Oh, merde

L'homme m'etonnera toujours car il peut aussi bien
marcher dans la merde que sur la lune

I can't believe it takes only 2 1/2 hours to get to Uzes from here. It feels so radically different. France is crazy that way. Drive one hour and the architecture, vegetation, accent, stone color and produce have all changed. Lunch at Terroirs, an amazing place that serves tapas and tart-like pizzas, can resusitate even the most weary (that would be me, who can barely sleep these days.) I am starving and yet a small salad with the freshest lettuce, lightest vinagrette and ceviche of Coquilles St. Jacques with pink grapefruit slices, totally satiates me. The sun is amazing. I am a sun worshipper of late. The local rosé is fresh and delicious and I have fallen in love with the south of France, again, again. We girls bask, Daisy poses in my new basket, the Saturday market stirs around us and I feel so happy.

This is my third time visiting Uzes in 5 weeks and each time I am more comfortable here, feel like it's a place I will come back to. Sometimes it's great to explore new places, but sometimes, these days for me, it's great to just go back to places I know. Less stressful. I have really been trying to limit the stress in my life, as this year (these past years, hmmm when did it start?) has been mega stressful. Flaux, a mini village with few inhabitants is where we stay. La Mona, Franck Valtat's bed and breakfast is beautiful and stylish. Being the incredibly picky person that I am about aesthetics, I can always find something to complain about wherever I stay, but Franck (ex-Parisian, Heschung boot-wearer, apricot confiture-maker) has it going on. His place is amazing, tasteful and so relaxing.



Sleepy now. Been thinking too much. Feeling like a teenager when springtime came around, remembering how breezy life was back then, breezy and intense. Still have images floating around in my head, dreamed about going to Chile, dreamed about the sun shining so bright it hurt, casting a light so clear down on me. Somehow, I am trying to bring all of these floating images together, images of my profound simplicity, enduring, my deeply emotional nature, lunar child, wanting to do something that means something, something tangible. The sun shines on me. I have been here before. {I have walked in these shoes, they protect me.} It feels raw, it feels warm, it feels familiar. It's an old feeling. Do all roads lead to the same place, I wonder?