Into the Mountains and La Muse Inn: Via Paris and Carcassonne.

After a wonderful day strolling around Dol I returned to the railway station to catch my train to Paris.  

Despite  Paul explaining the way back to the station I managed to get lost and a vey kind lady thankfully pointed me in the right direction.

This journey involved changing staitions at Paris.  When I realized this was the case, I did some research about the options and decided to go the totally stress free route and to get a taxi.  This was one of those times that the cost was not a consideration.  I needed to make my connection and it would be late in the evening when I arrived in Paris.  This was not the time to choose the cheapest way to do it and then get lost on the metro. lol  I arrived at the Montparnasse station on time and walked out into the Paris evening. It was a clear night. 

I paused to take in the scene for a moment and then started searching for the taxi rank. Eventuallly I came across the line of waiting taxis and began my journey across Paris.

It was kind of exciting to think I was in Paris, driving down its framous streets in a taxi. I was thinking it would have been nice to suddenly spy the Eiffel Tower out of my window, but no such luck. lol

 I really had no desire to stay in Paris at this time, as I plan to visit it one day with a friend and to be able to share the experiences with whoever that may be. 

The streets were alive and the cafes were buzzing.

I got a few pictures out of the taxi window as we drive along, just for memories sake.

It didn't take too long to get to Paris Austerlitz and it wasn't too expensive, around 12 Euros, I can't remember exactly.

The train from Austerlitz to Carcassonne was an overnight train.  We left at nearly 10:00 pm and arrived in Caecassonne at 5:30 in the morning.

This was the same train my daughter Beth had taken when she travelled to Carcassonne years ago.  She was alone at the time too, and she told me she went for a coffee in a cafe just up the road and to the left of the station.

 When I arrived in Carcassonne it was a chilly January morning and I walked up to the cafe for a coffee. I thought of Beth doing the same thing and it was a comforting thought. A shared experience.

I had a cafe au lait and a croissant.  

This was my first experience of the European concept of a bar and coffee shop being one and the same place. 

It was nice to sit in the warmth of this fancy establishment.  Soon I wandered back to the station and was interested in the canal that was in front of the station.  I later discovered it was Le Canal Du Midi, that travels across France and is a national treasure.

I had to wait until 9:00 before I got picked up by John from La Muse Inn.  I was grateful for my warm scarf and gloves as I sat in the station waiting room.

As 9:00 approached, a woman came up to me and asked if I was going to La Muse Inn.   There seemed to be an instant connection.  I was delighted to meet Jena, who was from Australia, and of a similar age to me. I felt reassured that I would not be the odd one out at the writers retreat, :-)  I didn't realize this had been on my mind, but I suppose it had, as I had no idea of the ages etc of the participants.

While we waited for John I got a great picture of the hotel near the station. 

John arrived and we drove round and picked up Jena's luggage from her hotel, as she had arrived the day before.

Next we went to the grocery store and got our food supplies for the next week.  I had signed up for the ride package, which meant there would be weekly tips into Carcassonne for sight seeing and grocery shopping.  The last week would be a trip to Lastours.

As we drove into the mountains we passed through some lovely villages.

John pointed out the charteaux on top of the mountain in the village of Lastours and gave a brief history of the Cathar people who were persecuted by the Catholic Church.

Lastours also had this amazing chimney.  I would find out more about that later.

I was fascinated by the towers on the hilltop and couldn't wait till we paid them a visit later in my stay.

It  was an exciting moment when we drove into Labastide Esparbairenque, as it would be my home for the next four weeks.

It was amazing to see the houses all perched on the side of such steep hills.

As we came round the corner to where La Muse was, there was a van parked right in the middle of the road.  It was the Epicier, the man who comes to sell food and groceries to the village residents. 

We just had to be patient and wait. :-)

When everyone had completed their shopping, we reversed in order to let the van out.

 Then we continued on our way. We were finally at La Muse.

John pulled up in front of the chapel, right beside La Muse Inn, and unloaded our luggage.  

Once inside he assigned us our cupboard space and a shelf in the fridge so we could unload our groceries.  Then we got to see our rooms and I was ecstatic as soon as I walked into my space.

It was beyond my wildest expectations.

I loved everything about it; the embroidered Indian coverlet on the bed,  the floor to ceiling drapes and the tall windows as well as the beamed ceiling,  It was exquisite.

Even the door handle captured my imagination,  How old must it be? I had never seen a door with a handle in the middle before.

The ceilings were so high.

After taking in the room, I checked out the view.  I was overlooking the river valley with the heavily treed mountainside right across the way.  Looking down you could see houses sitting nestled in the hillside.

I had arrived.  It had been a long journey from Dol in Brittany to a tiny village in the Black Mountains of Southern France.   It was somewhere I had dreamt of being for many years.  It was hard to believe I had made it.

Little did I think when I found La Muse on the internet so many years ago that I would actually be here in the flesh, attending a four  week writiers retreat.  Powerful visualizations apparently bring results and what you can dream can come can to be!

There was the introductory tour of the village to look forward to, as well as our crepe luncheon where we would share out hopes for the time spent at La Muse.  But that my friends, is another story.

