In the TGV speeding north
toward Paris. Fields of ripe pale-gold wheat punctuated by lines of bushy
trees, the occasional village ith tints of grey and ochre,. Earlier, as we
raced through Provence, there were fields of sunflowers, facing east and aglow,
and the shining golden straw stubble of freshly harvested wheat, and then rain
in Lyon at our brief station stop. The sun is back out now, the colours the
slightly dull green of full summer, the grasses by the verge already yellow and
drY.
I was sorry to say good-bye
to the little stone gite this morning just before dawn, and to its owner, the
graceful Elsabeth. I’d be happy to return. Things I’ve learned: Not to buy
olives without tasting them, ever (I bought olives de Nyons at Tarascon market
that looked fine, and I love Nyons olives, but were tired and tasteless); to
get up before dawn to catch earliest light and coolness, a truth I know from
elsewhere but needed to be reminded of; tht a simple sandwich of good baguette
buttered with good ham is better than almost anything; that I would rather be
in a town or a city, to people-watch and wander, then driving through
countryside, however lovely; that cherries in Provence can be as delicious and
amazing as Ontario cherries; that a good religieuse still tempts me where other
sweets and pastries do not; that I really enjoy the polite phrases and “formules”
in France that grease the wheels of everyday - “bonne journee Madame” on
leaving a shop etc.; that citron presse is still my preferred drink at a café,
by far.
And so, in the TGV, which
somehow has no wi-fi, a curious omission in this ultra-modern efficient France,
we’ve made our last stop; the next one is Charles de Gaulle airport, where
there’ll be a bit of a dash to Air Canada.
I bought a book for the
plane, this year’s winner of the Prix Femina, which so far is wonderful. It’s a novel by Patrick Deville called Peste
& Cholera, set across the first half of the twentieth
century, in France and Vietnam, about a medical researcher who worked with
Pasteur. I am already engrossed and enchanted.
Now posting this from the
airport, before boarding the plane.
Adieu belle France…
1 comment:
nice post.
i like it
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