Gorges De Galamus

Dans ce roc pelé que troue la sabine

Où l'aigle dans son vol osait seul venir

Pendu par une corde avec la barre à mine

L'homme comme l'oiseau a trouvé un chemin

("In this bare rock that pierces the Sabine
    Where the eagle in his flight only dared to come
    Hanging by a rope with the crowbar
    Man as a bird has found a way")  

...translation courtesy of Google Traduction, my French still sucks...

Often, we explore with the intention of finding, yet, there is something magical about turning a corner and seeing something unexpected.  The sense of surprise makes the object stand out in ways that perhaps we wouldn't have noticed, were the circumstances different.  While the Gorges of Galamus are by no means a secret, our discovery of this amazing landscape was wholly unexpected and that much richer as a result.

We were returning from a trip to Barcelona with Elise.  After visiting the chateaus of Peyrepertuse and Quéribus we were making our way back home and happened to take a small road.  Simply marked on the map in small font, the canyon didn't proclaim its uniqueness, but we decided to pass by in the off chance of finding some interesting limestone crags to salivate over (more me than Steph & Elise).  We were fully surprised as the road began to narrow, the cliffs began to loom and the center line disappeared before the highway finally pinched down to one lane.  We turned a corner to find that the narrow, winding road was actually carved out of the middle of a limestone wall that plunged into the cascading river below. 

The natural beauty of the canyon is breathtaking, but the area also has a fascinating history.  Given the engineering difficulty of the highway project, the road wasn't carved through the canyon until the 1890's.  When it finally became a reality, a large part of the construction was done by men hanging from ropes attached to the cliff.  Given the date and technology at the time, I can't imagine how sketchy it must have been.  

Despite the road not being constructed until the late 19th century, several caves in the area have been inhabited regularly since the 7th century.  Hermits seeking refuge in the canyon were some of the first documented inhabitants.  Far away from the noise of society, the hermits sought solitude and peace in the caves shown in the picture below (a chapel and small residence were later built at the entrance to the main cave). 

According to local history, the chapel referenced above (interior pictured below) was constructed in 1782 to honor Saint Antoine after several people from the nearby village of Saint Paul de Fenouillet were miraculously cured of "Suette" (a.k.a. sweating sickness) a mysterious infectious epidemic disease that primarily plagued England and mainland Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries.  

The chapel and hermitage also became popular pilgrimage sites, drawing people on Easter and Pentecost. 

In addition to the natural beauty and religious element of the Gorges de Galamus, the canyon was also a setting in several movies, including Roman Polanski's The Ninth Gate (1999) and Chine Ma Doleur (1989) by Dai Sijie. 

 
 
The Gorges de Galamus offer some climbing and what looks to be excellent canyoneering.  Although the canyoneering doesn't appear to be technically difficult, it looked super fun.  We watched as this group hopped casually from pool to pool on their way toward the chapel.

The natural geography is also incredible because it creates an extremely strong wind tunnel.  We visited the area on a moderately windy day, but at this corner in particular, there was steady wind strong enough to support your weight as you leaned into it.  As we left, we saw a cyclist ride pass.  I was bummed I didn't get to see him come around the corner because I imagine it was totally epic.  :)

Travel back to France, Take 3 (Epically long Entry for an Epically Long Trip)

As I laid down in bed yesterday evening around 9:30pm (France time) I couldn't help but review the past few days of travel/attempted travel that I had experienced. It all started last Monday, June 14. I had just spent the most incredible day ever with 2 of the best ladies on the face of the planet in Chicago. With tears in our eyes and heavy hearts we said good bye as my mom and I dropped Holly and Stephlo off at the airport to head back to Denver. I had to be at the airport just a couple hours after that, so my mom and I went to get some lunch while waiting. Finally, it was my turn to head to the airport.

Stand By Explanation: I was flying stand by back to France. When flying stand by on international flights one must arrive and check in with the ticket agents no more and no less than 4 hours (2 hours for domestic flights) ahead of one's scheduled flight time. You do this to be signed in as one of the first on the stand by list. However, in the world of stand by passengers I travel what used to be known as a D3 status (not sure what the name of this status is these days). There's D1 (highest stand by priority) D2 (2nd) and D3 (last). So all D1s and D2s get on the flights before D3 no matter what time they sign in.

