had Covid.Read more

  • Day 7

    Avallon

    September 16, 2021 in France ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    On my final full day in Burgundy I decided to visit Avallon. This is a medieval town steeped in history with a church dating back to the 8th century. I was treated to a wonderful drive through the French countryside down Romanesque straight roads, winding hills and superb views. When I arrived in Avallon I immediately felt at home. Charming people playing boules in a typical French city park was my first view. I ambled along the scenic route to the 12th century church, which I shared alone with the local pigeons that fly around you. The church welcome guide in English invites you ‘enjoy the church, enter with confidence, this is also your house, God’s name resides here, be silent for a little time to commune with God’. I couldn’t ask for more. I sat in a side chapel, which was clearly extremely old. In the chapel in a recess was a statue of Christ lit in natural light. The statue commanded my attention by its beauty. Opposite this were a number of old paintings around the room. Old paintings of apostles and Saints. Exactly opposite Christ was St Theresa or Teresa as it is spelt. I have been reading a book about St Theresa of Avila and she is the theme of a lovely Nanci Griffith song. I now need to know if it is the same person. I need to know because Nanci’s passing last month, which I learned of just after putting together a playlist of her songs is one coincidence. My reading of a book about St Theresa is another. Nanci’s link with her and her song compelling me to by the book is another. Sat there as I was it was rather too much to take in, but also I believe it is a message from God. I was wondering if this trip would give me meaning and at this moment it has. I needed to light a candle as I was writing this in the Church and crying at the same time. It feels as if I am at the end of a long journey of both very sad and good memories and an opportunity for new growth. I feel like I can let go of everything now, as I am being permitted or perhaps encouraged through such signs. I want to be in this moment for ever. I have lit my candle and signed the book. The pigeons carried on talking quietly as they do at times. I wondered if they were content with what they have witnessed, it seems so to me. Other people were entering the church, it seemed my moment had passed, someone else’s turn now hopefully. I have since researched the Teresia facing Jesus and the picture shows her holding a pen and book, her trademark picture as she wrote all her adult life. I am content. I have also learned that pilgrims heading to Santiago de Compostela used to divert 10 miles to the church in order to see the Tomb of Lazarus, or at least a body part! A fitting end and new beginning from my trip.Read more