La Source - Balance and Simplicity!

Their website states that: “La Source is a unique green ski, yoga and adventure sports lodge in Samoens, the French Alps, 1 hour from Geneva. The designer eco-renovated 1865 farm has been described as a ‘Hip 21st Century Commune’! Founded on principles of sustainability, inter-connection, and personal growth, La Source is a place where you can tune in to your own beat and just ‘be’!”



I was just as happy to ditch ‘Corporate Christy’ back in Holland. Time to just ‘be’...as the ‘real’ me! A week to get back to nature, out of the city chaos, away from light pollution obscuring the stars, where the air is fresh and the sound of cowbells chimes through the fields. And hey – you can always use a little more cowbells!

La Source runs its weeks from Sunday to Sunday. Not wanting to miss an opportunity to check out a new city, I flew to Geneva on Friday night and stayed through to Sunday mid-day. Friday night wasn’t much. I flew in, took the 10min train journey into town and headed straight for the hotel. A little research ahead of time with Google-Street-View paid off since I didn’t want to look like I didn’t know where I was going when I was arriving late in the evening and was walking with all of my bags the 300m to the hotel. Of course, a little research ahead of time might also have tipped me off that the view from my room to the street would provide a unique vantage point to watch all of the prostitutes at work.

I wandered around town all day Saturday in the warm sun. I packed for my trip on a grey day in the Netherlands and regretted not packing lighter clothes! Geneva is a beautiful little city. The lake and the Jet d’Eau feature prominently in the city. Runners, cyclists and beach-goers all took advantage of the sunny day that I was there. I made sure to check out St. Peter’s Cathedral in the middle of the old town and was impressed with the views from the top of the bell tower. That was a climb worth doing!


Sunday I hopped on the train to check out the Red Cross Museum. I got off at the Nations stop and saw the front of the UN headquarters. I walked along Avenue de la Paix and into the museum. It was quite an interesting find. I was interested to know how it started and what projects it is involved in now. The room with all of the orphans from Rwanda absolutely broke my heart though.

At 3PM on the Sunday, I met Chris and Duncan at the Jazz Cafe at the airport. Veronica joined us and we were off to La Source in Samoens, France. The car ride only took an hour and I got to know the 3 of them a little better before meeting Chrissie and Julian plus Harmon, Glen and Saskia and the kids once I got there. Initially I thought I would have to share my room but there were only 4 of us guests there that week so I got a room to myself. Yippee.

The town of Samoens is absolutely adorable. It kind of reminds me of Canmore since it’s a ski town in the winter and a climbing/hiking town in the summer. Being there the first full week of September meant that most things were closed though. While some things are open another couple of weeks, it was quickly going into hibernation mode until the start of the ski season mid-December.

The meals at La Source were amazing! They serve organic and vegetarian meals, often with ingredients from their own garden. Debbie the chef made some delicious meals and it felt like we were at a 5 star resort. I took some notes and am inspired to try a few when I get home, particularly the butternut squash risotto. Lekker!

Activity-wise, I had expected to do more than I did. Initially I was going to go canyoning, biking, hiking, etc. I was still really active but I kept it more simple. I did yoga 5 days in a row with Saskia and crew. I was mildly reluctant as a non-yoga-gal but the classes were nice, especially the first which we had down at Lac Bleue after a hike down the hill. The other classes were in the chalet. I’m not sure how much I’ll keep it up but was pleased to have discovered some new stretches to help me with my flexibility. I also picked up some interesting balance and breathing exercises.

I went walking, hiking and running too. The running I did from town where it was flat. I was just getting over a nasty head-cold and I live in Holland where it’s flat, so what can I say?! I wasn’t up for running from the chalet up in the hills! Hiking around in the hills was okay because I went slow and steady! I did a couple of walks on my own which was good for me and helped me clear my mind while keeping my quiet. I also went with Veronica, Chrissie and Julian up to a back-country hut in an Alpine meadow. It was stunning! And the stars! One of the kids who was up there with us told her dad she’d seen the Milk Street...love it!

The one adventure I did sign up for was the ‘Acro-branche’ or ropes course up in the trees. It was so fun. I was strapped in with a harness and two ropes, like with a via-ferrata, so I never felt that I wasn’t safe. Still, there were times where bravery was called for. Jumping from some platforms to others, going on the zip-wire across the lake or inching along a horizontal pole was tough but doable. I had to do the ‘walk of shame’ from one of the ‘jeux’ though. I think I thought about it for too long and couldn’t jump across the platform to the net on the other side. Ah well!

