A Well Kept Man

One of the obligations of a pastor is tending to his sheep no matter where they happen to be...in this case, the town of Aix-en-Provence. After much debate as to the pronunciation of Aix (without resolution as far as I can tell...is the "x" pronounced or not??), we headed off to this university town (no less than 15 universities here) to meet up with a family from my dad's congregation that happened to be in Aix while we were touring through Provence. The objective was to meet up with them for dinner at a local French restaurant, but the objective was complicated due to a precipitation event (also known as heavy rain). We arrived early to check out the town as we otherwise would not have seen this place. Aix is a university town which reminded me a lot of Boulder, Colorado, but without the mountains and hippies. As we were walking around waiting to meet up with our French connection we decided to dive inside a hotel bar next to the rendezvous point to avoid what began as a sprinkle and turned into a two hour deluge. While consuming our pre-dinner drinks, the roof in the bar began leaking water onto an unsuspecting patron (which was somewhat humorous I guess), but I was quickly repaid for my schadenfreude. While waiting outside for the rain to let up, an elderly French woman berated me for failing to go inside the hotel and call a taxi for her (I tried to explain to her my French wasn't that good, but she didn't seem to care...but then she went back out in the rain and walked away, so maybe she didn't really want a taxi and my French really is that bad).

Traveling abroad tends to have a lot of ups and downs, but we have found that taking the time to make unique memories has made this adventure all the better. We had a great time visiting with the Jenkins family and are very thankful to them for giving us a taste of their experiences as well. Plus, I think my dad can now deduct the expenses of his trip as work-related (just kidding, although if he could I'm sure he would encourage his congregation to include him in their travel plans more often).

(If you've noticed I was able to snap a couple photos before it started to rain, but unfortunately I didn't manage to take any after that, so you'll just have to imagine the rain looked like...)

The next stop on our Southern France vacation took us along the coast to the small fishing village of Sanary-sur-Mer (Sanary on the Sea). This most beautiful city in Provence was one of our favorites. The boat lined harbor provided ample photo opportunities, and the quaint streets housed little shops (I think this is where my dad declared he could live on French baguettes for all of his meals...they were certainly tasty, but perhaps not inhabitable...). Anyway, we walked up to top of the city for a tremendous view of the harbor and town below, wandered through a 16th century seaside church, and strolled through the weekend market where we purchased some delicious cheese to go with our sandwiches from the bakery (most of the time a bakery will have sandwiches, but they are seldom adorned with much besides a few slices of ham and some butter).

After leaving Sanary, we headed to a series of geologic formations made of limestone called Les Calanques. These inlets from the sea are basically high cliff walls that go down into the sea and are remnants of ancient river mouths that were further "enhanced" by passing glaciers (the water level, not the land), thus creating deep valleys. The Calanques are very well known along this stretch of French coastline roughly between Cassis and Marseilles, and provided a nice stopping point for us to enjoy the scenery, get some exercise, and take in the warm spring day. It was somewhat peculiar to see trees basically growing out of rocks, but apparently these trees have quite the root system that dives down deep into the various cracks and crevasses to find the water it needs to survive.

From here we continued to Marseilles where we would stay for two nights. Marseilles is the oldest city in France (most populous after Paris), and its history dates back over 30,000 years (it was founded in 600 BC by the Greeks, but paintings in underwater caves date it between 27,000 and 19,000 BC). This coastal town has a huge harbor which is flanked on either side by a fortress, one of which is now a history museum, and the other was under construction so who knows what it inside. Every morning the harbor hosts the morning fish market that starts around 7 am and runs until the catch of the day are sold (usually around noon). The fishermen were exactly how I imagined them: rough, salty, and sun-wrinkled. I think we all enjoyed this experience immensely (although it did start to get a bit smelly once the sun started to beat down on the dying fish).

Throughout the city were many ancient churches (at least 50, probably many, many more), and I don't have an exact tally but I am pretty sure we went inside roughly 63% of them (did you know 82% of all statistics are made up?). The sea-faring heart of this town was evident in many churches as they were decorated with nautical themes, anchors, boats, fish, etc. The most overt was one of the most opulent, the Basilica of Notre Dame de la Garde, a 19th century church which towers about 200m above the city (1/8 of a mile). A statue of the Virgin Mary watches the sea, protecting (at least in theory) the sailors as they go out to earn their living on the mighty waters of the Mediterranean. Inside little boat ornaments and paintings of ships remind the parishioners of the men and women at sea providing for their families. The massive Saint Marie Majeure (originally built in the 4th century, enlarged in the 11th century, and completely rebuilt in the 19th century) provided another stunning example of Roman architecture. There is also an old abbey, as well as a newer Gothic style churches (newer meaning 17th and 18th century).

