2021-09 solo trip: Ger, It, Fr
2021-09-05 — 2021-10-03
–The big trip has ended and it is all in this blog–
In one month, from Nuenen through Germany and Italy, to my brother Michel and his wife Maria in Torri in Sabina north of Rome and then further with no plan other than to cross over to France’s Riviera and riding in the Camargue and meeting up with Conny and Jos in Le Luberon.
IT WORKED !!!!!
Returned Sunday 3rd of October. With a bag full of beautiful memories and this blog to show for it.
I hope you enjoy being a little bit with me on this trip. It was nice for me to have the feeling that it may have brought us all a bit closer together.
2021-09-05
First a short stop-over at Gerard’s 88th birthday.
And then on to Kelkeim (near Frankfurt) to spend some time with my dear friends Conny and Hervé.</P
2021-09-06
Nice sunny morning and a great lunch.
As you see this is a very primitive trip 😉
2021-09-07
This morning a nice hike through the woods through a gate in The backyard. The path there runs all the way to Brittany, France.
Then it’s time to be on my way to Dieter and Susanne on the Bodensee.
Warm welcome in Eriskirch.
Upon arrival we went off to the lake after picking up a few pizza’s
In a nature reserve close by the lake we spotted an entire beaver family
Now watching Soccer where the Dutch team just scored it’s fifth goal against Turkey.
2021-09-08
After an amazing breakfast Dieter and I went on our way for a 50km. bicycle tour with a break at the Bodensee where we met Susanne who brought a nice lunch.
Dieter is the KING OF SHORTCUTS.
Sometimes it was not a path at all.
At most a hiking trail where we had to lift our bikes over bridges and through the mud.
Susanne joined us at the shore of the lake and it was wonderful to rest and have a nice lunch and to go swimming in the lake.
2021-09-10
Today I travelled 454km. from the Bodensee all the way to Verdi country.
to an amazing campground in Salsomaggiore Terme “camping Arizona”.
I set up the tent
and drove off to Busseto to have my first nostalgic experience eating in one of our favorite restaurants.
It was both wonderful and also emotional to be back there by myself. So many sweet memories and a strong sense of loss.
Woke up this morning and baked my first egg and bacon on the wonderful Coleman stove that Kim fixed for me. It worked great and my neighbors in their amazing rooftoptent with a scooter in the back of their car where jealous of the smell.
Then off I went on my bike through that particular Po valley landscape. With fat earth and slightly run-down farms.
They do have amazing bike lanes in Italy, but not all of them very pleasant.
Sometimes it looked a lot like a Dieter shortcut.
After cycling through that rough farmland and eating at our favorite places
and meeting some very long-time acquaintances and sharer’s of Ralph’s Verdi passion I felt very good and had the feeling that this is what I had needed to do for a long time.
2021-09-11
In the morning I first drove the 25km to Busseto in order to meet with Armando. Another Verdi fan. As after packing up and going there it was time for lunch. I decided to return to our favorite restaurant, Il Vecchio Mulino, in Roncole Verdi. Upon arrival they informed me that I had paid too much the evening before which resulted in a completely free lunch this time. Very curious. It was all totally unexpected.
9-11 A memorable day. During my long trip 445km. from Busseto to Torri in Sabina the radio was reminding me constantly on that atrocity that happened 10 years ago. Time flies and I’m afraid it never totally heals all the wounds.
2021-09-12/13/14
A few very quiet days in Torri. Beautiful weather with a great view from my bedroom balcony.
Upon arrival at M&M’s (Michel and Maria) paradise we had a wonderful evening with great food and incredible wine from their own production.
During the day just lying by the pool with a nice book and a trip to a very nice little village where we had a great lunch.
In the evening dinner with vegetables from their own “orto”=vegetable garden.
And beautiful fish from a befriended fish monger.
Their 4 cocker spaniel puppies where too adorable
Today, 14th, we went to visit some very good friends of M&M who live overviewing lake Braciano. One of the 4 puppies is for them.
Tomorrow it’s off on my own. Planning to go to the coast and to Etruscan country.
2021-09-15
Today is the first day without any fixed destination. No friends, no family, just the vast unknown. Only last night I made the decision to stay a few days at lago Bolsena.
My brother went off to the airport to go to Amsterdam for a job and I went on my way for the rest of this adventure.
