My World of Wonders aka the Wednesday W's : St Martin De Crau

Where am I?  We are staying in a Gite (Google it) near St. Martin De Crau. Being a typical Gite, it is on a working farm, in this case 12 acres of greenhouses. We are daytripping from here, nothing on our it would be "nice to see" list is more than an hour's drive.  

Who have I seen? My Sweet Bear, and lots and lots of French people.  It is early season, and for the most part not crowded (well there was that mountain top village on Sunday.)

What was my great moment of insight?  Sunday morning we were inching through traffic up and down to a mountain top village, with cliffs, rock walls, narrow winding roads and lots of pedestrians.  I came around a bend and a bicyclist was coming straight at me at top speed, downhill peddling hell-bent-for-leather. In an instant I realized that he was not doing this for his health, he has a death wish. There is no other rational explanation. 

What am I up to?  Sightseeing, eating, and enjoying France. 

What have I been eating? Bull stew, roast chicken, truffle raviolis, lots of great French food.  We have been breakfasting in, having lunch out, then a light dinner in the Gite in the evening.  I picked up a great bottle of calvados to take the chill off. 

Who deserves an huge THANK YOU this week?  Sylvia who helped us get settled into the Gite, despite the language gap.

When is the next adventure?  This time next week we will be headed home. There is actually a bucket list item involved there, the upper deck of an A-380, the world's largest airliner. 

Who deserves a slap?  I do.  I filled the memory card on my camera, and didn't have a back up with me. That is 36GB of memory, a little over 2,400 photos.  I was able to buy another - larger one - the next morning.  One out of Five slaps, unless I seem to be enjoying it.  

What surprised me?  Being upset by a social media post on Anthony Bourdain.  Simply put he was a brilliant writer and presenter.  I loved his style and for the most part agreed with his message about living life.  I am still angry and sad, at his suicide. His personal life was a mess.  He had paid off a young man who accused his wife of sexual assault, and then his wife told him to leave her alone, she may have even said, "drop dead." He was heartbroken, and lost.  He was with friends, but not talking about what he was experiencing.  I need to move to the point of being glad he lived, and wrote, and spoke, rather than sad and angry that he died.   His childhood included lots of time in France with family members.  

What did I miss during my digital detox?  Writing.  I do believe that taking a break was good for my writing.  And it will change my consumption habits more than my production habits.  I do have few dozen lines of text about the journey written on my phone during the break, after I get home I will try to pull those together.