Back to the story, my mom lovingly dropped me off around 12:30pm and I waited for a half hour to check in at one for my flight that left at 5pm. I always have multiple books with me on my carry on for when I travel, but often times there's also much entertainment to be had just watching other people in the airport. So after watching a whole police/fireman/ambulance scene transpire right before my eyes (my eyes pretended not to watch so I wouldn't make the disoriented lady feel self-conscious, but I have to admit that I was side-watching out of the corner of my eyes) and reading my book for 6 1/2 hours (the flight was delayed) my flight was finally boarding. The flight was PACKED. While waiting to board I get the instant play by play from my mom, and it was looking grim for me. It was oversold and there were 25 stand by passengers in line ahead of me. Needless to say I didn't get on the flight.

No problem, I'll just collect my baggage and go to my folks house and try again tomorrow (or so I thought). Turns out that collecting your baggage as a stand by who didn't get on a flight takes FOREVER. To top it off there were a plethora of cancelled flights that day, so it ended up taking 3 hours to get my bag back from the baggage claim area! I had time to finish my book and start another one.

At 9pm that night we drove back to Naperville. Whew! Having looked at the stand by list for the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that, etc.... my mom let me know that it was not looking good for flights out of Chicago. So we had to change our game plan. I took Tuesday off, and chilled at my folks house to recoup and then retried on Wednesday. Here was the plan:

1) Take an 8am flight to LaGuardia Airport in New York
2) Pick up luggage in LaGuardia
3) Find and take a shuttle from LaGuardia to JFK Airport in New York
4) Wait around till the 5:45pm flight from JFK to CDG Airport in Paris
5) Arrive in Paris and get bags at 7:30am and wait around till my flight from Paris to Toulouse at 1:50pm
6) Meet Cam at the Toulouse airport at 3:15pm and drive an hour home

All almost went to plan, I woke up at 4:15 am to get to the airport by 6am to check in for my flight at 8am. Only, I didn't get on the 8am flight to LaGuardia! No fear, for there was another flight at 8:45am, so I ran over to that gate...couldn't get on that one either. It's OK, there was another flight at 9:30am...NO ROOM ON THAT FLIGHT EITHER! After checking in with my mom, we decided it might be a better idea to fly to Dallas and then take a flight from Dallas to Paris. I went to speak with a ticket agent to see if they could switch me over, and he informed me that my bag had already been put on a flight to LaGuardia. So, scrap the Dallas plan.

The same agent then took pity on me (I must have looked a little frazzled) and told me to go check in at a different gate quick because there was a plane leaving right now that could take me. I sprinted over to that gate, my backpack bouncing on my back like it did when I was in grade school and I was going to be late for recess, but when I got there the screen read "Boston flight 343". BOSTON?!?!?! I didn't want to go to Boston, my bag was in New York...WHAT THE HELL? Then I overheard the ticket agent say the flight was full to top it all off. I ran back to the other gate pushing fellow travelers out of my way, and told the original ticket agent that I wanted to go to LaGuardia, not BOSTON. He said, "Ya, go back to that gate, they'll take you!" in a nice way, so I realized I must have read the screen wrong.

One final sprint took me back to the "Boston" gate (which still said it was going to Boston) but by this time I wasn't sure which way was up or down so I checked in at the gate. I told the new agent "I need to get to LaGuardia", she said "Ya" and took my name and started typing. She was not the talkative type, so I realized I was going to have to make every question count. As she was printing me off a boarding pass I asked one final time "Is this flight going to LaGuardia?" "Ya" she said curtly...so I got on the plane and hoped to god that I got to where my luggage was.

2 1/2 hours later I flew into LaGuardia. I found my bag which had arrived there 2 hours ahead of me, and I found the bus to JFK in record time. Arriving at JFK I then had 6 1/2 more hours to wait till my Paris flight. No worries, I was armed with a murder mystery book...super creepy and interesting (it's entitled: Still Life with Crows...very good, thanks Elise!). Finally, 7 hours later (the ticket agents were late) it was time to board the plane. I was the 2nd to last passenger put on the plane (for those of you that know my planning ahead type personality, you can only imagine the lessons I've learned through traveling stand by).