Checking the route I found that the woods of Bomarzo where almost on the way. Definitely worth a visit.
Hella S. Haasse found out about the strange attraction of that age old park
In her book “de tuinen van Bomarzo” she tries to unravel the mystery of who it was that around 1560 created this weird park and why. The statues in it are grotesque, scary and fascinating.
Everything in it is of an enormous size. (see my foot next to the statue’s)
In case you are watching this blog on something with a good size screen try to click on some of the pictures to enlarge them. The quality is worth it.
Then on to my camping spot for the next 3 days. I checked the web yesterday and thought this “camping Mario” sounded sympathetic. In no way could I have imagined what a great spot this is.
I definitely got the best spot available, although most of them are very nice and directly at the shore of the lake. But the few rosebushes and the amazing low overhanging fig tree make this something very special.
There even is a genuine fig tree in front of my tent with succulent ripe figs.
Yesterday I also suddenly realized that the riding stable Cornacchino is not too far away. 25yrs ago or so this was my first horse riding trail trip with Petra. The first of some 10 or more after that. It was a very special trip. Down the river “Fiore” to the sea stopping at many famous Etruscan sites, the only shower the waterfalls in the river. Sleeping in small tents. Swimming in the sulfurous rivers, with horse and all. I called the people last night and booked a full day trip for this Friday. They said to call me back to confirm. Pity that when they called they could not offer me a full day, just a 2 hour trip in the afternoon. Anyway, it will definitely bring back wonderful memories.
2021-09-16
Woke up after a great night with the waves rocking me gently into a deep sleep.
forgot the tablecloth … sorry Stephen
Got 50cents from the neighbor for a hot shower and had to borrow a sheet of toilet paper as well. But it all worked out and I made a wonderful luxurious breakfast on my coleman stove. Baked ham and egg. Some fresh Maremma mozarella seasoned with a great olive oil and some freshly ground black pepper. The croissant with cream was too much and is there waiting for me for tonight or tomorrow morning.
My brother had told me that his son Maarten had found this great restaurant on the shores of lake Bolsano. Turned out it was pretty close to my campground so I decided to cycle to it and have a late lunch there. Well Maarten, you definitely didn’t exaggerate. It was an amazing spot. Right on the beach. And …. I did find out that in Italy all the pretty young women go out for lunch alone, so I fitted in perfectly.
2021-09-17
My plan was to go to the “Cascate del Mulino” and then on to Cornacchino for my 2 hour ride in the mountains on a western saddle.
“Cascate del Mulino” are amazing springs of sulphuric waters form large ponds with a temperature of 37.5° C, creating free and open-air thermal “pools”. The main thermal waterfalls are the Cascate del Mulino, located on the grounds of an old mill, and the Cascate del Gorello. The large basin above the waterfall bestows a dreamlike atmosphere, especially enjoyable in the evening. Access to the pools and waterfalls are free. I remembered it from that trip from “il Cornacchino” to the shore long ago with Petra. We stopped there with the horses, dressed to swim, got in the waterfalls and had an amazing time.
The wind, however, was blowing so fiercely that I didn’t move from the campground.
Also because of it the entire internet was out so I couldn’t do nothing with this blog.
Just sat and read until it was time to leave for “Il Cornacchino”.
I was a bit early and was enjoying the nice memories that surfaced by seeing this place again. It was 25 or so years ago that I did a tour together with Petra here all the way along the river Fiore down to the beach. Sleeping in little tents in the middle of nowhere and visiting beautiful historical Etruscan monuments on horseback.
Il Cornacchino is a very laid back place to say the least.
No internet, even no telephone coverage. Lost to the world. Alone in the mountains with the nice horses and people that enjoy this.
As I remembered the great food they cook from their own produce I decided to stay for dinner. And it was great talking with the other horse lovers, digging up memories while drinking a nice wine which made me decide not to drive back to the campground and sleep in my car overnight.
“Il Cornacchino” Great spot on “Monte Amiata” in a wonderful nature reserve where some Maremma horses still run in the wild. When I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the toilet there were horses grazing all around my car under the dreamy light of the moon and abundance of stars. That was a strange sensation.
