More mountain adventures

Tonight is my last evening in the Pyrenees, before I head to Barcelona tomorrow.

I've done some great hikes and sightseeing lately, so I thought I'd add a few photos.

Last Friday, I visited the Castle of Foix. It has three tours, each built in a different century using different building methods. The earliest origins go back to around 1000 CE, with the tour serving as a defensive outpost and the later towers being added as the regional counts expanded their territories and riches.  You can see the castle perched on the hill over the town, along with views from the top of the central (square) tower.

Saturday morning, I hiked up -- and I mean up, as in vertically -- to the Tour de Montorgueil, a relic of a defensive outpost, built in the 12th century or even earlier. See below for the views over the Saurat valley from the top of my hike.

Adventures in the Pyrenees

Hello!

This week brought a highlight -- my first overseas Thanksgiving celebration! I've been abroad once before for what is one of my favourite holidays, but this marked my first overseas celebration, pumpkin pie and all; And I didn't even have to bake the pie! For a bit more than a week now, I've been staying with a very welcoming family in the French Pyrenee mountain range, as part of a helpx exchange -- basically, I help out a few hours a day with gardening or other household tasks, in exchange for lodging and delicious meals. My hosts are both great cooks and Deb, the mom, was the pie baker -- see the lovely family pictured below, with our delicious pies showcased on the table.

Aside from being with the family, I've gone on a walks up the mountain each morning and managed a few other adventures. One day, I was wandering up a hill on the other side of the village of Bedeilhac and noticed a strong goat smell; I was thinking there must be a local farm producing goat cheese. But when I turned the next corner, I came across 8 or 10 giant goats with large curved horns -- one of the local groups of mountain goats.

A view of the village of Bedeilhac; I am staying just at the base of the hill known as Calames

On another day, Deb was driving the two of us to a garden site she maintains just outside of the village, when I was surprised to notice a growing backlog of traffic on the usually quiet road. By the time there were 20 or more vehicles lined up facing us, and a similar number behind our car, I realized that the cause was a pack of cows! The cows hadn't gotten loose, though -- they were being carefully shepherded down the valley as part of the "transhumance", when livestock are moved from their summer feeding ground in the hills down into the valley to the winter pasture. A few animals did make us nervous by coming up on the very edge of the road beside Deb's vehicle, with one bull tapping the outside mirror with its horn. I witnessed the transhumance again in a neighbouring valley a few days later -- quite a spectacle!

Another highlight was my visit to the Grotte de Bedeilhac, a cave which features prehistoric cave paintings and drawings. It was an awe-striking experience. I was disappointed that I couldn't take pictures inside, but photographs likely wouldn't do it justice. Our guide, a passionate historian of perhaps seventy years of age, scrambled easily over the slippery limestone cave floor while regaling us with his strongly held views on archaeological debates. The paintings and drawings were quite striking -- many bison and horses. All of these have been dated going back to between 10,000 and 14,000 years ago. Beyond the prehistoric significance, the geology of the cave was amazing, too -- you can see the size of the cave mouth, but there were inner chambers even broader than this, with huge pillars formed by stalactites and stalagmites. In places, we had to crouch down while making our way by the light from our flashlights, while in other locations, the cave roof soared high above us. This is just one of the many limestone caves in southern France, and far from the most famous, but I was very impressed all the same!

Tomorrow, my travels will take me to the castle in the regional centre of Foix...

 

Cross-cultural mysteries

I've been in France almost a month now, and a few patterns have emerged, of differences & mysteries from my Canadian eyes.

First mystery: how are there so few overweight people in a country where chocolate seems to be a food group, "cheese" is a regular course in a meal and there are bakeries on literally every block? A working hypothesis: for a least quite a few French people, smoking and drinking wine are the activities that fill social time, with food being quality food that is eaten at meal-time. On a number of social occasions, I've looked around and thought, "where are the snacks?" -- not necessarily because I was very hungry -- just because, in a similar situation at home, there would be chips & dip, cookies, etc. laid out.   On the other hand, sometimes I have felt quite hungry -- for example, at 5:30 or 6pm, when I'm used to eating dinner, but dinner is the farthest thing from everyone else's mind! While 7:30 or 8 might be a normal time for the evening meal in France, it's apparently 9pm in Spain, where I'm headed later this month. I think I'll have to plan on an early evening snack routine!

Second mystery: what are the small circular buttons inside of the larger circular buttons on the top of toilet bowls? I had an inkling of the idea, which was confirmed in one "W.C." with a helpful sign -- it's a water conservation method -- small button when just a small flush is neated; big button for a more substantial flush of water. Makes good sense, really! I've noticed quite a few similar energy-efficiency measures in France. On the roads, there are noticeablely smaller cars, on average, while many public spaces have automatic motion-detection lights installed, so the lights automatically turn off as well.