When I got on the flight I realized that my radio didn't work. "No worries" I thought, "I'll just read". 5 minutes later they turned the lights off on the flight, and my personal overhead light didn't work either. Stuck in the dark with no headset to watch the movie, I decided that this was a sign that I was supposed to sleep, and so I tried to sleep (I definitely woke myself up once with a snort, so I at least got a couple minutes sleep). After a 7 1/2 hour flight we arrived in Paris, I picked up my luggage and then went to wait for another 6 hours to take my flight from Paris to Toulouse. My eyes were having trouble staying open, I was almost to the point of sleep walking.

However, there was an outrageous occurrence as I checked in for this flight. A lady was wearing a short miniskirt, and must not have been thinking because she bent over from the waist to get something out of her bag and flashed her wedgy to the whole line behind her! The two guys next to me thought it was great...poor lady!

To end this incredibly long entry, I finally got to Toulouse. After waiting for an hour for my bag to arrive (which was pretty hilarious because we watched a bunch of French people get irate and almost crawl into the baggage loading area while yelling at the bag handlers-who were probably on strike due to the new retirement age law), Cam and I were finally able to head home!

One LONG ASS trip to add to my collection!
THE END

Internet Dependence

There once was a couple named Stam & Ceph who decided to move to Southern France for a while. "Easy it will be," said Stam to Ceph,"as easy as eating an entire French Baguette cover in Nutella." And so Ceph and Stam packed up there belongings and moved...

(Present day):
After watching a parapentor flying in our neighbor's backyard we decided it was high time to really try to figure out how French people do things...and let me tell you...eating an entire baguette with Nutella is easy (we do it almost every morning), but figuring out how to live like a French person is way more difficult. Something as simple as going grocery shopping becomes difficult when the hours that the store is open are only from 9-12 and then 2-6! It's a different pace of life, that I could definitely get used to as a worker, but as a consumer...what a pain in the ass! :)

We have been doing tons of work on the house in Castex...so far: painting, working on the floors, covering the holes in the septic system (that was gross...good thing we got respirators), high quantity pruning on the trees on the property, saving the snails, worms and frogs from falling branches, hanging shower curtains, and learning how to grow vegetables! We are the proud parents of baby sprouts of all kinds: carrots, artichokes, strawberries, rasperries, blueberries, herbs, garlic, onions, etc. I made up a song for our first baby sprouts...that will be posted soon (my singing ladies, you are going to love this one, might be on par with the Gum Song).

It has been beautiful out until recently...snow and cold have come to call. I tried to hide so the snow and cold couldn't find us, but our cats were meowing so the snow and cold found us...dern cats! Anyway, we're still mooching internet from a local McDonald's (never appreciated McD's so much in my life). I called the internet provider this morning, and we should be getting internet within 4 days. In the meantime, just so you all have our number, it is: 011-33-5-61-69-85-98 (the 011 is to dial outside of the US, the 33 is the country code, and 5-61-69-85-98 is the actual phone number. You have to dial all of those numbers in order to reach our house. If it were too easy it wouldn't be French!)

We miss you all very, very, very, very, very much! Hope all is well and more stories and pictures to come once we get internet!

Love,
Steph

International Driver's License Poll

So....Steph was trying to decide which of the following photos to use for her new International Drivers License.  We need some input....

Here are the options:

Option 1: Sexy Duck

Option 2: Happy Bulldog

Option 3: I'm Too Sexy For My Pants

Option 4: Pelican Choking on a Fish

Option 5: Monkey Moose

Option 6: Studious Duck (Sny Dog Rules!)

Ok!  Your votes determine the outcome!

The Packing Begins Again....

Our lives seem to be full of activities that don't really have an end.  My least favorite being the never ending packing debacle.

Step 1.
Take over two and a half rooms in Cliff & Monique's house.

Step 2.
Move everything to corners of rooms.

Step 3.
Refind all of our shit.

Step 4.
Make gigantic pile.

Step 5.
Kick cat out of suitcase.  Put clothes in suitcase.  Kick cat out of suitcase - throw mousey.  Put more crap in suitcase.  Jump up and down on it until it barely closes.  Repeat.

 

Step 6.

Jam your life's possessions into 2 bags that weigh exactly 50 lbs (plus one ungodly heavy carry-on).