2021-09-18
This was quite an exhausting day. Sleeping on the mountain with the horses, driving back to the campsite through very bad and windy roads, breaking up the tent, deciding where to go next, planning a stop at a thermal bath area (which was full when I arrived there). I called the desired campground (but they had a siesta period between 12 and 16) and as it was only 2 o’clock. So I decided to visit the beautiful “Parque Tarochi, Tarot Park”, only half an hour from the campground, first.
I think one month is not enough for relaxed travelling. Setting up and breaking up is quite a chore each time, so I really should stay more than 3 nights in the same spot. Including the travel time it really doesn’t make for too many stops on the way. I was a bit too optimistic about it. On my next trip – which is already taking shape in my head – I will do this differently.
Here are an abundance of the pictures of this amazing art park The Tarot Garden (Italian: Il Giardino dei Tarocchi ) a “Sculpture garden” based on the esoteric tarot, created by the French-American artist Niki de Saint Phalle (1930–2002). She again was inspired by these grotesque statues of the Bomarzo garden and also by Gaudi. An interesting artist to find out more about. Far too many pictures I know …. I just couldn’t make a choice. Again …. don’t hesitate to click on them to see them in full …. they are worth it.
Aparently the artist lived in this mirror house while working on the park
I finally got to the campground …. totally waisted … My energy level was below zero. I realized that after the bowl of yoghurt with some rice crispies this morning at “Il Cornacchino” I didn’t drink nor eat anything. I decided to finally dig into this 2 day old cream filled croissant I had saved which gave me a bit of energy back. But setting up the tent was something I wasn’t looking forward to. In comes Isidre, the camping help from Ghana who must have seen me struggling and offered to help me. Together we fixed this in no time. That is also when I realized that I had left that critical part for connecting to a campground electricity net, hanging at the pole of my former campground. Damned … had to find another one. The campground didn’t have them for sale or rent or anything. Had to go to the nearest village, Pescia Romana, 10km. away and my car was not allowed to leave the campground at this hour. Anyway it already had the tent attached. So … in comes the bike. Battery in and off I went. That actually cleared my head. After finding the missing plug I passed by some great local famous butcher and bought some of the best Italian Prosciuto and sausages and had still a wonderful hour to relax in the tent with a nice cooled glass(plastic) of wine before going to bed for a refreshing night of sleep.
2021-09-19
Woke up totally invigorated this morning and went immediately for the 5min. walk over the dunes to the beach. Got myself a louncher with umbrella and storage box for €30,– a day and jumped in the amazingly clear sea for a nice swim. Then I went back to my tent for a nice breakfast at the campground bar next to my tent, and then got all the stuff I needed for a day at the beach.
Back at my lounger the weather had changed a bit. Very windy, cloudy, but still warm and no rain. Nothing you wouldn’t expect on an average Dutch beach day. I used the clamps I brought to fix the hamam (thanks Marianne) to the chair so it wouldn’t blow away and jumped back into that great sea water. Enjoyed my book “Mevrouw mijn moeder, by Yvonne Keuls” and had some wonderful relaxing hours. Jumping in and out of the water.
Turned out I didn’t need to worry about not getting a spot on a Sunday on a great beach as the pictures will show you. Obviously an average Dutch beach day is not an Italian favorite.
After the beach I settled in my tent behind my laptop with great expectations, for the zoom meeting we had scheduled at 18:00 hours with my beloved friends from our YKT (Yorktown, IBM, NY, U.S.A.)years.
Conny is so amazing to set this up from time to time so that we have been able to keep in touch through this “harsh” Corona time. It went well for almost an hour until the internet died on me. That was a pity. It is always such a treat to get in touch with them and to hear what everybody has been up to. I hope my blog will inform them a bit about my activities. I decided to have dinner at the camping bar/restaurant and when I came back the internet was working again and so I could finish my blog … hurray!!!!
2021-09-20
Today is again a heavy travel day. Break up from the Grosseto coast and on to Cinque Terre. I thought about the saying “The destination is not important. Important is the road you travel.” Well this road I travelled was definitely amazing. It showed all the aspects of Italy’s beautiful landscape. The destination was much more troublesome. Tried to call a campground for a reservation in the morning but they didn’t pick up the phone. As so far in this low season all campgrounds had ample space, I just decided to go to my chosen spot. Well … not a good idea … fully booked. As were all the other campgrounds in Levanto. I than understood that that is what it means when they do not pick up the phone. After some quick calls I found a spot that didn’t look too far away, but which took me an entire hour just to get there.