Third mystery: this one is about Canada. How can we have allowed our cities to be built so the automobile has such dominance? I love my car and I love to drive, but really, French people mostly also own cars and yet they haven't let cars shape the way that the cities are built to such a dramatic effect. Or maybe I just haven't spent enough (?) time in French suburban areas. In any case, I've been so impressed by the pedestrian life in various cities I've visited. Sidewalks are always busy with people -- often busier than the adjacent roadways. Quite a few roadways are car-free, at least in tourist areas. Terrasses outside cafes face have rows of tables facing toward the sidewalk and street, so people can observe the passersby. And bikes certainly seem to be more commonly used for transportation -- after spending a couple days in Toulouse recently, I think it was the second-most bicycle-intense city I've ever visited, after Amsterdam!

In any case, despite a few minor mysteries I've been pondering, my travels have continued on smoothly. I had a lovely visit with the brother and sister-in-law of my mother's husband (lost yet?). Jacques and Yvette showed me around their seaside village between Marseille and Toulon, and treated me to a delicious home-cooked, yet gourmet, meal. And I was very impressed by the green spaces and student "vibe" in Toulouse -- a city I would be happy to visit again.

Now, I've settled in for two weeks doing a "help-exchange" (like WOOFing: see helpx.net) with a family in the Pyrenees, after a week or so of whirlwind tourism. It's quiet here.... all you hear is the sheeps' bells on the nearby hillsides, the roosters crowing from the backyard and the church bell ringing next door. I'm staying with a lovely British family; the whole valley seems to have lots of English people around.

More to come soon....

Roman history, history everywhere

Hello, hello...

After just a few days of full-on tourism, since leaving the vineyard in Beaujolais, I've seen a number of interesting sites.... and almost hit my saturation point on history for a while!

The Roman ruins in southern France really do intrigue me, however -- to be honest, while I knew vaguely about the province of Gaul, my last course in ancient Europe history was a long time ago and I can't say that I typically think of Roman history when I think of France -- more so, I think of wine, cheese, bread -- all of which seems quite accurate, too!

In any case, I did some good exploring in both Lyon and the town of Arles. It's very impressive to see the careful restoration and preservation work underway in both cities. In Lyon, I thought it was neat that the relics of the ampitheatre are basically an open park, so you can walk freely. There is a beautiful view down on the city, as the site is situated on a hill. But I was surprised to learn that the audience members in Roman times would not have shared the same view, since there was an elaborate backstage construction that would have taken up the space of my lovely view!

In Lyon

In Arles, the theatre dates to the 1st century before Jesus Christ, with construction of the town starting on the orders of Julius Caeser in 46 BCE and most of the construction taking place under his successor Augustus. The ampitheatre was built a bit later, but still a while ago -- starting in approx. 90 C.E. (AD). It housed gladiator fights with 20,000 spectators and has now been restored -- it houses bullfights now, which I have some concerns about!

The photos below are from Arles -- the first two, of the ampitheatre. You can see, if you look carefully, that there are modern metal bleachers supplementing the seating where reconstruction wasn't fully completed. The last photo is the theatre which is no longer used. Very little of the site was intact and less reconstruction has taken place. The pillars show where the backdrop/stage would have been -- as in Lyon, it was an elaborate construction, so no view from the seating through the backstage area! What intrigues me, too, is that there are layers of history over top of one another, so to speak, at each of these sites. In the "Middle ages" the sites were generally used for other purposes. In Arles, there was a residential area built up inside the ampitheatre, protected by its walls. Towers were added for military purposes. At other sites, church organizations reclaimed the sites. I've often heard conversations in Canada about how history is forgotten in North America while heritage is valorized in Europe -- there may be some truth to that, but there were obviously periods when history was not a major concern!  (Many of the reconstruction and archaeological efforts I've heard about began in the 1800s and certainly now, the tourist industry must be a significant motivating factor.

Harvest time, part 2

Yesterday, I left the farm where I spent almost two weeks helping harvest grapes and begin the preparations of organic juice and wine from the year's grape harvest. It was such an intense experience that it seemed much longer, however. Our host's passion for biodynamic methods and small-scale production were quite inspiring -- I would highly enourage anyone with an interest in spending some time in France in the autumn to look up The Domaine des Grottes in Beaujolais!

