As you can see from yesterday’s photos, the first grapes have been sighted. A little bit of Tuscany, and lots of champagne as we see the signs of large wine producers appearing regularly. No champagne in the abbey but a good bottle of red graced our table.
We met Julie first in the vast dining room. A young French woman, she was studying Psychology, following her degree in Aerospace Engineering which she picked up whilst in the navy. Fluent in English it was great to be able to converse about different things. Like the girls we met last week in another abbey, she is studying there because there are too many distractions at home.
She said the French were quite sceptic about Psychology, many still believing that it is still about lying on a couch and just talking. Therefore she is looking farther afield for employment. On top of that, it is poorly paid and the government does not provide money for psychological services.
After an hour talking about lots of things our quaint intricately beamed ceiling room beckoned us for rest and daily after-walk routine. Footsteps up on our rooftop level had us peering out for the possibility of seeing what other walkers looked like. Our bonjours to each other had obvious flaws, so we tried hellos. This couple were Canadian walkers, bikers, and marathon runners, presently content with walking which has taken them to most corners of the globe.
We talked about a possible French/English divide or an east/west divide which I’ve heard many Canadians talk about. Not too sure of its extent but it was something I’d like to follow up. There was a lot of sharing about walks and we will keep in contact as they move closer to Italy into our familiar territory.
Another lovely cool and interesting walk yesterday and today, different crops, tractors constantly at work, ‘villages fleuri’ now appearing often.
Plans had been laid to train up to Troyes to visit a French city that had not suffered damage during the war but it looks like those train strikes have caught up with us. There may be trains tomorrow but definitely none on Sunday or Monday so we’ll stick to our path. Saturday means that places are booked so other plans still may need to be made.