Plitsch Platsch (Deluge)

Thursday, March 9, 2017

I wish you all a belated happy International Women's Day and also apologize for my long absence!

This was mainly due to Rosti's continuous leakage, but hopefully that won't be a problem for us in the future.

In the last entry, we stopped at our arrival in Fontaine-de-Vaucluse and of course I don't want to withhold from you what happened from March 1st until today.

We had planned to explore the beautiful surroundings and we did so right after waking up. From our parking lot, we strolled along the road towards the 'city center' (if you can call it that in a 500-person town). On our way, we passed the Office de Tourisme and immediately asked for advice on the must-sees of the town. This included an alleged 'hiking trail' of about 700 m (if you grew up with my parents, hiking usually means at least 8 km and with my grandpa Alfred at least 20). To extend this walk a bit, we chose the path through a gallery of craftsmanship in the former paper mill and its outbuildings. In the pictures, you will see that the water wheel is still in operation in the lively river course of the Sorgue. After that, we resurfaced and continued on our way to Le gouffre (The Abyss), a 300 meter deep cave at the bottom of a huge cliff, from which the Sorgue emerges from its underground tunnel branches. This place, or rather the natural spectacle happening there, gave Fontaine-de-Vaucluse its name. During heavy rain or melting snow, enormous amounts of water rush down this mountainside into the cave and spurts out into the river in a fountain several meters high. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), we did not witness this spectacle, but we were able to climb to the edge of the cave and take photos. On the way back, we also checked out the few shops that the town still had to offer.

The sunshine had made us a bit too optimistic in terms of clothing, so I returned to Rosti slightly frozen from the shadow of the mountains and the sharp wind of Provence. David didn't mind at all and so we parted ways for the afternoon (yes, that can happen too). David climbed the old castle ruins and I studied psychology and read a book. That was all we saw of this little place (but of course we still enjoyed it).

On the Thursday one week ago, most of our time was spent in the supermarket (they are DAMN big!). Not only a major shopping trip, but also a visit to the hairdresser were on the agenda. You might have already heard or seen and been shocked. 

LOTTI! WHERE HAVE YOUR HAIR GONE?!

Well, the wind, the wind, the heavenly child. They're gone. And so was the time when we returned to our parking space. Only a few cozy hours with our favorite lady J.K. Rowling, who writes divine (audio)books, were left.

The next few days were once again very stormy and rainy, so not many pictures were taken during this time. Additionally, we spent our time worrying about Rosti again. It rarely stopped raining and even more rarely did it stop dripping inside our van... We spent the only sunny hours in the tiny park on the Sorgue and tried to draw. But soon our sketchbooks and picnic blanket were practically flying around our ears and we retreated back into the windless depression cave called Rosti.

To overcome this depression, we visited a workshop in the nearby Velasque several times (recommended by the ADAC), which was supposed to seal our windshield. They were happy to do that for us, friendly as always (and cheap!), but it didn't help. Two raindrops outside - and the deluge started again inside. However, we still had to wait for our second visit until the weekend was over. On Saturday, the wetness once again caused one of our fuses to blow and put the windshield wipers out of service. And on (sunny) Sunday, of course, everything was closed. On Monday morning, the mechanic recommended us to a workshop specializing in windshields in Carpentras, the nearest larger town. We went there directly and found ourselves at France Pare-Brise around 2 pm.

Again, all the mechanics were extremely nice and helpful, even when it came to language, and they assured us that the windshield was perfectly sealed and nothing should get in anymore. So the problem could only be with the rain gutter, and even though it wasn't their specialty, they were willing to seal it for us. However, we would have to wait until the next morning, as sealing could only be done in dry weather and it was supposed to rain again that day. So we settled into a (slightly expensive) campground in Carpentras for the night and even used real showers again for the first time in ages! Our neighbors were some French school class who kept going back and forth between the boys' and girls' bungalows all evening and occasionally smoked on the terrace.

The next morning, we had to get up early and were standing at the workshop's gate right at opening time. Then we handed Rosti and its keys over to them and said goodbye until 2 pm. Now we had to kill time. We would have loved to sit in the sun in front of a nice café like the Bar de l'Hotel de Ville and use the Wi-Fi, but somehow there seemed to be no Wi-Fi or sun wherever we went. So we wandered through the streets and shops for quite a while, then had an overpriced crêpe for lunch, and at 1 pm, I found a store where I could get some jeans and a summer top (see pictures).

Back at the workshop, we marveled at the rain gutter, which was now covered in a thick black paste, and our hearts became a few kilos lighter. 

Since the whole of Provence was now open to us again, we decided to visit a place that I had been wanting to visit for a long time: Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. This is where my favorite artist Vincent van Gogh had a very productive phase in the last years of his life, and some of his most famous works were created here. We even found a free parking lot, 5 minutes from the city center. We arrived in the evening and had a wonderful view of the city illuminated by the sunset.

Yesterday, we explored the city and familiarized ourselves with its most beautiful corners. Additionally, a period of great weather began (18°C yesterday, up to 22°C today until Saturday) and we enjoyed the sun and the city. In the meantime, we also did some studying and managed to each create a drawing. 

We both really like the city and you can practically feel where Van Gogh got his inspiration from. The shops are quite touristy and not very original, but the buildings and streets are very authentic. It's just obvious at many places that a lot of human lives have shaped and changed this city. 

In the evening, we went to the local cinema, where a few films in their original language with subtitles are shown, and watched the movie 'Loving' with Ruth Negga. 

Today, we are going sunbathing again and, as you may have noticed, writing a new blog entry.

That's it for now!

Until hopefully soon,

David, Lotti, and Rosti