The Journey Continues

Beziers, France

11 March 2024

Dear family and friends,

I’m slipping a little, it’s been another 8 days since I last wrote, but in some ways that’s a good thing. I’ve been very busy. Mostly the mundane bits of life, but I’m sure you’ll be happy to know that I’ve found a laundromat only two blocks from the apartment, it’s relatively clean, has newish machines, it’s faster than doing laundry in one of the washer/dryer combination machines that are very common here and it even takes Apple Pay. Bonus, it’s next door to my favorite Pâtissier Chocolatier.

When it comes to speaking French, I still have lots of work to do. When I was doing laundry, a young man asked if I was through with the dryer. I said “Oui, fini.” To which he responded “you speak, English?”  Now I’m sure the Woody the Woodpecker t-shirt I was wearing may have contributed to the conclusion, but apparently my accent is so poor that I cannot even say two words without being discovered. It is definitely humbling and does challenge me to push past my comfort zone. It also reminds me that I shouldn’t be too quick to judge those who are unwilling to attempt to speak another language besides their own.  Maybe it’s not unwillingness to accommodate someone struggling with a new language, but rather insecurity about their own ability to speak another language.  The good moments are when I am willing to sound a little awkward and laugh at myself, but the best moments are when I’m speaking with someone whose willing to do the same.

On Friday I decided that my walk was going to be a trip to the local mall to wander around for a bit.  A trip that I’ve made a few times before, but previously I’ve always been on a mission. This trip was really just to stretch my legs and get aways from the mundane for a while. I took the path through the Poets Park.

The fountain of Titan (la Fontaine du Titan) above the Gratto is beautiful no matter what the weather, but on Friday I took a slightly different route and found myself at the top of the hill on the opposite side of the fountain of Titan. I had not really looked at this side of the fountain before. It’s a bit difficult to see in this picture, but look closely and you can see that the Baccus under Titan is spewing water from it’s mouth and the boy is putting his hand in front of the stream to splash his friend. I couldn’t help but laugh at the playful image and loved that it is on the opposite side of the imposing view of the fountain from the gratto.

I also had two fun adventures this past weekend.  The first was a trip to IKEA. Saturday was a blustery day in southern France, windy, rainy and low 50’s. A good day to do some indoor shopping. I haven’t actually been inside an IKEA store in decades, It was strangely familiar and unfamiliar at the same time, it was very much as I remembered. But I must admit I had this weird moment shortly after I entered the store and everything looked so familiar, and then it dawned on me that all the signs were in French and everyone around me was speaking French. It felt a bit surreal. In the end, it’s good to know that IKEA is IKEA no matter where you are.

Sunday was a nice sunny day, still cool in the upper 50’s, but a lovely day for a trip to the beach. Lisa and I had been wanting to try the bus trip to Valras Plage, and after a couple of gray rainy days the sun beckoned us. As I’ve mentioned, the central bus terminal is across the street from the apartment. We only had to walk across the street to catch a bus that got us to the beach in about 40 minutes. The cost was about $1 each way. It was a simple afternoon adventure, but I couldn’t help but think how blessed I am to be here and able to take a 40 minute bus ride to visit the Mediterranean shore.

I know today is a big day back home in Rockford, Michigan. My niece Paula is delivering twins!  Thinking of you all and look forward to seeing pictures.

Bonne Journée!