Travel is joy. Art is passion.
“He who would travel happily must travel light.”~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (native to Lyon)
June 25, 2010
Today is the day I fly to France! It is a dream I have had for years - one of the first places I ever wanted to go when I first thought about travel. A friend recently asked me, “How long have you been planning this trip?” to which I responded: “Since I was 15!”
Why has it taken me so long? I had
planned to do this when I was in high school, then again when I was 25
and in Perú, then, well ... Life happened. A really good life, with
beautiful daughters, a good marriage, wonderful friends and
experiences. But I let Life just “happen”. Not a lot of planning, not
much focus on how I wanted my Life to be, just doing my best to enjoy what Life brought my way. I could think with my mind about what I’d like Life to be, but never truly believed that I could create my Life the way I want it to be. That is what I am working on now.
Today is
a perfect day in Maine. The air sparkles, the trees and birds so
vibrant with life, the sunshine clean and invigorating. It’s a day that
portends an amazing future. I’m so excited!
The plane
descends as the sun rises. My iPhone says it’s midnight .. well, in
Maine. At best there was about four hours of broken resting - I can’t
possibly call it sleep. This is always the most surreal part of travel
for me: the plane ride. Time is warped and the elevated white noise,
even with ear plugs, dulls my brain. The body aches in new areas - not
pleasant. And I cannot truly sleep unless I’m comfortably horizontal.
Clouds
fascinate me always - they are a transformed texture from above. The
terrain below takes on a new aspect. In unexpected places, when I think
we are over utter ocean, I see clusters of lights and graceful curves
of shorelines far below. I want to know where they are, but have no
accurate map to clarify. The one in the seat-back booklet is so small
it is of no help. Beyond the clouds on the horizon, the light never
totally fades. We are too high and too far north. The deep sienna
horizon fades upward to indigo, pin-pricked by sparkling planets. Four
hours later the brightness develops joyfully again as the sun rises.
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| my first sighting of the Alps |
Once over the border into France the same tiny hamlets looked as if someone had taken a fistful of Monopoly houses and just tossed
them toward the gully. The buildings had then jumbled down to settle
organically within the crevasse of the valley. Natural and free. France!
By the time I arrived in Lyon I was beyond exhausted. Why is it that someone who so loves to travel actually has trouble in the voyage itself? I was greeted by a taxi gentleman (and he was) with a sign with my name (part of the ESL school package). We drove through the sunshine for a half hour. He stopped once so I could gather a small, wild, scarlet poppy. I asked about the trees, the wheats in the fields, the sign names, as I marveled “I am in France!”
Arrival at my host home continued in my mental fog. The host father helped me to my room, his wife as warm as the French sunshine, their son polite and open. I settled best I could, discovered my roommate (a tiny mouse) and felt quickly at ease. We chatted some in my brain-muddled French and I collapsed for my first of many naps. A light supper, quick trip to the grocery store (reverse that), and a promenade along the Rhône in the evening, before collapsing into bed. My spirit sings with the joy of being in France!
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| my roommate le souris |
The blog and photos keep me busy. They hold my experiences safe, but as they are published, I am cautious about what I say. Of course, the majority of my experiences are wonderful! My French language class is good and my host family comfortable. It surprises me that many adults here still smoke cigarettes - usually as they walk down the sidewalk.
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| view from my bedside window |
I am NOT complaining! (simply explaining)
Lyon info *
[apologies for the low resolution photos .. these were transferred from an old website and will be updated to high resolution ASAP]
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