From my chosen campground “Camping 5 Terre” I had to go to “Camping Costabella”, next door to “The Sphinx”. Instead of just going back to the highway my navigator took me all over the mountain (that strange stretch you see on the map close to Monterosso al Mare). That road was soooo scarrryyy!!! Not more than a single lane with sheer drops hundreds of meters up and down. I wondered what I was to do in case of an uncoming vehicle. But I seemed to be the only crazy person on that entire stretch …. no wonder.
The campground from where I am now typing is great, however. A nice village, Deiva Marina, with a nice beach and a train station that takes you in 15min. to the center of the Cinque Terre and all it’s wonders. I’ll find out all about it tomorrow.
It was storming and raining a bit when I cycled to the recommended restaurant in the village. It was worth it.
2021-09-21
Some of you may have heard about “Cinque Terre” or even have visited it. It is definitely a very special place. 5 villages perched on the sides of quite a sheer mountain range that drops straight down to the clear blue Tyrenean sea. Today was a wonderful day. Sunny and warm. Perfect for a nice boat trip. This Cinque Terre area has several attractions. The 5 villages, included in the World Heritage List since 1997, are linked by interesting hiking paths along the side of the mountain with views over the ocean. Straight through vineyards and pine woods. I can only fantasize how nice it is, as hiking has never been a favorite activity of mine, so I opted for the hop-on-hop-off ferry boat experience. There is also a hop-on-hop-off train program. Driving to these villages is not possible, but the railroad has laid the tracks all along the edge of the mountain with long tunnels and very convenient schedules. The villages are known for their colorfulness and there is a very nice atmosphere as it has no cars and a lot of very fit people with hiking boots and walking sticks.
It needs a bit of organizing in order to find out the different possibilities to enjoy the area. I started out wrong by following the instructions of the campground lady. Cycled the 15min. to the train station, went to Levanto’s tourist office and found out that the last boat there left at 10am. They suggested to take the train again to the next station Monterosso as from there many more boats depart. And that worked like a charm. Came back to Levanto around 18:00 and was lucky that they did serve me food already at that time. Nice dinner and back to the station of my home town, Deiva Marina, and the bike back to my tent.
I must say that in my memory from many years ago when visiting this area with Ralph it was even more colorful than what I saw now. It looks like many building are in need for some fresh paint. Maybe Corona has made it difficult for this tourist area to keep up the standard.
The purple line is the train ride I took and the red is the boat. I circled the villages that I visited. BTW … if youclick on the image to open it, you get a much better quality.
Turns out I made over 70 pictures of this wonderland. I will try to choose the 10 best.
above on the right you can see the train
In these 2 pictures you can get an idea of how the hiking paths are laid out.
click on the link below and go through a slideshow of the pictures of Cinque Terre
see more pictures —- here —-
2021-09-22
Quite a day. A day of nothing. A day that I have been dreaming off and thought that it was only possible in my long ago youth. Nobody I know seems to have a day like this on their bucket list. But I always did, and after today I remember why. It goes like this:
1) Don’t get out of bed unless you absolutely have to because your bladder is in dire need.
2) Stay in your pajama’s and just fiddle around a bit. Shower, make coffee, Sit down and enjoy the scenery
3) Slowly get dressed as comfortably as possible.
4) Cycle to the close by “deSpar” and get stuff you need …. btw I wasn’t in a supermarket for a while but was again shocked by all the stupid food they offer there. I just wanted some yoghurt and muesli but all they had was filled with added sugars and stuff you don’t want to know about. I only found some stuff in the inimini bio department; pure oats, sunflower seeds, nuts and the best peaches ever in a stall outside. Then it was hard to find milk and yoghurt that were at all yoghurt and milk, but I think … I hope … I found it. Then back and make a great healthy and filling breakfast.
5) Do a small laundry load (that wasn’t on my list of favorite things to do, but I did it anyway)
6) Put on your bikini … or swimming suit … pack all you need for the beach and take the bike to go there.
7) Find a good spot on the beach. Position your hamam (thanks Marianne), beach chair, phone/camera, take out the book and don’t wait to jump in the clear blue sea water and lie on your back again and let yourself float. Small minus point …. the 1 meter stretch of uncomfortable pebbles that blocked the way to the surf. Second time I brought my Birkenstocks.
