Paris & Surrounds

Ah, romantic Paris. Despite the dog shit on the pavements and the haughty Parisians, you can't deny the beauty of the city with its elegant streets, monuments and river. I spent four great days just wandering about the place, being overwhelmed by its giant museums and landmarks, but the most bizarre thing I did was accidentally watching an Australian film ('Holy Smoke') dubbed in French! Strange indeed.

If you want to visit a cathedral forget the Notre Dame in Paris, visit the cathedral in Chartres instead! The carvings and stained glass windows are real works of art and you don't have to wait to climb up its very substantial tower. Oh, and getting lost in the middle of the Sunday markets and eating Nutella-filled crepes was an experience, too.

Dogs

Anyone who has spent any amount of time in France will have noticed that the French have a slight obsession with dogs. You can never go anywhere without seeing someone walking their best friend, and you can never step anywhere without stepping on his/her doo-doo.

Why is this? Maybe it's because a household is not complete without at least one four-legged friend, and since they're a member of the family they also have much of the same rights its owner. ie. the dog can go on trains, in restaurants, pubs and cafes. There are even special dog washes where discerning owners can shower their pooch in total comfort. The only place they can't go in is the church, but I'm sure there's a church for dogs somewhere…

Rural France

Yes, France has beautiful countryside, and lots of it! I spent a greater part of two weeks out of the frenetic pace of Paris, firstly in the little Burgundy town of La Charite sur Loire, and then in the smallish western city of Angouleme.

La Charite is a sleepy little medieval town on the banks of the Loire, and boasts a marvelous church, an abbey, and castle walls which remain more or less in tact. It's really in the middle of nowhere, but by now I enjoyed staying in these out of the way places, because I got to experience the unrefined beauty of a place. I stayed with my friend, Fabien, whom I also met by chance in Sydney (gotta love these chance meetings), and he acquainted me with French food (plenty of baguettes, pates, and cheeses), French wine (and got a free tasting since Fabien is a winemaker), and explored the French "bush".

That only left a brief stay in Angouleme, a city an hour or so out of Bordeaux in the west. This was were the rest of Fabien's family lived, and where I spent the weekend. My fondest was partaking in a grand, leisurely Sunday lunch with the family and then watched the Davis Cup tennis finals afterwards. By pure coincidence it was between Australia and France. Australia won, of course (to my amusement and to the annoyance of the rest of the household) ;)

Taize

After the European Meeting in Warsaw I was not leaving Europe without a visit here. Taize in reality is only a tiny village in Burgundy, the middle of France, but for me it was a worthwhile experience, even after a tram-3 trains-bus trip from suburban Amsterdam.

The week I spent there is hard to describe... a life-changing experience, certainly... it's just the kind of place it is. Once again, I'll let their web site (www.taize.fr) explain, but for me it was a place where I got to meet with people from all over the globe, from all Christian backgrounds, hear their stories and opinions about their life and faith, and to really think about my position in life.

It was really tranquil there in mid-January as there were only 40 guests that week, compared to ~6,000 in mid-summer), and I had a wonderful time just walking through the lush, green countryside, singing the beautiful chants during prayer, and just listening to people. It's not often that you can gather people from South Korea, Netherlands, Poland, Australia, America, South Africa, and a half dozen more countries in the same room.