It was interesting to see the range of people involved in the harvest. For the traditional (non-organic) growers, some of the harvesting is done mechanically now. But most of it is done by hand -- mostly by 20-something workers, many of whom travel by caravan or truck from seasonal worksite to site. Their work days are much longer than the shifts I put in as a "WOOFer", finished each evening by a gathering in the parking lot of the local farm cooperative -- relaxing with cheap bottles of wine; the tradition is to make a wish before spending your cork flying into the crowd. On the one evening I dropped in with the friend of one of our hosts, there were probably 200 young people sitting in the parking lot. It was quite the scene.

Back on our organic farm, it was a smaller crowd, and a bit less rowdy, although the wine did free quite flowly -- a perk of helping out at a vineyard!

A few pictures follow:
-the beautiful "grappes" of "raisins" that we searched for
-pressing grapes by foot -- a first stage to bring out liquid
-preparing juice for filtering pasteurization with my lovely fellow WOOFers -- a British couple & a South African woman
-and various states of relaxation with our fellow pickers
-it's our host Romain who is playing the piano out in the vineyard, just as we finished the harvest on the last day -- a yearly tradition on their farm!

 

Le temps des vendages

The last week has been an immersion into harvest season at an organic vineyard and winery in the Beaujolais region of France. The first day, I had serious doubts about whether I would be able to handle the work for the two weeks I had arranged through the WOOFing program.

But after several days here, I can say that I have received such a warm welcome that I feel very privileged to be included in this yearly ritual. It is quite the experience. My hosts are a couple with a young son; however, there have been between eight and twenty people working and sharing meals together. It is such a tradition in this area that friends from across France have arrived for weekend work-bees --and several of the bunch speifically time their vacations to be able to join in.

Although cutting and harvesting grapes for most of the day isn't in itself something I find all that fun, there are perks! The rolling hills and quiet, the amazing night sky, the great compan, French practice, and of course; the food! We have shared in cooking on the quieter days a hours and enjoyed prepared gourmet food on the busy weekend. And even in the field, our snacks are quiet classy: wine, coffee, bread from the local bakery, dark chocolate and sometimes even mutiple varieties of cheese!

I am here for another week and, while I have no plans to move to a farm myself, it has been such an experience! Next post, I will include photos of the views and some of my new activities -- including crushing grapes by foot.

The journey begins...

Hello everyone!

I started my “European adventure” about five days ago, although it seems much longer already. I’d forgotten how tiring travelling can be, as so many simple tasks seem to be much more complicated in a foreign location.  I’ve had my share of ups and downs already, at the very beginning of this adventure of indeterminate duration – likely four to six months if my finances and my energy hold out. 

My choice to temporarily pack up my life for adventures “on the road” has seemed crazy on more than one occasion, both before I left and also during some of the stressful moments here. Surrounded by noisy Australian and British roommates in a Paris hostel, I wondered if I wasn’t too old for this type of travel.  Yet I’ve also experienced deep relief and satisfaction from numerous small encounters and minor accomplishments. I’ve had to spend quite a bit of time finding a solution to small problems, from the fact that my “universal” electrical converter doesn’t work with my laptop charger, to understanding European technology in bathrooms and on public transit. I expect that some of my logistic challenges will smooth out as I resolve technical issues, but I know the continual appearance of new challenges is part of what makes travelling so challenging –and rewarding!

I’ve had a number of lovely surprises. For one, my experience of Paris was an improvement on my stay there back in 1997 (!); the metros were less smelly than I remembered and people seemed happy to speak to me in French, rather than switching to English. Despite my strong accent, my intervening language-learning efforts have paid off, I suppose. Someone even asked if I was from Quebec, which I took as a complement, given my mangled accent.  As much as I found the tourist crowds at popular sites in Paris rather overwhelming, I do think it seems like a very liveable city: human-scaled, with well-organized transit, and many attractive public spaces. I also think it’d be a great place to vacation again if/when I have an unlimited budget!

 I realized that some stereotypes do have a strong basis in reality – French people really do frequently walk around carrying baguettes!  And so far, I’ve found only three items that are cheaper here than back in Canada – but they’re fantastic items. Wine, fair-trade chocolate, and even better: cheese. I almost fell over when I saw the prices in the cheese section in a supermarket – less than one-third of what I’d find at home. I’ve also appreciated how helpful many French people have been, whether offering patient explanations in technology stores, offering directions, and my favourite, the kind man who offered me his seat when I was hauling my big backpack from the airport after arriving in Paris.

Now that I’ve arrived in Lyon, in south-central France, I’ve felt like my travels have followed more of the pathways I’d envisioned. I experienced an excellent guided tour today, through ruins of a Roman theatre and “traboules”, hidden passageways in the medieval section of Lyon. More to come on Lyon’s history and status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site… I have some more exploring to do!