Soon I take the long train back to the southeast coast of France. I am sad to leave Ardéche, it feels as if I have made this place my home. The steadiness of a routine is something that I become attached to quite quickly these days. Yesterday, I sat at the table for lunch for the last time… and I felt that I was pleading with myself: please don’t forget this way of living. Travelling to a different country is like going through a washing machine sometimes… except we come out the other side completely different. I was afraid, would I remember how to set a table? Would I remember how to make homemade mayonnaise? My friend re-assured me, she said: you can always call me if you forget something. I breathed a little easier.
Ardeche is a region of France that I have come to love, it’s my third time visiting the same village and I am sure that there will be many more times in the future. My friends tell me that it is a region that was poor. It is because of this that the dishes here are often very simple, without meat and full of whatever love and nutrition people could offer each other. Meal times often involve potatoes, goats cheese or chestnuts, three things which are plentiful in the region. I remember now one time this week, we were searching through recipes on the internet for a dish called bombine Ardéchoise, just out of interest. My friends tell me that all the recipes with meat are not necessarily true of the region that they grew up in. They would know, they were born here and so were many generations before them. Adding meat to the dishes is something that has arrived recently, as the region is now richer and more touristic.
But Ardéche is more than just potatoes, goats cheese and chestnuts… I have been made aware that there are some ardéchois who have contributed to the world in a meaningful way. The Montgolfier family invented the hot air balloon, and also founded the company Canson which still runs today. It’s also home to one of the largest and most sophisticated array of cave paintings from Palaeolithic times, at the Grotte Chauvet. There are many more treasures in Ardéche I’m sure, and it is a region with a long history that attracts many tourists for good reason. It is not a place that I would have thought to visit, if I wasn’t asked to come here two years ago and house sit. I’m glad that chance took me to this group of people who have enriched me so much. And the more I get to know them, the more I know why.
If you compare my background and the background of my friends, it is almost like two opposites sitting beside each other. In my family, there is a story of migration and exploration… in their families there is stability and tradition. But I like it when two opposites meet, because if there is a strong enough foundation then it creates an equilibrium. Like when the heat from the sun in a cloudless sky is balanced by a cool sea breeze… it can only produce contentment, creativity and love. It just so happens that even though our lives have been very different, we share the same values of being open minded, generous and focused on living a life that is enjoyable. These are the links, the golden threads, that will remain in place, long after I have left the tall chestnut trees of Ardéche behind me.
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