8) For as long as you can, just repeat …. swim/float, lie on your belly to rest, sit in the beach chair to read and look at the view … swim ….. etc. etc. until ….. again …. your bladder … I must have achieved at least 5 rounds, thanks to the filling breakfast and the foresight of not drinking too much … or anything at all, apart from one mug of coffee.
9) Cycle back. Get some of those great peaches at the stall in front of “deSpar”. Settle down. Ask your brother to play bridge ….. Don’t know why I did that …. but it was fun. I had some amazing sausage and prosciuto left over from that famous place at lake Bolsena and that, together with the peaches, made for a great meal while playing bridge with my brilliant brother.
2021-09-23
This is now already 2 days ago. 2 days of no wifi and possibility to work at this blog. Found out that I can make a hotspot with my phone. Off course I knew that, but never needed it. Now I do. It does give me a little less bandwith and data though so not that many pictures I’m afraid.
Thursday, 23rd was a day of just travelling. Long car drive until I finally arrived in Ste. Marie de la Mer at the tip of the Camargue. Beautiful place with too much to do and too little time. Have to come back here another time.
2021-09-24
Today a whole day on horseback through the Camargue. Together with two young French girls, 22, and the guide Joel, we set off at 10:30 towards the beach were we did some incredible long gallops along the shore.
2021-09-25
Today the weather was a bit cloudy. That is why I thought to take the car and drive to Arles and Aigues Mortes. Two cities that were highly recommended to me. Detached the car from the tent and set off but first had to fill the tank. In the village there was a lot going on. Turns out there was a Festival of Horses. Off course I couldn’t miss that. Drove back the car and took the bike into the city and enjoyed the festivities.
The horse crowd was gathered in the marketplace seated at a long table that had some interesting food on the paper plates. When asked they told me I could join in the feast of Bull meat, ratatouille, baked potato and wine from the tap for €20,– all you can eat. I didn’t see any other tourists joining in, but that didn’t stop me and I had some great French conversations with the locals.
I had seen what I wanted to see at around 2 o’clock and that still gave me some time to go and visit Arles I thought. Drove 45min. to get there but it was absolutely impossible to find a parking spot. Apparently that entire city just has one park house which was filled to the brim. Nothing I could find on the roads and everywhere strange and scary signs I didn’t understand. When at some point I ended up on the bridge to the other side of the Rhone again I decided to give up and drive back to Ste Marie de la Mer and visit the Ornithology Park on the way. That is a beautiful park. Full of pink flamingo’s. I made great pictures and video’s there that I will add here as soon as I have internet again.
more pictures here
2021-09-26
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
This morning, Sunday 26th, I planned a nice bicycle tour through the Camargue. It came highly recommended by many who visited this area so my expectations were high. It was a bit of a disappointment. The tour I had found on “Komoot”, an app that gets very good reviews made me end up in the slush and the mud without any possibility to follow it. It was hard to get back to a reasonable path and I had to stop in a puddle to wash some of the sticky clay off of the bike. Funny enough, in the middle of nowhere, there definitely was a sign to warn me not to follow that path.
After about two hours of solitude I came towards an area were I did see cars. That turned out to be “The Restaurant at the End of the Universe”, as I came to think of it. A great remote place that served a fixed fish menu for €40,– on Sunday lunch. That sounded great to me and in fact it was even more than that. Incredible food kept coming to my table. That made all the hardship of the disappointing bike tour more than worth the trip.
The mussels were definitely more yellow and more tasteful and creamier than what I find at home, although also quite a bit smaller.
Cycling back from there was easy going and uneventful. The promised wild Camargue horses and flocks of pink flamingo’s had taken the day off. I wonder what these tourists in those Safari cars were thinking when driving through this barren countryside for big money no doubt.
The weather was still so nice and as I had taken all the stuff for the beach with me I still spent an hour or so floating in that wonderful sea and reading, until the sun went under and the cool evening air urged me to go back to my tent where, after a shower and a change, I had a nice quiet evening playing bridge a bit with my brother again.
