I love Amsterdam, where I chose to live. The architecture, the history, the art, the people, the canals, the alleys and the closed communal courtyards. But all in all… In Holland, as in the Netherlands, everything is practical. Anyone who has ever flown over Holland and seen the geometric fields through the window of an airplane knows what I am talking about, there is no field with a curved border. But especially… Midi-Pyrénées I love Midi-Pyrénées, the least populated region in France (it is also larger than the whole of Holland).
The magic of Midi-Pyrenees
The Midi-Pyrénées is made up of several different regions: Ariège, Aveyron, Gers, Haute-Garonne, Hautes-Pyrénées, Lot, Tarn and Tarn-et-Garonne – my favorite (for now) is Gers.
My acquaintance with the area (and with France (in general) It started the first time I flew abroad, on a trip after the army, three of us traveled – a good friend, her Belgian partner and I. We made a living from street performances and rolled around following the sun. Farmers and priests opened their hearts, invited us to eat with them and sleep in their huts for a night or two. In the villages, the locals opened their yards and houses and boys played with us in the street. Since then, my soul has been divided. In the end, the friend settled in the area and lives there, I visit and miss her.
Jerez is famous for its relaxed lifestyle, rolling hills, agriculture, and many walking trails (pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela pass through it). On the border of Jerez, Napoleon planted a forest that reaches all the way to the Atlantic Ocean in order to stop the winds. For lovers of Armagnac and foie gras, Jerez is especially worth a visit because it is the origin of both.
It's a peaceful area with open spaces, fields and places where time has stood still. Two houses on a hilltop, three more on the horizon, a church and that's a village. Meandering rivers, wildlife and scenery. There's also a village called Condom which has no real connection to the condom product.
A region with special people who have chosen a different way of life. They grow their own food, make sure to eat only non-industrialized things, and live in special houses, some renovated from the ground up with ten or twenty fingers and some crumbling, non-conformists, artisans, and local creators.
On my last visit, I had the privilege of taking a stretching workshop led by a former French weightlifting champion (flyweight or maybe even less… if there is one) in a round studio with a beautiful wood-burning stove and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the view and the yard (where the chickens and pig roam). I was so ☺ tense that I didn’t take any pictures… too bad!
And always, no matter what time of year – so beautiful!
Hello Orna, I discovered your post about Michel late. I knew him in the distant past with the song “Pour a flirt,” but recently, following a string of his songs I saw, I really fell in love. A beautiful man (in his youth, of course), a wonderful voice and smiles that capture a woman’s heart.
If he heard how I felt about him, he would probably respond, “Oh, how cute, I could be your dad. Go to sleep” 🙂