Bonjour mes amis! I am writing this post in the orange moonlight of Blars, France...a place that is surely magical, to say the least.
We left Valgiano on Wednesday morning, traveled to La Spezia later that day and hung out at Cinque Terre for two nights. We then had two FULL days of train travel to Blars and we are now with an adorable couple, Lindsay and David, in their dream-like French countryside.
Before I delve into our new spot, I'll go back a little...
Valgiano was, as you could probably gauge from my last post, utterly amazing. It's like I found that piece of me that I misplaced and everything came together. The robust laughter each day, the ridiculous conversations in broken English, Italian, and even Arabic in the vines each morning, the shared cooking at lunch and dinner, the hard work....everything was so beautiful and I am entirely grateful for my time there. I sent a few bottles of wine to the states and am currently carting with me a liter of what I believe may be the best olive oil on earth (from the Valgiano olive trees). The people I met there will be with me always and each one shared such a unique light and perspective. I had countess moments there where I would stop what I was doing, take a full breath, look around and just think to myself, "what?! am I really here, doing this, experiencing this?". Such joy. Eating cherries off the tree around the corner from the local bar, dipped in honey extracted by a guy at the farm...eating honey right from the comb, watching salami being made, helping gut a rabbit to eat for dinner (a rabbit that was alive just 10 min. earlier), reaching across the table to pour new friends wine, dipping bread in fresh olive oil, laughing about the most random things, playing African drums at a village cook out, and so so much more. I feel like the luckiest person to be a part of all of this and it makes me realize this is what it's about. This is life. Engage and do what feeds your soul. It was definitely a bit sad to part with the community, but I'd rather leave it that way....it was a pure pocket of bliss and the perfect way to kick off the Euro-farming voyage.
"I don't understand this story of intimidation"---> direct quote from a special friend I made in Italy...will delve into that later. Quite profound, really.
Once we arrived in La Spezia, we decided to look into trains to Blars, France, our next destination. We assumed it was a hop skip and a jump away from where we were (hey, it was only a few inches on the map!) but, alas, it proved to be an 18+ hour train journey. We initially freaked out a bit at the prospect of being stuck on a train for so long so we looked into flights. Flights were about 600 euros...definitely a no-go....and nobody in Italy would rent us a vehicle. So, train it was!
To spare you the details, we had two long, long, long..oh, looooooong, days in countless hot, muggy, stuffy trains and finally made it to Blars last night around 9pm. We were in high spirits though!
David, a wonderful Scottish man, picked us up in his huge white van and brought us right to a BBQ where his wife, Lindsay, and friends were sipping on wine (of course) and munching on everything delicious. Veggies, homemade dips, homemade BBQ sauces on ribs. Wow, just what we needed after our journeys. The ride from the train station in Cahors to the tiny town of Blars was a dream. I've never been to this part of France and it is incredible. Truly something you'd see in a movie. Much like Lucca (Valgiano), the architecture dates back to Midieval times and it absolutely beautiful. The labor that went into these structures is difficult for us to grasp today. Everything is made of thousands of small stones and they are so old that moss covers much of it and often there are wild, colorful roses climbing up the exterior walls and toward the open sky. The landscape reveals patches of farm land and small houses here and there. The life they live is simple and pure. Everything people use comes from the earth. Solar powered panels on houses, water mills, natural "pools", etc.
After the BBQ Lindsay and David (and their two dogs Benny and Alba!) drove us to their home. This is one of the greatest places. I want to post pictures, but they don't even do the place justice. The tree photo at the beginning of this post is from a walk we went on after working today. Anyway, the life they have made for themselves here is something I greatly admire. Their garden is like a fairy tale.....every vegetable, fruit, flower you can dream of! Normandy horses neigh in a pasture next door and frogs croak from the ponds.
After a wonderful night's rest in our adorable chalet and a breakfast of fresh bread and homemade jam (and coffee, finally!), we spent the morning tackling rampant weeds in the vegetable garden (primarily in the carrot patch...fun fact: plant marigolds with you carrots, the carrots will thrive). After a few hours, Lindsay called us over for lunch and we all chatted for quite a while over vegetable soup, salad, and an array of delicious chutneys/mixes made by Lindsay. Oh yes, I will be learning so much from this wise-on-many-levels couple. They make everything from scratch and are incredibly knowledgeable about gardening and just natural, wild life/ecosystems in general. I plan on saturating as much as I can and coming back with countless recipes (already made gnocchi from scratch in Italy!) and a green thumb. There's no reason not to make/grow everything yourself. Oh, I will also be a beekeeper. Obviously. I'll write more about that later, but my seed of a passion for bees has really grown in Europe. They kept hives at Valgiano and Lindsay and David have hives here. Bees are such fascinating, intricate, and sustainable creatures and they're fairly easy to keep. And fresh honey? Nothing beats it.
After lunch we picked gooseberries (and ate a few along the way...so plump, sweet, tasty!) and will be making jam tomorrow. How...cool.
I am so excited about our time here in France. The people are lovely, I actually speak the language (what a relief) and the work is entirely different. We'll be working less hours here (4-6 per day), leaving us time for the many local hikes, cave spelunking (YES!), biking, and more. I just cannot event tell you how fortunate I feel. The Universe is so generous....it's true, ask and you shall receive. This trip has already surpassed any expectations I had and I am growing in ways I never expected.
It's become clear to me that this is how I need to live, on some level at least. I want to grow my own food, make my own honey, build my own furniture, construct my own home (or refurbish, etc).....it's all about going back to the way humans used to live; the way we are meant to live. In air that's clean, on soil that's untouched by pesticides, gasoline, and pollution....with a community of people who share your values, etc.
This is only our second night in France, so I will have much more to write as the days pass.
Again, the dirt beneath my fingernails and the thorn scratches from the gooseberry bushes, I am a happy happy girl writing this post. Things that once intimidated me, stirred up fear within, or deflated my confidence, have vanished. When you're in the country and doing work that really matters, one recognizes the stories they've created for themselves....the stories that tell us we're not good enough, we need more, or that we must strive for something better. Fabrications of a wandering mind. No, we don't need these and they only serve as black magnetic holes of negativity. This air here is cleansing and my black holes are gone. I'm working with the soil, helping locals with their everyday chores, cultivating true friendships, and learning far more than I could in a classroom or in front of a computer.
More to come, friends! Chin chin (cheers) to life!
<3
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