Every now and again, it’s seems necessary to experience the ‘other side’ to see if much has changed in the land of the spirit world…
…and I don’t mean whisky.
This weekend we visited the heart of Annick’s family, meeting together in the Cévennes to celebrate her brother Jean-Robert’s 60th birthday, and check out the local deities.
The party was held in Saint-Laurent-le-Minier, a small village in the depths of the Massif Central (Central Southern France), surrounded by mountains, rivers and gorges.
The river passing the village, called la Vis, falls ice-cold over rocks covered with slippery traps for the unsure-footed.
The waterfall is stunning, so much so that, whilst risking life and limb for my avid followers, I slipped and fell splat into the river, thus researching the hardiness of camera, phone,
clothing and already damaged limbs.The clothing failed (in the wetness department), the camera’s lens filter dented but carried on regardless, the phone didn’t blink,
and the ankle matched it’s lameness with it’s opposite knee. So far, technology 2: humans 0. Hmm, not as yet a very spiritual weekend…Not giving up, and with the aid of local
superbeings superstores, I purchased a new wardrobe, thus not arriving at the party dripping and humiliated. Unlike Annick’s brother, Jean-Robert:
Spending a weekend with Annick’s spiritual side is, at the very least, bewildering… Watching the diversity of beliefs from a deity that controls your every movement (Extremist Evangelicals), through deities which may or may not exist, (Protestants) all the way to a pile of pasta with meatballs for eyes (er… that last one, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, is mine) is anything but enlightening.
Despite these strange beliefs, most of these guys are really nice, loving people, a bit like the rest of humanity really.
So what were the results of spending a weekend on the other side?
The main result was indigestion, due to the fact that believers seem to eat like the rest of us at parties…
And then it happened, my spiritual moment. Walking over the bridge below the village, looking at the waterfall with the sun setting in the background…
My spiritual side was still crying out for guidance however. Do I become one with my inner self and give myself up to woo? Do I become a deep thinking theologian and spend my life discussing things that don’t actually exist? Or do I step back and say “Whoa there! What happened to reality? Do the words 'evidence’ and 'fact’ mean anything? Where’s the toilet?”
In the end, all this denial of science led me to insist on visiting, on the way home, one of the Seven Great Wonders of the modern technological world. The Viaduct at Millau. Take that Oh Great One!
So, an interesting weekend. Has it made me a better person? Do I now see the truth? Is my camera still functional?
All will be revealed.
Or not…
Phil(istine)
Here’s some pictures from the weekend, spot the highly devoted…
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