Surrounded by the mountains of the French Alps and vineyards this campervan morning close to Italy. Snow drizzled mountain caps in the distance, sharp escarpments and jagged edges to the east, and lush vine drenched hills to the west. A warm blue cloudless sky , punctuated by thinning contrails and the lightest of cirrus cloud over the furthest mountains. The light fading to a distant blue on the horizon. Magpies in the trees, sparrows working around the vines on their morning hunt. Swallows hunting in the sky. The sound of chickens higher up the hill. The church bell marks the hour. There is no wind to speak of, flags hang limply from various flagpoles. Early morning shadows provide shade from a bright and intense early morning sun, breaking cover over the mountains to the east. Another reasonable drive yesterday, sees us ready for our entry into Italy. A hot day on decent roads, busy as busy can be. Made the foolish error of travelling on a gloriously warm Saturday through Chambrey, stunning sights, crawling with thousands of people, u - turn and out pretty sharpish. The quote I used a few days earlier sprung to mind.
“ Falling into the crowd is like falling into a soup; soup covers you, you become deaf, blind; soup permeates your thoughts too! Stay away from soup to see well, hear well, and think well!”
Not sure what I was thinking. A quiet evening in the hills last night above a small town. The only company being insects and crickets. Almost taken back to my days in Africa and the Caribbean with the evening and nightly chorus of creatures. It was a welcome return. An onward journey into Italy beckons, a few moments to calibrate the self and just be with this view and the quiet. De Botton talks of travel and appreciating our landscapes. He espouses the thoughts of writer and artist John Ruskin and the term he coined of ‘Word Paint’. If you can’t draw, use language and vocabulary to describe what you see. It’s self care Sunday, so do something for yourself today and a a very happy Father’s Day to all the Dads out there.
“ It is the vast spaces of nature that perhaps provide us with the finest, the most respectable reminders of all that exceeds us “ Alain De Botton.
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