Reflections from the Epic & 80 Road Trip with Patricia Sands
For the past five weeks, I’ve been largely absent from The Barefoot Blogger. The reason is simple. I was on the road.
Not just “on the road,” but on a five-week journey across parts of France, with my friend, author Patricia Sands. Together, we traveled more than 5,000 kilometers from Paris to Normandy and Brittany, down the Atlantic coast, and then to the Mediterranean.
Along the way, we visited places I had never seen, places I had written about, and places I thought I understood until I experienced them for myself.
Why Now?
Part of the answer is simple. Curiosity.
When I moved to France, I imagined I would eventually see much of the country. Yet thirteen years later, many of the places I most wanted to visit were still waiting. Rouen.Honfleur. The D-Day Beaches. Saint-Malo. Mont-Saint-Michel.
Some were destinations I had researched and written about years ago. Others were places whose names had become familiar through history books, documentaries, and conversations with friends. Yet I had never stood there myself. That fact had begun to bother me. I wanted to stop relying on what I had read and finally see these places with my own eyes.
There was another reason.
The past few years have included a number of health challenges. There were times when travel seemed less important than simply getting through the next day. Times when I wondered how much traveling remained in my future. Being healthy enough to spend five weeks on the road felt like an opportunity that shouldn’t be postponed.
The Question of Age
At 80, it’s easy to begin narrowing your world. A long drive suddenly seems unnecessary. A steep climb becomes optional. That trip can always wait until next year. But at some point, next year becomes a less reliable plan.
One of the reasons I took this trip was to prove something to myself. Could I still do it? Could I handle weeks on the road, unfamiliar hotels, long walks, and changing plans? Could I still climb to the top of Mont-Saint-Michel?
The answer, thankfully, was yes.
I also wanted to leave my grandchildren with an example. Someday, when I’m no longer here, I hope they remember that their grandmother was still curious. Still exploring. Still willing to drive across France to see what was around the next corner.
Traveling with Patricia Sands
This journey would have been very different without Patricia. We’ve traveled together for nearly ten years, but spending five weeks together is different from sharing a week on a tour or a short visit in Uzés or Canada. You learn how another person experiences the world.
Patricia brings remarkable energy, enthusiasm, and knowledge of France to every destination. She absorbs places differently than I do. We notice different things. We ask different questions. We come away with different impressions.
That made every stop more interesting.
I also had the opportunity to meet many of the women writers Patricia has befriended through the years. Everywhere we went, we were welcomed by friends who generously shared their favorite places, local knowledge, and stories.
Most importantly, we encouraged each other.
There were days when one of us was tired. Days when another hill seemed too steep or another story seemed too difficult to write. The other person would simply say, “Keep going.” Usually, that was enough.
Patricia certainly helped me find the energy to walk distances that would have seemed unimaginable a few years ago. And together, we reminded each other why we continue writing when age and circumstance sometimes suggest it might be easier to stop.
Choosing Slow Travel
One of the best decisions we made was not trying to see everything. Instead of racing from attraction to attraction, we allowed ourselves time. Time to sit in cafés. Time to wander. Time to watch daily French life unfold. Time to return to places that interested us.
Many of my favorite memories came from moments that never appear in guidebooks. Paris without an agenda was one of them. Normandy’s deep connection to the sea surprised me, Brittany felt distinctly different from the rest of France, and returning to the Mediterranean reminded me how dramatically one region of France can differ from another. After thirteen years here, that may have been the biggest surprise of all: I thought I knew France, but I still had much more to discover.
I thought I knew France. What I discovered is that I had only begun to understand it.
What’s Ahead
Over the coming weeks, I’ll be sharing stories from the road, including visits to Rouen, where Joan of Arc met her fate, and Monet found inspiration; Honfleur, whose harbor attracted generations of artists; the D-Day beaches; Saint-Malo and Mont-Saint-Michel; and, farther south, Sanary-sur-Mer, Antibes, and Nice. Together, they revealed a France that is more diverse, more complicated, and more fascinating than I ever realized.
I thought I was getting to know France fairly well. What this journey reminded me is that there is always so. much more to discover, particularly when you slow down, leave room for surprises, and take the time to look beyond the places you already know and love.
Stay tuned …
One Response
I can’t wait to see what comes next! None of this would have happened without your superior driving skills no matter what the challenge. Onward, ma belle amie! On y va!