constanttrek

Cécile Part Two

September 10th, 2004

We tried to leave, really we did, but she keeps on cooking, and you know what we are like with food…
But seriously, I have wound up with a bit of an infection which needed antibiotics, and Cécile with her boundless generosity has very graciously allowed us to stay until I am right to walk (no more than a day or two I’m sure).
So in the meantime, we have found ourselves slowly melting into a seductive kind of sybaritic existence. Cécile is an artist in the true sense of the word, forever creating something – whether she is designing an extension to her home using the stone from a ruined 14th century abbey; planning a trip down the Amazon in Venezuela; or simply digging the wonderful vegetables from her garden for her latest magnificent meal, this is a woman who has an incredible appetite and appreciation for beauty and life. She knows every flower in her garden, pointing out a slowly unfurling rose here, and inviting us to smell the rich scent of another. Each meal comes largely from her own garden, and the scent of bay leaves from the cooking lingers in the kitchen.
Every room in the house is lived in and has a character very much it’s own. My favourite place today is the courtyard, where a large wrought iron stand holds a mountain of onions, dug from the garden and waiting to be cooked.
We have joked that our site should be re-named “constantrest” given the amount of time we have stopped. But with every day that passes, I am so grateful for these opportunities to savour the people and experiences on our path. And every morning, I think: imagine if we had never done this! What we would have missed, the people we would not have met, the incredible experiences we could not have had…we are only 6 weeks into our trip, and I am grateful every day that we have begun it, and look forward every night to the next day, the next place.

Which reminds me.
I was going to wait until I could upload photos to write about the laughing ducks, but given that now I won’t be uploading until Beauvais in a few days, I will write now.
After we left Amiens we had a rather long walk to get to our next campsite, in Loeuilly. It is a tiny village next to a beautiful lake, and the campsite had a stream which burbled past about 4 metres from our tent. One look at the glassy lake had been enough to convince us to stay for a day – we need little convincing – and so it was the sound of the ducks in the stream which woke us the next morning. Except, they didn’t sound like ducks. To be honest, at first I thought I could hear a kookaburra – for those of you not Australian, a kookaburra is a bird which is notorious for it’s laughing call – but obviously kookaburras are on the rare side in rural France. The sound was like a mad, asthmatic old man calling a horse race at top speed, interspersed with frantic hysterical laughter. When we finally worked out that it was the ducks, Gary and I lay in the tent absolutely killing ourselves laughing, which drove them to even greater efforts, in turn increasing our hilarity, until – well, you can imagine. I don’t think the neighbours were very appreciative. For the duration of our stay one squawk from those creatures was enough to have me doubled over.
We had an excellent feast by the lake in Loeuilly, with fresh baguettes, wine, and cheese. The sun set behind the surrounding tall trees, and the water was as still as glass, reflecting the soft twilight in a clear mirror image. It was a lovely camp.
One last thing! We are media stars at last – the Courrier Picarde (regional newspaper) published Cécile’s article, and our photo. I shall scan it later so you can admire us, ha ha.
Tonight Cécile is creating a lamb dish. Gary is writing in his journal, and the sun is streaming through the trees on to the patio. Life is a wonderful place to be just now.

Entry Filed under: trekking