#Tag 9 Solidarity Restaurant and Mont Salva

A day as I wished for.

Looked out of the window in the morning and got this view:

No obligations, no appointments - just living.

Well, no appointments are relative. Liane asked me at the beginning of my arrival if I wanted to come to the Solidarity Restaurant on Tuesday afternoon. She already registered me, but of course she can still cancel.

What is that????

A well-known man from the region, Claude, has organized a meeting place for social projects in his refuge in Le Brusc. Every Tuesday at 12 o'clock there is a meal for people living below the poverty line. Everyone is welcome to register. The places are limited. In addition, there are also people who support the project and pay for the meal. Claude is the focal point and gives lectures before, during and after the meal on current topics that he critically examines.

My presence as a German is respected, his lectures demand my full concentration on the French language. I can actually understand a lot and deduce the meaning. Today Claude has a repertoire of

- the war of the Russians in Ukraine, Putin as a person and the comparison to the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 and the US embargo on the deployment of Russian nuclear missiles in Cuba

- dealing with the Corona pandemic and the scientific studies on vaccinations and research on the value of the vaccine (Claude's professional roots are in medical research on epidemics and vaccines).

- the discovery of an enzyme under the lava of a volcano that is heat-resistant and can be a milestone for the development of vaccines.

(if I could classify everything correctly...)

There are 13 of us, the food is served in a yurt, a round building according to Mongolian tradition. By the way, there was a Moroccan couscous dish with chicken, carrots, potatoes and sauce.

I'll take the impressions with me. My trip also has a deeper meaning. I want to recognize what I still want to achieve in the future, where I want to initiate something, where I can make a difference. That's a good start.

Back at the motorhome the weather is so nice that I decide to go for a bike ride immediately. I was here last year and got to know the route to Mont Salva to La Seyne. That fits perfectly.

I picked out the bag with my cycling clothes and checked to see if everything was in it. I thought the swim trunks were also packed. But they're not....

Simone.....can you pack them...

Then get the bike out, put on leg warmers - yes. Long sleeves - yes. And off we go.

And that was just right. There were some cyclists in shorts, but I felt just right with the long - long. There will certainly be other times...

I find the way immediately and climb Mont Salva on the D 2816 with the summit at the intersection to the church "Notre Dame". The weather is so good and the view is so great that I have to stop again and take a few photos.

The distance is not long. From the start in Le Brusc to the top it's only 8.5 km, but all uphill. Then the same downhill to La Seyne, where I ride to the beach of Les Sablettes.

About 16 km up to this point and then back. It's already getting cold in the woods. I'm glad to be back at the motorhome around 5 p.m., where the sun is still shining. And I have 3 new neighbors. The place is popular and seems to attract my presence. I believe.