A Stroll in Port Haney and My Song About Growing Up Here.

Last night the sun came out and invited me to go for a stroll. I live right on the Fraser Heritage walkway

I sauntered down to the Fraser river. The cloud formations were fantastic and the river looked beautiful

The beautiful Fraser River at Port Haney

The first thing I came upon after going through the underpass tunnel was an ironwork sculpture of flowers which is the worse for wear and tear. But it was heartwarming to see it because it was made by my ex-husband many years ago, when he was the artist in residence.

Metal Sculpture with horse shoes by Colin Southwell.

I walked across the tracks down to the wharf and enjoyed the river views.

 I walked back across the tracks and across River Road to the new pizza restaurant beside the old Billy Miner pub.

The Billy Miner Pizza Cafe

 It was great to see old friends sitting out on the patio enjoying their evening meal and I stopped and had a visit with Bernice and Don. I updated them with all the family news. They asked about Beth's concert in Vancouver. It is so nice to have all this history with the community here. Beth used to work at the Billy years ago, when Bernice and Don owned it. Great memories.
I went into the off sales for some cider. There is such a wonderful atmosphere in the Billy Miner Ale House, home to the Sunday Night Jam.

 

 

I am so lucky to be able to walk out my door and enjoy the walk to the Fraser River past the old heritage Haney House.

Haney House

I grew up in Haney, before it was Maple Ridge. I love this town, the place where I grew, playing in the forests and swimming in the Alouette on hot summer days.

Here is a song I wrote while living in England, I was homesick and thinking of all the things that were special to my childhood and youth here in Maple Ridge.  I am so grateful to have grown up here, in the rainforest of my childhood.

I Grew Up In Haney

I grew up in Haney with some friends of mine.

It was a lot smaller then and we had a good time.

From Haney Central up to Maple Ridge High

Well we just had to go.

And we painted the walkways from Junior to Senior

So we wouldn’t get caught in the rain.

And the Beatles were famous and hippies became us

And John F. Kennedy died.

I remember the day the five and dime burned down.

It was all over town, in no time at all.

And when the old Aggie Hall reached the end of the road.

Well we just had to go.

They built the craziest rooftop that you’ve ever seen.

On top of the new five and dime.

And a big skating rink we can use all year round.

Near where the Aggie Hall once stood so proud.

When I was a kid they built the outdoor pool.

And we would go swimming, come rain or come shine.

With a season ticket clutched in my hand.

Well I just had to go.

And the Alouette River so cool and so clear.

Invited us all to come in.

And the lovely big rocks down by Davidson’s pool.

Were perfect for laying back on.

Oh, I grew up in Haney with some friends of mine.

It was a lot smaller then and we had a good time.

Words and Music Pam Carr

Major Events Looming Large

I have a couple of things coming up that are very exciting, yet bring a certain element of pressure.
First of all I am applying to do my Master of Education in Arts Education. This will start up in September and I am very excited to say the least. Doing a Masters has been a long time goal, but only if it was really relevant to my life and life's work. This one seems perfect, it covers, art, drama, writing, music and aesthetics in general. I am always doing this stuff in my class anyway, and now I am archiving all my songs and rhymes etc on youtube, I thought perhaps some of this would work its way into my Masters Portfolio.
Why I say this is looming large is that the deadline for applications is Jan 31st and not that far away.
I have my three reference letters, (thank you kindly) and I did my letter of intent last weekend, and gave myself a big pat on the back for that. Now I have to get an academic paper together for them, and I was hoping to find one that I did towards my degree, and this could prove interesting. If I cannot track one down then I must write something, and things are so tight around time I was hoping to not have to do that right now.

The second event approaching like a speeding train is my concert as part of the Musical Expressions series at the Richmond Cultural Centre on February 5th 2011 at 8:00.
I am so looking forward to getting back on stage and doing a 'grown up ' show, but it has been a while so the old insecurities kick in. Beth and I had a killer practice last week and things felt really good, so I really can't wait, but there are moments of "what am I doing this to myself for." When as my kids say, you want it Mum, and they are right of course.

Something special has come about as a result of doing this concert, I have started recording an EP and the songs are all turning out so wonderfully. I am doing four that I wrote many years ago, but never performed much as they were so personal to myself, or those who inspired them.  So now that time has passed and healed the wounds, I think it is time to let these songs be heard.
One of them is a happy little ditty I just wrote, but it works in perfectly with the others.
You can find out more about my music at my Pam Carr Music website or on facebook.

So needless to say, I am practicing like mad and looking forward to going into the studio next Friday to do the vocals for "Rise Above It All."  I have to do the press releases and promo stuff, as it all helps to try and fill the theater on the night.

There is so much work involved in producing these kinds of shows and I really cannot say enough about the amazing Cherelle Jardine who works so hard to put this concert series together.

So this morning I have spent procrastinating and uploading video to my iMovie and editing it and adding videos to pamelasunshinetv and one of my other blogs. I am also trying to keep adding new songs to the Violet Femmes Music blog, so today it was Imogen Heap.
I really am as happy as can be keeping all this stuff going, it suits my butterfly nature I suppose.