I only read a little bit and only got through a few Sudoku’s. I think I’d expected more down time but like the meerkat I can be, I was too interested in knowing what was going on with everyone else that I tended to be more social than I’d planned. I obviously needed more time away! A week just wasn’t enough. Fortunately I noticed that I’d stopped having work dreams and was having far more interesting dreams (not that I remember them right now!). Dream-time is NOT for work anyway but it had been pretty heavy for the past several weeks as evidenced by my dreams, my headcold and another bloody cold-sore on my face. Cripes!


It was a successful week in terms of putting certain things into perspective. Saskia, Chrissie and Julian proved to be great role models and sounding boards. One thing I was reminded of was that I am a country-kid at heart. I live in the city now because I am on my own but I really belong in a rural setting. I think there’s a hippie in me trying to get out but my corporate self seems to be the boss right now. A change is in order and soon. I need to implement simplicity. I need to simplify my current life so that I can live on less. I need more balance. I’m getting caught up in an artificial lifestyle and I’m not sure sustaining it wouldn’t be at the expense of my happiness. Lots to think about...

De Retour...

So I’m back in Den Haag.  I still feel amazed that this is ‘home’.  SUCH a pretty city.  Really, really. 

It was a fairly chill trip back from Montpellier.  I walked from Rue Gambetta through the Polygone to the Place de l’Europe where the 1.50Euro shuttle bus picked me up to take me to the airport.  I could resist a couple of cups of coffee and a pain-au-chocolat for the road to enjoy with my book on a terrasse one last time.  The flight from Montpellier to Paris was the longest of the two legs at just over one hour.  Paris to Amsterdam was about 45mins maybe?  Too bad because somehow I got bumped to business class.  Why does this only happen on hour long flights (once before from Calgary to Vancouver).  Not that I’m complaining but it would be just so much more delicious if it was over an ocean!

So yesterday morning I happened to wake up relatively early and went down for breakfast where I indulged in crepes, tarte au poire, a croissant, homemade jams and coffee by myself.  I was just wondering what I was going to do with the day when I heard an ‘’Oh, thank God’’ and looked up to see Deanna!  She’d had a migraine the night before and couldn’t make it to the hotel but had no way of letting me know.  They’d found me that morning and it was all good.  She’s resourceful, that girl.  The last time I saw her I was walking down a road in Goa in India and I heard a ‘’Chriiissssttttyyyy” go by as some crazy blonde chick whizzed by on a motor bike and then did a U-turn to sidle up to Jocelyn and me.  We’d made loose plans to meet; she knew the day and rough location where I’d be – I hadn’t had a chance to get any more details to her.  Didn’t matter!

Our reunion this year in France was a bit longer but not much.  We spent most of Saturday together in Carcassonne in the castle and around the ramparts.  I met her boyfriend, Steve, and the 3 of us started out with a coffee up in the old town.  We all went in to the castle to check it out.  It was pretty impressive.  As a Canadian, I’m always impressed with how old things are in Europe but I was pleased to see that Steve, from England, was also impressed.  The original 4^th century enclosure was still protecting the city during a siege in 1209.  After 1226, the city was fortified by a second enclosure, nevermind the moat!  During the life of the defences around the castle, it was never taken.  It’s no wonder!  I learned a whole bunch of new words on this tour like barbican and machicolation!  You didn’t want to mess with those guys!

It was such a warm hot day that after the castle we wandered over the old bridge and then bee lined it to the first ice cream shop we could find.  It was a nice way to end a short but sweet visit.  I do wonder where I will meet up with Deanna next!!!

Humility Reigns

This morning I went through a full range of emotion from pride to annoyance to defensiveness to boredom to doubt to introspection. In my head, I am bilingual. I have known French for 29 years (holy crap!), it is in me. Or is it? It seems that I have neglected it for the last decade and I am seeing the consequences of that in the form of a disconnect between my perceived ability in French and my actual ability. Oh man!

I am tripping over words, genders, tenses and accordances. Sigh. This used to be so much easier. This is a truly humbling experience. Then again, life is all about learning and continuing to do so. As for the French, it seems that a week won’t be enough to dust off the cobwebs in my brain! Would I ever love to live in France for a year or two! Or maybe Québec (how I love Montreal!)? Or maybe join a local Alliance Francaise? Or maybe watch more French TV? It's important enough to me that it'll be worth the effort to keep up and work on. It's a skill that needs honing, it’s just a bit rusty right now!