Mission Accomplished.

Slew of Plan Options

The question persists...how and when will Ceph and Stam actually get to France???

Now, although this may seem like a simple enough question, turns out that it's actually quite difficult for us to answer! So instead of giving you one solid answer, I'm going to give you some of the possible answers we are trying to choose from.

Here we go:

Plan 1) We leave tomorrow (hope we get on a flight) - pack like mad people, b/c our stuff is scattered everywhere - leave the laundry room that we were doing construction on, in complete chaos - cats travel with us if it's warm enough (if not warm enough there's a whole different slew of options to choose from, including having my folks send them to us when it's warmer) - no sleep for 3 days - high irritation levels from both Ceph and Stam

Plan 2) Leave on Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday (hope we get on a flight) - finish home renovations (parents happy) - pack - cats travel with us if it's warm enough

Plan 3) We permanently move into my parents house in Chicago, only pretending we ever went to France - redo my parents entire house - Ceph begins getting a beer belly b/c she loves drinking beer after doing construction stuff (so cliché, but true)

Plan 4) We sit on our thumbs and twirl for an entire year, then move back to CO

Plan 5) I run for President, so I can have at least one cool story to tell people when we come back

So those are a taste of the first few options of plans...now for the France part. Once we get to France we need to get to the house somehow.

We could:

a) rent a car (cat friendly option, wallet friendly if traveling with cats--not so much if not traveling with cats)--13 hour drive

b) take the train (less cat friendly option, good option without the cats, bad with the cats)--6-8 hour ride

c) take another plane (more cat friendly, less wallet friendly)--1 hour flight

d) walk from Paris to Castex (it should only take us about 6 months to walk down there...I mean it's totally doable...)

This is just a taste of the many options that we are trying to figure out logistically. In other words...we probably won't know when we will go to France until we arrive in France. Who knew it could be so complicated? What plans sound good to you? Can you think of any better plans? If so, let us know!

Journey Begun...er, Journey on Hold

Hello Family and Friends!




Welcome to Stam and Ceph's travel blog. It's hard to tell where a journey like the one we are on ends and where it begins...but I'm thinking we'll start with our 18 hour car ride through the states of CO, WY, NE, IA and IL with our 2 jungle kitties.







Thanks to modern pharmaceuticals we were able to sedate the cats for the entire trip...it only took 3 doses of sedatives each! Don't worry, that's OK to do...we checked before hand. Effectively, the cats did pretty well on the trip, though we didn't really give them a chance to be bad. It was easy to tell when they were waking up, the meowing would start, their eyes would widen, and the marathon running laps through out the car would begin (somehow the cats always manage to land directly on Cam's nuts every loop they made). Unfortunately, our cats just don't dig traveling. But as many of you know, I have a theory about dealing with things you don't really like...keep trying them until you do like them! It worked for me and tomato soup, so I'm thinking the cats just need more exposure. (That's my theory and I'm sticking to it as long as we have no other choice). :)

Currently we are hanging at my folks house in Naperville, IL. The cats have been getting acquainted with my parents's animals. Che has decided to make sure they all know he's the big cat on campus, while Lion has decided to be Mr. Salty Pants and hiss at everything that walks by. But I think it's just going to take some TIME (key word) for them to get used to a new place and new company surrounding them.

And TIME (key word is key now) is something we will have quite a bit of right now. We just had Cam's visa appt. with the French consulate today, and we didn't even consider the fact that when you apply for a visa you physically give them your passport because the consulate needs to stick the visa to the actual passport. So now the French consulate has Cam's passport and we aren't going anywhere for the moment. They say it will take no less than 2 weeks to process the visa, but they are still searching for the registration-of-our-marriage paperwork that I handed in back in September. Bureaucracy can really be the pits sometimes! So looks like we'll be camping out at my folks for at least another 2 weeks (if not more) before we actually go to France. But it is really nice to hang with my folks, they are so awesome about this whole thing...we couldn't do it without their support.

So the next couple weeks of our journey will entail getting better acquainted with Chicago and Naperville, and catching up on writing, reading, job searches, and each other. And Skyping the hell out of all of you! So get Skype now if you don't have it and look us up...sdwhall@hotmail.com.