French Road Trip, Drought, and a Fond Farewell

Saturday we all got the day off, so Gwen invited me and Dario to join her on a road trip to explore the region. It was so relaxing and beautiful, watching the countryside fly by, listening to ABBA as Gwen capably navigated her tiny car along the narrow mountain roads -- laughing every time we had to double back when Dario's phone inevitably pointed us in the wrong direction.

I learned that the region relied until recently on coal mining, and was generally not very prosperous; you could tell, looking at the buildings - they were lovely, and quite old, but much more modest than in cities like Aix or even Marseille.

We visited a local flea market, where I found a few small odd and unusual gifts –, along with some incredible china and cast iron cookware that, sadly, I would never be able to carry home.

We went to another town and caught the tail end of their farmers market, where we bought fresh fruit, veggies, meats and pastries (to supplement the Mas Perdu menu of  tomatoes, hard bread, and watermelon). I also had a fun conversation with a fellow shopper and a garulous butcher (who sold me some delicious pork sausage).

We took our bounty to a nearby river, to picnic with Monique’s nephew Tom and his family and some friends of theirs.

In talking with Tom's family, we discovered that they are all 7th Day Adventist -- which explained a LOT about our experiences at the farm (in particular the vegetarianism, the morning bible lessons, and the lack of coffee, alcohol, and cigarettes).

After we got back, when I showed photos of the river to Morgane, she told me the river was really, really low -- she pulled up photos from previous years and I could see she was right. It's been a relief to take a break from my work on climate change, but this was a grim reminder that the crisis is everywhere. The south of France is actually experiencing a serious drought, and faces increasing risks from the climate crisis (the current heat wave is considered to be a sign of times to come).

The next morning, it was time to say goodbye, as I headed off for my last few days in Paris.