Summer is the busiest season in France where you will find yourself doing the same thing as everybody else - moving around. Not only that there are so many displaced people everywhere, a silent tension is also present mainly due to the heat & the crowd. Summer crammed within a two month period is part of the holiday craze. Italy-France (to Gap) border.When home is a tourist spot. Carry le Rouet is a small, typical barrio by the sea in the south of France where the calanques are the only main attraction. Due to the heat wave, we have more local tourists this year & living here is a total nightmare. As our apartment is situated right in the tiny center town, everybody that goes in & out of Carry passes right in front of our windows. For two whole months (and a couple of weeks more), we witness our little barrio come to life from morning till midnight. Noisy teenagers, crazy drivers, honking cars, and I've already received a finger from a teenybopper. At 11pm, parking is still a problem even in our building's private parking filled with visitors of a friend of a friend of a friend. But the good thing about living here is that we get to be quiet at least 9 months in a year.
From France & beyond. Thanks to the EU, moving around Europe has never been as easy. The first time I crossed the border of France & Belgium, I was ecstatic. Coming from a country that shares no borders, the thought of having the option to visit at least 25 countries to date by merely an automobile ride was amazing. Road trips on different countries are already a sight in itself - France is one truly crazy country for speed limits & radars, not to mention the very pricey toll charge. I don't remember any tollbooths in Germany, Swtizerland works by "vignettes," valid for a year for 25€, Spain & Italy has reasonable road passage fee. And France border is also known as the most bustling border cross. Last weekend, while crossing France-Italy border via Ventimille, traffic was horrible in entering France. The only country I experienced border check aside from France is Switzerland via Geneva & Locarno. I suppose it says a lot on the relationship of what one country has to another & I wonder. The only one thing that makes me love the roads of France is the aire de repos (resting place some with picnic area, or restaurant, or gas station but always with public rest rooms) - there are 596 for every 30 kms or more in autoroutes (freeway). There's your toll charge.
Aire de repos
From the tropics to Europe. Europe is a vast variety of culture & differences from border to border. But there will be little things that will remind me of home. Now that it's summer, road trips remind me of family vacations - fresh fruit stands by the road, halo-halo, dirty ice cream, ripe mangoes & watermelons on the beach. Then there are getaways with friends. Ah, the magic getaways with friends. Last weekend, we were at a friend's surprise party in Switerland that became the familiar party I used to go to - se lacher (to let go) - except I couldn't just let go even if everybody was. Is it the ambiance? Is it the level of familiarity?
Open air candlelight dinner in the BRRR Swiss mountain
Well, one thing is for sure - never pass a chance to move around. It is the only moment where you truly know where you want to be. After 6 borders or so, France is beginning to grow on me but I still want to grow old in the Philippines.