A pleasant afternoon was had at the beach today though. Nicole and I hopped on the bus to take us to La Grande Motte beach, a beach a bit further out and, from the map – what looked like the last stop for bus 106. An hour later we realized that we may have missed our stop – it was only supposed to take 45 mins to get there. That’s the trick with the ‘’next stop’’ button on buses – they only work for those who know the route! Instead we spent a couple of hours at Le Grau Du Roi beach - no problem. It had lots of sand. It had the sun. It had the 1000’s of scantily clad bathers you would expect on a hot day in ‘Southern France’. Both Nicole and I looked at each other and knew this wasn’t exactly our scene. Still, we managed to find a spot and relax for a bit. I waded in the La Golfe d’Aigues-Mortes which was lovely despite the film of sunscreen on the water’s surface. It sure did the job to cool me down and the popcicle we had afterwards did too!


As a result of all of the carbohydrates we’ve been eating, my ‘bread-baby’ couldn’t be hidden while in my bikini. Sigh. Good thing we’ve been walking everywhere and running in the mornings. Man, I don’t know how the French ladies do it. They have bread and cheese every day and they all look fabulous! Well – tonight we opted for our 3rd ‘picnic’ in a row at our French pad. The place is really cute – the owners are obviously artists. Oh – today I learned the French word for ‘gezellig’. It’s ‘douillet’. So there we go! Ici, c’est douillet! We ate upstairs on the térrasse and did some homework. What we get out of this week is a direct result of what we put in after all! Alors, en conclusion – aujourd’hui était une bonne journée mais maintenant je dois faire dodo. Je suis fatiguée!

Favourite French expression learned today: métro-boulot-dodo et pédalo-boulot-apéro!

Je n’aime pas le subjonctif!

Today was a longer day at school; we had two hour and a half classes in the morning and one hour and a half class in the afternoon. Boy – did I ever have flashbacks to junior and senior high today. It seems you always go over the same things in French classes: when to use the imparfait vs. the passé compose tenses and practice of the use of the subjunctive tense. I honestly believe that the only reason I know anything about verb tenses is because I studied French and we would go over grammar all the time. We didn’t learn much about the conditional tense or about past participles in English class, that’s for sure! Verb conjugation itself is relatively easy for me but when to employ which tense? Yuck! And, yes, this is how I chose to spend my vacation!
In the second and third classes today we had debates, one on the controversial topic of banning bullfights in Spain, one on the belief in superstitions. Even in English, I still struggle in debates. Just call me Miss Gray (vs. Black and White), or Ms. Fence Sitter, or Madame Ambivalent; I find it difficult to choose one side and really fight for it. I see both sides. Whaddya do? Come on – can’t we meet in the middle?
It turned out to be a bit of an endurance test for some of the classes today but at the same time the day did pass by fairly quickly. I’m learning a lot and am meeting some very interesting (and young!) individuals who are making interesting choices in their lives. I really wish I’d done this years ago. Why didn’t I? The answer is likely “because there are a million other things I love to do”. In that case, I’m glad I’m doing it now. I am thrilled that I have found some way to combine travel, meeting new people, learning and even a little summer sunshine too! Life is just so full of fun things to choose from! I pinch myself that I am lucky enough to have such rich and enjoyable experiences.

Gezellig!

Day 1 of classes is over at Accent Francais here in Montpellier. I am glad I’ve signed up for this. My thoughts wander back and forth between wishing I’d signed up for longer and thinking that five days will be just right.
My class is made up of 9 people, 8 of whom are fairly quiet! They are a mix of people from Russia, Poland, China, Palestine and Germany. They are a mix of levels. They are a mix of ages. It’s really interesting finding out how they heard about Accent Francais, how long they are staying for and why they are studying French.

Today was a short day of classes, 10h-13h15. Nicole and I were starving by this point and not knowing the city any better, ended up sitting at a cafe that was only so-so to stave off the “hangries”™(!). Later on in the day we got a tour of the city as part of the welcome package put on by the school. Prior to the tour, neither of us were convinced that the city had much to offer. Fortunately, about half an hour in to the tour and a few zigs and zags later, we found several lovely little areas in the heart of the historical part of town. We’re both looking for ‘gezellig’ and some of the smaller squares really do have a cozy feel. It seems that we are both aligned on our ‘gezellig’ rating scale!

