Sauveterre-de-Comminges (France)
A lot of time has passed. A lot has happened in that time. Berlin is behind us. And the Black Forest too. We've been in the south of France for a few days now. More precisely, in the Pyrenees. It's a small community made up of 10 or 11 smaller settlements. Around 700 people live here in total. But it feels as if we are the only people in the world.
The opposite of Berlin, where we were just over a week ago. The city made me sick. I traveled by public transport on two days. So many people, so much crowding that I found it unpleasant and extremely exhausting. It didn't just affect my psyche, but also my body. It caught an infection. And the last weekend we had to leave was over for me.
We drove on to the Black Forest. 900 kilometers in 10 hours. A friend's house was our new accommodation for the next few days. It was a visit to my old home. I was staying with my parents and meeting up with friends I've known since childhood. However, our lives have drifted so far apart in recent years that the only things we have in common are the stories of the past.
After a few days, we drove on. Not without a forced change of plan. A stopover near Lyon was canceled the same morning due to flooding. So we had to stay an extra day at my friend's house. And then we had to cover the entire distance to the Pyrenees in one go. Almost 1100 kilometers in 14 hours.
The weather was very kind to us, especially on this first Sunday. Warm 20°C with sunshine. We were on our first hike in the mountains. To do this, we drove up to an altitude of over 1200 meters and over the border into Spain to a small village called Bausen. There we walked through a wonderful, lush green landscape. Wooded mountains on the horizon, with snow-covered peaks behind them, their white contrasting wonderfully with the blue sky.
Although this is a place I have been longing for, a place in nature, I need time to arrive. Time to get used to the surroundings. An environment with buildings whose better days are long gone. An environment with no people and if there are any here, then the language is the barrier that is still insurmountable for me. I still have mixed feelings, but there is no euphoria or happiness.
Originally written in German. Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
A lot of time has passed. A lot has happened in that time. Berlin is behind us. And the Black Forest too. We've been in the south of France for a few days now. More precisely, in the Pyrenees. It's a small community made up of 10 or 11 smaller settlements. Around 700 people live here in total. But it feels as if we are the only people in the world.
The opposite of Berlin, where we were just over a week ago. The city made me sick. I traveled by public transport on two days. So many people, so much crowding that I found it unpleasant and extremely exhausting. It didn't just affect my psyche, but also my body. It caught an infection. And the last weekend we had to leave was over for me.
We drove on to the Black Forest. 900 kilometers in 10 hours. A friend's house was our new accommodation for the next few days. It was a visit to my old home. I was staying with my parents and meeting up with friends I've known since childhood. However, our lives have drifted so far apart in recent years that the only things we have in common are the stories of the past.
After a few days, we drove on. Not without a forced change of plan. A stopover near Lyon was canceled the same morning due to flooding. So we had to stay an extra day at my friend's house. And then we had to cover the entire distance to the Pyrenees in one go. Almost 1100 kilometers in 14 hours.
The weather was very kind to us, especially on this first Sunday. Warm 20°C with sunshine. We were on our first hike in the mountains. To do this, we drove up to an altitude of over 1200 meters and over the border into Spain to a small village called Bausen. There we walked through a wonderful, lush green landscape. Wooded mountains on the horizon, with snow-covered peaks behind them, their white contrasting wonderfully with the blue sky.
Although this is a place I have been longing for, a place in nature, I need time to arrive. Time to get used to the surroundings. An environment with buildings whose better days are long gone. An environment with no people and if there are any here, then the language is the barrier that is still insurmountable for me. I still have mixed feelings, but there is no euphoria or happiness.
Originally written in German. Translated with DeepL.com (free version)