We stayed in a newly renovated bed and breakfast in the city which looked like a rural farmhouse on the inside (exposed wood beam ceilings, hand-cut stone wash basins and showers, country style furniture - un Mas en ville). The city of Marseilles is very big (about 2 million people in the metro area...about the size and feel of Baltimore, MD) and the inhabitants seem to be on the go all the time. The city is quite loud and chaotic (we even saw a traditional French workers protest) but offers a lot of charm and warmth if you are able to get passed the noise. We enjoyed people watching from street-side cafes, and managed to avoid getting totally soaked in a downpour (although if the restaurants would open for dinner before 7 pm, this wouldn't have been a problem as we were ready to eat at 5 pm and the rain didn't start until 7:30 or so...). It was a wonderful stop as we had the opportunity to see a different side of France, yet still felt like we weren't in a gigantic place (Marseilles is very walkable, in fact, I recommend you avoid driving once in the city as it will have you trying to rip off your steering wheel and throw it at someone). If you've been to Paris but are looking for something a bit different, I suggest Marseilles as a nice change of pace (plus you'll be close to the southern coast which is never a bad thing).

I drive through countries like Americans drive through states. On Tuesday I drove from Switzerland to Belgium (about 8 hours in the car), which for the geographically challenged enabled me to see three other countries (although the most direct route would have only put me in one more). After leaving Switzerland, I made my way into France but I soon realized I was heading for the motorway which would cost me an arm and a leg (in France you can figure the tolls will cost you about 10 Euro for every 100 km, or around $13 every 60 miles) since I would be in France for about 300 - 400 km so I quickly took to the country roads on the most direct route to the mothership...Germany. The best part about Germany is the Autobahns (which is really just a fancy German word for highway) which in most places aren't limited by speed. Although this guzzles the gas, it allows one to traverse large distances over short time periods (provided you aren't freaking out the whole time about getting run over by a supercharged German sports car).

Since our car is currently in winter mode (normal tires swapped with snow tires...not so good for traction at high speeds) I never went faster than 140 km/hr (more math fun... 1 km = 0.62 miles). Nevertheless, I made great time en route to Luxembourg, a parliamentary representative democracy with a constitutional monarch ruled by a Grand Duke. I have no idea what this form of government entails, but it kind of sounds like a fraternity of aristocratic country club types that vote for their favorite type of after dinner cognacs while debating the finer aspects of 1000 thread-count Egyptian cotton sheets. Whatever it may be, it appears to be a nice little country (and by little I mean even Rhode Island makes fun of how small it is) although it was rainy when I made it so I didn't do much (I was probably in the country for less than one hour).

After leaving I toyed with the idea of trying for six countries by driving up to the southernmost part of the Netherlands, but I decided I wanted to get to my hotel before 6 pm so the Netherlands would have to wait until Friday. I spent the remainder of my drive in Belgium, which quickly transitioned from hills and valleys to flat plains and canals as I approached the coast. So I managed five countries in eight hours, that has to be some kind of a record...for me.

P.S.   All of these pictures are from Luxembourg, except perhaps the first one where I may still technically be in Germany but they don't paint lines on the borders like they do on maps so I wasn't 100% sure...

It's Alli guest blogging because my Well Kept Man failed to pick me up at work (he borrowed our car today to buy groceries in France). Needless to say, I had to find my own way to the border to retrieve said car and the Well Kept Man (but not necessarily in that order).  Upon my arrival, I noticed the Well Kept Man was none too happy...

the Fugitive (formally known as A Well Kept Man, but not to be confused with Harrison Ford's blockbuster character) is currently awaiting a pardon from outgoing President George W. Bush either due to the Fugitive's charming good looks or to the sensitive Top Secret information he has about the whereabouts of twelve hamburgers (this will make sense in a minute, I promise).  FYI - We don't have pictures from this adventure as they were confiscated for the Fugitive's trial.  Now the Fugitive can tell you his side of the story as he was released on house arrest.

A Well Kept Man was detained at the Switzerland / France border...details to follow as soon as more information is received.

Occasionally I drive over to France after meeting Alli for lunch (occasionally being twice but that's not my point) to pick up cheaper groceries (really just meat as it is affordable here, and affords us the opportunity to supplement our pork-laden diet with beef).  Last week on one such trip, after I had managed to fill my cart with various cuts of bovine, I headed over to the checkout area of the store.  Now this store had roughly thirty checkout lines, so you can imagine it as the size of a Super Walmart (but without the semi-retired greeters and annoying smiley face signs everywhere).  My first clue as to my adventure should have been the fact that I was in France, a somewhat curious country...but I was in a good mood as I knew I would soon be the proud owner of high quality beef at a price much more in-line with expectations.