A Short Gallery of Southern France

I finally borrowed a camera USB connector and got some photos uploaded of my relatively painless commute to the South of France.

Here I am being all adventurous and overdressed in Toronto with my cool new backpack (thanks CCO friends) and without a variety of important items like good shoes.

And here I am heading out the door.  Goodbye Toronto – Hello World.

Below are a few pictures I took from through the train window.

 

Here are some photos of the gite where I am currently taking my internship.  I will be here until the end of the month.

Here is the farmland that surrounds the gite.

 

So this is a short gallery of the gite and the surroundings. As you can see, this is a very isolated, remote part of France.  The closest cities are Castelnaudary and Carcassonne.  I will hopefully have better pictures of France when I head to Carcassonne next weekend.

Technorati Tags: gite,France

The Land of Cheese and Peasants

In a place where the people still refer to themselves as “peasants”, I find myself in a world where I never thought I would be.  I am an urbanist.  I love the city lights, the roar of the concrete jungle and the entertainment value that comes from being one of several million people living in a compact urban setting.

Now, I find myself in a quaint remote French summer home with all the little simplicities that follow it.  The ‘gite’ as it is called, is a former 200 year old farm. Originally derelict, this gite was resurrected stone by stone by Richard to what is now a fully functioning home.  There is even an enclosed pool where there are old walls but no top to allow the heat to come in but block the wind from cooling the pool.

This is also the headquarters of the MENTOR initiative.

It is a small piece of paradise here.  A simpler, less distracted world where those who come back from the humanitarian battlefield can find solace and calm before re-entering the storm.  For now, I am enjoying the weekend and, with it, my first shopping trip to the nearby CarreFour grocery store in Bram where I picked up the essentials for living in France: cheese, baguette and local fruit and vegetables.  Unlike in Toronto where fine cheeses are a luxury, here they are cheap and the varieties endless.

I will post pictures as soon as I can get a USB connector for my camera – one of many things I forgot to bring.

Technorati Tags: gite,food