The last weekend in May a small group of 19 friends went camping and canoeing down the river in Ardèche. It was nothing short of amazing. The trip commenced with Marlène driving her car with Ben as front co-pilot, Kelly and myself captains in the back. We didn't get very far outside of Marseilles when a horrible noise starting coming from inside Marlène's vehicle. We pulled over to a rest stop, popped the hood, and watched in astonishment as her engine shook violently from side to side in a way that engines are not supposed to do, spewing awful mechanical sounds that automatically make you shake your head and say, " Oh nooooooooo....." Luckily Marlène has insurance, and we waited for the assistance to arrive. The driver of the flatbed tow truck informed us that Marlène's car was screwed, and that he could tow us back into town where we could call a taxi to take us to the airport so we could rent a car and continue on our journey for an amazing camping weekend! (Ok maybe not his exact words, but you see where this is going.) At this point, I'm ready to hop in the cab of the tow truck, but oh no. No. We're getting back in the car. Marlène's car. Marlène's broken car of which she is not driving because Ben has to drive it up onto the flatbed truck of which the truck driver will be driving, with us, in the car, on the back. Holy schnikes was that fun!! It was an amusement ride for adults who forget to put oil in their car!! We were several feet off the ground, feeling every bump and turn on the road, myself curious as to how the hell we were secured to this thing, laughing too hard to really care why. And of course I totally forgot my camera for this trip. All in all, the set back cost us a few hours, and much to chagrin of Marlène, a horrible car repair bill. Can't think about that now... I'll think about that tomorrow..... On to Ardèche!!
(encore Marlène' -vraiment, vraiment désolé pour ta voiture!)
Got to camp and set up. Hè mon Pote!! Les filles et les amis!! Drank some Pastis. Cake and Happy Birthday to Justine. More Pastis. In the morning we packed up and drove to the end destination of our canoeing adventure. We all piled into the big tour bus that drove us an hour-ish to where we rent the canoes and being the decent down the river. I thought I got on the list to take a canoe by myself, but it didn't work out that way and was paired another friend of the group who I had just met that weekend. Loris and I made a good team. I took the back seat, responsable for steering, Loris the front for power. It was my first time in a canoe, and I must admit I got the hang of it pretty quickly. This river is marvelous. Simply marvelous. I felt like I was in another world. I spent the bus ride up gazing at the incredibly beautiful country side of south-central France thinking to myself, " Am I really ready to leave this place?" A perpetuating question throughout the entire weekend.. Ardèche is the largest natural canyon in Europe with large standing stones that make cliffs up to 1000 feet tall. You feel small in the good way that nature does so well. After about an hour of paddling down one arrives to the Chauvet Pont d'Arc, which has cave paintings dating back some 10,000 years ago. Marvelous. It was a beautiful sunny day, the water clear and cool. We stopped on the banks for lunch and cliff jumping. Pulled into the campsite about 7pm and set up. The site provided charcoal for the large brick BBQs with 2 grills on each side, and everyone gathered 'round to take their turn at cooking the various selecetions of meat and veggies for dinner. Oh French camping. That's the first time I saw rabbit, duck and spicy chicken wings on the a grill at the same for sure. Probaby won't be the last. There was a "no alcohol on the premises" warning, and for some silly reason we followed it leaving all the Pastis and such back at the cars. Needless to say an early night. The day Loris and I traded our two-man canoe for Baptiste and Helene's solo canoes, and away we went. Not even one minute after the leaving the bank there was a doosey of a rapid corner, and a lot of the crew flipped their canoes over! I am proud to say I did not have one flip, all belongings in tact. After lunch there was thunder and lighting, followed by a torrential rain storm. It was awesome!! I found some of my friends taking shelter under some rocks along the river, and we waited it out. Thirty minutes later the sun came out, and we arrived back at the car park. The gang stopped in the small village of Ardèche for a celebratory beer, and drove back to our respective homes in Marseille and Aix. France- you get a big A+ for this one.
That fantastic weekend ended to be immediately followed by Kat's arrival, my dear friend coming from the States for a wonderful week with me in Provence. We did it up right: Sausset -les - Pins, Cassis, La Ciotat, Marseille, Cannes. Beaches, sunsets, swimming, hiking, restaurants, rosé. Grand. Just grand I tell ya. Fun times with great friends. I'm not sure at what point between floating down Europe's largest canyon and sunbathing topless on the Mediterranean that I decided that I'm not done with France. Or maybe France isn't done with me. Either way, my decision has been made, and now all efforts are a go to stay in France for another year.
I did a little of of reflecting, you see. Every time I have come to live in Europe, my goal is a year. Find 'real work'. But then, I hit the 6-month mark and something happens. I end up going back. And everyone time, I want to come back here. So ... what happens? I get confronted. Scared. Sad. Things get hard. Not the way I expected. I'm broke. Family obligations. Foolish love obligations. The list goes on. This list however, is not as long as the one I have of things I need to do here in France. Things I am going to do here in France. I'm just starting to feel in place here. My place. It took a lot longer than I expected, but I'm pretty sure that whole 'expecting something' thing in the first place is a big part of the problem. I came here to see if I wanted to be a teacher. I really enjoyed teaching. Don't want to be a teacher. I do want to stay in France. I want to get back into Marketing and Event Management, and do it here in France. I've never had a problem getting a job, and I'm not going to let that start now. I'm gonna keep on rolling with that here in Marseille. Or Paris. Who knows. I've got some good leads. And that combined with the newly lit and well energized spark under my derrière is going to get me where I want to go.
So here goes!!
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