A la campagne, part deux

Nicole suggested a day trip on Sunday. Perfect. It meant picking her up in the city of Montpellier. Gulp. Having learned my lesson about planning ahead, I did some homework. After studying Google Maps to figure out where her hotel was in combination with the address programmed into the GPS, I thought I was set. I didn’t count on all the construction. Lord help me! I think I just need to accept that driving in unknown cities is a source of stress. I don’t know why I care or get so bothered, but I do. The sooner I come to accept and embrace this fact, the better.
So GPS lady wanted me to turn gauche and droite right into roads that were closed off for the construction of tram line #3. At least she could recalculate the route a couple of times but after driving around and seeing the same landmarks a second then third time, I pulled over and made a phone call. Nicole – I don’t know where you are and I don’t know where I am but I cannot drive to you. Please put me out of my misery – I am NOT having fun anymore!
Not a great start to the day but I eventually found her and having a real person as co-pilot made a world of different. We slowly snaked our way through the mess and were soon on our way to have a day in the countryside. We ended up going to the Pont Du Diable - which is where I’d spent quite a bit of time the day before en-route to St. Guilhem le Desert - an absolutely amazing little town that was a great find! While I’d stopped at Le Pont for a drink and some lunch, I kept wishing I’d had my swimsuit so I could join all the swimmers at this wildy popular summer spot. It is absolutely a stunning location along the Hérault River where the cliff walls are carved out and a wide bend makes for a pleasant beach area. THIS is what summer vacations are all about! The next day I couldn’t resist taking Nicole there so we could get in and test the waters.
After a wonderfully lazy and relaxing couple of hours in the cool waters and on the rocky shore, we hit the road for Pézenas, one of France’s most beautiful towns, to grab dinner. The clouds had been building all day so we got caught in quite the storm. With all the rain we sought shelter on the high street, where we mananged to fit in some shopping before stopping for dinner. We’d both eyed this cute little restaurant in our reconnaissance tour of town; it was very gezellig! Galettes for both of us. Yum!
Based on the morning’s nightmarish attempt at navigating the city, the thought of returning the car weighed heavily on me on the drive back to Montpellier. The construction in the city in combination with GPS-lady’s unawareness of the ‘new’ highways made for an interesting combination between suspicion at her directions and necessary trust in where she told me to go. Amazingly, we made it into town to the car rental return fairly easily. With Nicole as co-pilot, she was able to spot the place to turn to drop off the car. Finding the key drop location was another story!

Reflections on some lessons learned.

I must first start by tipping my hat to an amazing lady. My Grandma’s 95 years old today. Although I’m 8 hours ahead and it’s only 10 past midnight, I’m sending her birthday wishes. Ninety-five years is quite the accomplishment.
I’m sitting in the dark, around the pool at Le Patio 34 with a glass of rosé handed to me by Stéphane, the hotel owner. Could he tell I was frazzled and that I needed a drink? Well, no matter, I’m now officially on vacation and it is desperately needed!
So a couple hours into my adventure and what have I just learned? Well, playing-it-by ear travel is fun. True. Unfortunatley, playing-it-by-ear travel can also be expensive. Sigh. I didn’t book ahead for the rental car and I arrived at the Montpellier airport at 11PM tonight. I got the last car, a medium size and will pay roughly 300 Euros for two days. Ouch. That’s worse than Iceland and I thought THAT was expensive! Still – I am an advocate of going where the wind-blows you and not overplanning. I just want the flight and the first night’s hotel booked. After that – let the wind blow!
Another thing I’ve learned is that my efforts to fight my way through the learning curve of learning to drive a manual transmission car were worth it all those years ago. When I sat down in the rental car tonight and looked at the stick shift, I took a moment to appreciate that it wasn’t a problem for me. By contrast, I know several otherwise competent and capable people who simply cannot drive anything but an automatic. Knowing how to drive a stick certainly makes things easier when renting cars internationally and opens a lot more doors to seeing and doing things off the beaten path.
What else have I learned? Well, turns out I have joined the ranks of those who rely on GPS’s to get around. Part of me feels that they encourage laziness and they dull people’s ability to follow road signs and read maps, but that part of me was in the minority tonight when I showed up to the car rental place with nothing more that the address of the hotel ready to key in to that pretty handy little device that I have such mixed feelings over. However, when you’re on your own and you have no co-pilot, the company of What’s-Her-Name is better than nothing when trying to find the way.
I made it to the hotel in the dark eventually. It was rather tricky to find but I ‘tourner-ed a gauche’ when she said and took my foot off the accelerator when I ‘’depasser-ed la vitesse limite’ a couple of times! I’m here, it’s warm and summery even after midnight. I’m definitely on vacation!