Dearest friends!
Jean walked across Spain during the months of February and March. He crossed the Sierras and the continental plateau, in the centre of the country, from the East to the West. In several villages, the Town Hall graciously offered him a hotel room for the night. In other places, he had to sleep in his tent rolled up in the very same sleeping bag that he had when he departed from Montreal, in August 2000 and as it was nearly in shreds he wore almost all of his clothing, one over the other and fell asleep while shivering. (We bought a replacement sleeping bag in France)
Of course, he has also been hosted by nice families. As he was getting ahead, his hosts were sending me photos and I thought that he has a good suntan for the middle of the winter..., later, I understood that his face was tanned by the cold and the wind rather than by the sun...
A few times during his journey, Jean has been compared to Don Quixote de la Mancha. As he travelled through precisely that region of Castilla-la-Mancha, comparisons became more frequent... good people offered him gifts of Cervantes book, one in comic strips and also, the complete novel in Spanish.
A few kilometres before Valencia, he decides to get round this big city because huge festivities will be held there for a few days and a simple walker could feel quite solitary, lost in the crowd's jubilation. He then makes out directly to Castellon de la Plana, on the Mediterranean Sea. At last, the weather becomes milder, but not before he catches a harsh cold. His hosts, Sara and Juan, some parents of Xavi Valero who had received us during our vacations in Huelva, take care of him as they would a child and forbid him to leave until he is feeling better.
He then walks up toward Barcelona and arrives there on March 23. Alex Lapuerta was anxiously waiting for him! Alex is a young Catalan traveler-photographer who has been following Jean's walk since several years. His travels are dedicated to the children of the world and the theme is called: "SACASONRISA" which means show your smile. Alex devotes himself to the promotion of Jean's walk and with a few friends, accompanies Jean for a couple of days. He sends me wonderful photos! Jean has not as soon said good bye to his Barcelonan friends that he meets Jordi and Susana who lavish him with all kind of goodness!
Three days later, on March 30th, Jean crosses the border of France and spends his first night on the land of his faraway forebears, at Le Boulou where he meets authentic French gendarmes (policemen) with whom he enjoys himself as if in the company of cousins! In Thuir, near Perpignan, he is hosted for the weekend, by Abdelatif and his family. Abdelatif is the son of M. and Mrs Yahia Messaoud who took care of Jean during 8 days in Algiers, last August... therefore, this stopover was foreseen for a long time!!! As his host is equipped with a system of free long distance calls to Canada, Jean spends most of the weekend talking with his loved ones, of which his 5 year old granddaughter Laury who ingenuously tells him: "Papy! Stop running around the world like that and come to see us!"
On April 10, in Montpellier, Jean decides not to go to Marseille and to pursue his route northward instead. In any case, he will see Marseille, thanks to the Provence Project...
Provence Project! December 23, 2005, whereas we are getting ready to celebrate Christmas in Huelva in Spain, I receive an email from Michel Hugues, from Aix en Provence. Michel invites us both to spend some time at his house with his family (Sylvie, his wife and their three children: Élodie, Fabien and Adrien). He even assumes my plane fare Montreal-Marseille and return! Jean and I are astonished by this chivalrous offer and we accept the invitation with an immense joy! After only three months of separation, we will meet again! How wonderful!!! Michel heads a small business specialized in airport electrical facilities and contacts us again in February after his return from New Caledonia where he worked during the whole month of January.
At that moment, Jean is walking in Castilla-la-Mancha and must foresee his arrival in Marseille so that Michel may reserve my plane tickets. After a few emails to organize the whole thing, the meeting with the Hugues family is scheduled to take place from April 21st to the 28th, as soon as Michel comes back from Wallis, in the South Pacific, where he has work to do. One could not chose a better time! The tourist season not yet begun... all the more room for us!!!
During this time, Jean continues to walk northwards. He crosses the region of the Gard, then arrives in Ardèche and finally stops in the small village of Lussas where he is received with all the French warmth by Pascale and Patrice, on April 19th. On the 21st, I arrive at the Marseille airport and I am welcomed by three men: Jean, Michel and Patrice who had the kindness to drive Jean all the way.
At the Hugues' home, Sylvie and the children are waiting for us. We live a one week fairy tale in this pretty house, typical of Southern France, in Puyricard, village situated a few kilometres from Aix. Sylvie's parents, Francine and Claude, are of the fiesta while sheltering the children who have abandoned their bedrooms in order to let us both enjoy to ourselves, a whole wing of the house.
We explore Aix en Provence and its happy market... what a beautiful city with its numerous fountains! We visit Marseille and its charming old port, we admire the Basilica of Notre-Dame de la Garde that dominated the city and even have a look at the Castle of If, legendary site supposed to have sheltered no less legendary characters as the Count of Monte Cristo, the man with the iron mask, the Marquis de Sade, etc.
We then go to Cassis where Michel entertains us with a boat ride to visit the famous "calanques", typical Mediterranean rocky inlets. Absolutely awesome!!!
On the road to Digne-les-Bains, a spa in Haute-Provence, I am delighted by the Penitents des Mées, this astonishing rocky formation assorted with a very pretty legend.
However, we are not only treated to visits of the region... the Southern French people being renowned for their good food! Sylvie is an accomplished cook and feasted us with fresh fish, duck breast, bouillabaisse, etc. As for Michel, he cooked us a sublime fideoua (a paella in which rice is replaced by pasta)... around twenty guests and the recipe remains a secret!!! Of course, the meals are accompanied with excellent wines and even champagne with the dessert! Pastis in aperitif really pleased me as well!!!
When I say that we have been treated like kings, I don't exaggerate a crumb! The adieus to this family so welcoming were very sad... We went to the Marseille airport a little earlier than necessary because we had agreed to meet friends from La Seyne sur Mer who follow Jean since February 2004. Jean-Louis and Annie worked in Malawi between 1986 and 1993 and discovered Jean's journey following the newsletter telling of my vacations with my walker in this country of Africa.
We are now both of us back to our work! Jean is currently under way toward Paris and after France, he will pursue toward Ireland, England, The Netherlands...
You are numerous in asking me why there are no new photos on the Web site... The reason is that a kind and generous Spaniard, from Ciudad Real, is making us a gift of a brand new Website. By looking at the new Homepage, one can see that it is really professional work! Juan Manuel and his wife Eva started this big overhaul with the Photo section, the most voluminous part... so it is normal that it should be the longest to work over. Once this segment is completed, the rest will follow rapidly. Let's hope that I will be up to the challenge of updating it after it is finished. I ask you therefore to put your patience to the test, the final result should not linger!!!
Please, make sure that your Internet account and server do accept emails coming from luce@wwwalk.org as each time I send a newsletter, there are always several that come back to me because they are blocked as SPAM.
Jean is joining me to wish a beautiful summer to our friends of the northern hemisphere and a winter not too rigorous to those of the southern hemisphere!
Till next time...
Luce