Getting reused to our own country

France break - Posted On

First family meeting is very short, just few hours sharing a coffee in Paris airport. We will see them for more time later at home in Grenoble. First days in France happens in Paris. We join Sarah, Aurel, Math and his two childs near Fontainebleau, in Bois le Roi. We felt out of step with our friends, on the per hour side and also on the cultural side. We were so tired because of the 48 hours of travel by plane. We have to learn again to party late at night and goofing off.   

Then we take the road again to go down South, to our sweet Alps. We see them on the horizon, at last. Softly, known place appears, familiar sensations emerge from our deep memory. Hitchhiking hazard lead us to the Nadège's house where all her family is waiting for us. Just one phone call to the Peyre family and the two families are reunited for the first time. Amazing !!

First thing we do with the family is to climb the Moucherotte, mid-level mountain High above Grenoble. We also race to show our relatives the beautiful New zeland invention called Firebath. There are now two spots to look at the stars in hot water around Grenoble, Fugières (Nadege’s parents secondary home) and Ezy right at the foot of High cliffs of the Vercors. 

The phone rings. Sebastien, this good old friend, suggest a few days in Dune du Pyla, 800kms from Grenoble and pristine huge sand dune, paradise for paragliding. Mathias, the third part of the band, and I are up to it. I’ll go hitchhiking there, the Ultralite in the bag, a good opportunity to see again the French population on the road. 

The few days there allow me to reconnect with my best friends like I couldn’t do the last four years. We take our time flying, soaring and playing in the sand.

On the way there, our friends Alex and Estelle, cyclotourists we hosted in Caledonia invite me for some days in their house. I see the typic French South West, tasting the best Foie Gras ever and admiring their new project of building their own house, away from the busy world. 

“Family is the most important thing in the world”, say most of the people. Well, then it is mostly important to enjoy together the best place in the world to have the best possible time together. My godfather Gerard had rebuild a chalet high in the mountain, it’s called Champébran. We all see again each other up there, in the middle of the rocky mountain, some even too huge to understand them.