Wednesday, October 24, 2007

a ride in the loire valley

How did i get to this place?
i am currently sipping on a scotch whiskey, sitting in an old converted train station that is now a four bedroom, three story very old house that the Young family from scotland lives in. i am here with mel and two other american girls. we are in rural france, the kind that i always thought about being in my dreams but never really imagined it would happen. today i took a bikeride with mel and we rode along the old train path which is now a bike path stretching in either direction from the house. we rode 10 kilometeres to the nearest decent sized town...small intersections seperated by wooden fences showed up occasionally, but it didn't really matter if we slowed down, there are hardly any cars around this area. the trees loomed up on either side, old decidious trees that are just beginning to turn with the cold weather. it is rural here, and the fields stretch far and wide, with the sun turning them stark white in the late afternoon light. it seems poetic because it is! we rode along with our pain au chocolates stuck in our pockets from the bakery in town and local yogurt stuffed in our packs that is bottled in smal ceramic containers. it's just so special. this is the 45th parralel, the same as just south of portland, and some things are very similar that we come across, and then there is the oldness that just sticks out in the form of castles and old stone walls and greetings of bonjour! i could never have imagined that my travels would lead me to this place but being here now it's hard to imagine them not leading to right where i am. after weeks of being on the road and travelling to big city after big city, we are now living in a town of 300 people, on the outskirts, where a bread truck comes daily, the cheese truck comes on thursdays and the veggie and meat truck also come once a week to the gate of the house to deliver all of the fresh locally made products. we trade work for about four/five hours a day in exchange for food and board, and today found me working in the yard plucking out ivy from an overgrown field and getting my hands dirty and in the earth. i realized today that ivy is the bane of my existence in its relentless pursuit to strange trees and tangle of the root systems, and i had visions of saving the world from ivy, specifically priest point park in olympia!(i might get a plaque)... tomorrow will proabably be something of the same kind of work. it is an adventure unlike any i've done, and it's just so perfect and mellow and speical.i tell myself every day how lucky i am, which is true, and then i correct myself because it isn't just luck, i've gotten myself here. and i appreciate that even more because it puts myself in gratitude of myself. i also am privelaged to spend this time with mel, and on our ride today i said to her how lucky we are to travel at this age and get this experience, where all we have to do is have a great time and love each other. i am getting more and more how important that is to me as a way to be in the world.
 
much love to you all!
i miss you family!
carson

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