2021-09-27
Packed up the tent and cleaned it good,
as this is supposedly and sadly my last use of it on this trip. From here I will stay a few nights with Conny and Jos in the apartment they rented in a beautiful little village in the mountains of Haute Provence, Reillanne. From their the plan is to go and stay a few days in Lyon with my friend Régine and from there directly home. As I wasn’t up too early this morning I only just made it to vacate the plot at the required 12 o’clock deadline. 5 Minutes past 12 I was at the office. But …. that had closed already for lunch. No way to get out of the campground before 2 when the staff would come back. That gave me a few quiet hours of reading. At 2 the queue of people that needed the office was huge. Luckily I hadn’t moved from their since 12 so I was right at the beginning of the line. They opened the gate and off I went. I couldn’t leave the area without at least one famous city visit so I first went to Aigues Mortes. A wonderful medieval city still very much in tact. You can read more about it —-here—- .
Arrived in Reillanne just in time for the pizza with a nice salad in the apartment of Jos en Conny where I was going to stay for a few nights.
2021-09-28
We went to an incredible nature park. Park of Ocre. The region is very well known for its production of ocher paints. This park has been molded into incredible ocher rock formations. The little village of Roussillon in which the park is situation was also a gem.
You can see more images — here —
In the evening we walked the 2,5km. to a very nice restaurant.
It was pitch dark walking back up the hill to the village and we needed to put on the lamp of the phone in order to see where we were going and to warn off the cars that were passing us.
2021-09-29
I set out for a bicycle tour that I long had looked forward too. I meticulously planned it from the bicycle tour book of the tourist information of this area and matched it with my “Komoot”-app. It started out beautifully. Breathtaking rolling hills with beautiful views everywhere.
After about half an hour I ran into Jos and Conny at “Prieuré de Carluc” an old ruin of a monastery. From there we proceeded to Cérestes to have a nice capuccino. Off went Conny and Jos for their hike of the day and me to follow my tour. Problem was that because of this change of plan my navigator was out of whack. I tried to fix it again but it didn’t work very well. I decided to just follow my instinct and quickly planned a route that looked much like the one from before … or so I thought … (left is planned tour, right is what I ended up doing)
After about half an hour of bliss I ended up on some rocky slope. Muddy, rocky and steep. You see at the top of the right tour that I was going back and forth some slopes to find an acceptable path. In the end I decided to take the shortest path even though it looked gruesome. And gruesome it was. For 2km. nothing but mud and rocks and very very steep. Cycling was out of the question. All this way I had to push the bike with my right hand behind the luggage carrier of my bike. At some point I literally had to carry the bike completely. Every corner I saw had the promise of the end of the ordeal in it, but it took at least 5 of such corners before there finally was something that looked like a road that was actually bikeable.
It is difficult to give the right impression by the photographs. You do not actually get the feel of the steepness of this “path”. You do see that at some point I sort of gave up when my bike fell to the ground. It took a lot of conviction to pick it up again and to go on. What was most in my mind is my feeling that you never get into a situation that you are not able to handle some way or other, you just have to find the right mindset and proceed step by little step and at some point you end up at the other side.
After this adventure I was happy to come home and sit in our cozy communal terrace and drink a good beer and talk about what everybody had gone through that day. Jan and Elke, who also rent an apartment in our house, had a good story of the nice hike they did that day and after a few drinks none of us felt like going out for food. We invited Jan and Elke for dinner and we set out to gather up whatever food we got available. Jan and Elke laid the table and decorated it very nicely. I had a bottle of great bouillabaise I brought from the “Restaurant at the End of the Universe” and some pasta from Cinque Terre, “Trofie” and a pot of real Genovese pesto saus, mixed it with a good parmesan cheese and some roasted walnuts. Jos and Conny made amazing appetizers and a sumptuous salad with a hammhock they scored at a local delicatessen a few days earlier. For desert we had special cookies from Aigues Mortes. I decided to open one of the bottles of the amazing red wine my brother produces and great wine emerged from everywhere. A great evening with wonderful thrown together food and the best company.
2021-09-30
Today I was supposed to drive on to Lyon to stay with Régine for a few days. When I called her to finalize the plan she asked if she couldn’t come to Reillanne instead as she wanted to get out of the city. I checked with the owners of the house and they still happened to have a double room available. Beautiful “Chambre d’Hôte” with a lot of space and also a wonderful view of the village. She was going to arrive at around 18:00.
It is the 5th anniversary of Ralph’s death. I felt a bit down and was looking forward to a quiet day alone behind my computer working on my blog with the feeling of Ralph looking over my shoulder and being part of all those wonderful things that are coming my way. Conny and Jos had planned to go to the “Fondation Carzou” in the village Monasque to admire that amazing chapel decorated by the artist Carzou. As they planned to just go there and come back immediately after that, I decided to join them anyway — read more here — . That was a good decision. The paintings fitted my mood perfectly. So ominously depicting some of the atrocities we humans are capable off and still give a glimmer of hope for something better to come our way.
Régine arrived at about 18:00 and we both went to eat in a very nice restaurant: La Bergeronnette in Cérestes, something to remember if you are ever in that area.
2021-10-01
The plan is to drive to St. Michel d’Observatoire (a village with a famous observatory) and do a nice hike there and then have lunch in a restaurant at the market square where Conny and Jos had eaten a most delectable millefeuille desert on one of their former visits. Before the hike we decided to have a coffee on the terrace of that restaurant first and make a reservation. Turned out there was no millefeuille for lunch, but they could reserve it for us if we would come for dinner. That was a good plan. Gave us also a bit more time for the wonderful hike.
Before dinner we relaxed a bit in our house and talked with the other occupants. We saw that the terrace in front of our house was being transformed into a veritable theater. We were told that in the evening there was some poetry event going on there.
(You see the view of the terrace from the window of our room)
The dinner was indeed wonderful. The story I heard from Jos is that the chef, Paul Giraud used to be “Chef à domicile” (chef who cooked at your home) and was often flown in with the private jet of a local VIP to cook for them there. One day this VIP decided to help Paul start his own place and this ended up being “Auberge des Coupoles”. The food was indeed astonishing. Michelin star quality I thought.
After dinner coming home the terrace in front of our house was still booming with song and poetry and a great ambiance. After that great meal and a few very nice glasses of wine I felt rather brave and thought I could try and sing a French song on the occasion. This song “Dis, quand reviendras-tu” — See and here the composer Barbara sing it beautifully —.
The song has a special meaning for me. The text is all about badly missing somebody but deciding to go out and try to find other sources of joy and happiness. I found an OK translation on the web —read it here—, but not half as poetic as the French version is. I am almost ready with a Dutch translation, I may make a better English one as well.
2021-10-02
This was it ….. almost. Today I am leaving in the direction of home. As the entire trip would amount to some 1100km. I decided to cut that distance in half. Régine immediately offered for me to stay at her families house in Villié-Morgon. That is in the middle of the beautiful Beaujolais area where her family has some renowned vineyards. It was lovely there, such nice little villages and amazing views. The neighbor who takes care of harvesting their fields was so kind as to give me a little tour of the winemakery. I immediately knew that the wines had to be special as he talked about them with so much love and passion. I bought a dozen of the best varieties he recommended and have already tremendously enjoyed a few of them.
The wine cellar in Régine’s family house. It has some very amazing bottles.
More photographs of the Morgon area
But first we made a nice touristic stop-over in Fontaine-de Vaucluse
More photographs of Fontaine-de-Vaucluse
2021-10-03
Still more than 700km. to go. And this was the first time in an entire month that I had a very fixed deadline. I HAD TO BE in the theater “Het Speelhuis” in Helmond at 15:00hrs as then my friend David was performing there. David, www.davidhordijk.nl , is a young student who in his struggle deciding between a successful engineering career or an uncertain future as a pianist decided to go on a 1200km long hike from his home all the way to Finisterre (End of the world). It follows the Compostella route but goes a few km. further to the point at the seaside. For 4 months, walking all by himself with a tent in his backpack he had a lot of time to reflect. Today, October 3rd, he is going to play his new compositions and tell us about his adventure and how it has affected him.
It was tough to get ther in time. Got up at 06:00 to a lovely breakfast Régine had already prepared for us. Then left just a bit after 07:00. The weather was horrible, rain and storm and the traffic was not exactly smooth, but without a stop anywhere I only just made it.
The performance was wonderful. So special that David did this, had his piano brought to him to the end of the world where his friends hoisted it up the rocks for him to play his heart out. He did this for us again and showed the footage of the actual performance on 2 screens beside his grand-piano at the concert. It gave me goosebumps (kippevel).
What a fitting end to an incredible experience.