19 Jun Under the skin
The next campground was called “Mare de Roy” and was only 8 kilometers away by foot. It was very hot, but we reached this and were welcomed by a very friendly woman. We walked into the reception and were immediately handed a glass of ice cold water. The campground itself was a bit, well let’s say so, it had something of wild camping. They were recognized cells, but the ground was full of leaves, branches and molehills. Nevertheless, we can only recommend this place. If only because of the boss’s phrase: “We make it cheaper here for hikers and cyclists, and have extra outlets at the front of the bar to charge their cell phones.”
Since we couldn’t predict the path of the sun, we waited to set up the tent and went straight to the bar and drank some ice cold drinks, especially syrups in a variety of flavors. In the evening some older gentlemen from the village joined us in the bar. We felt like we were in a movie with Louis de Funes. These gentlemen with their great charisma, totally beguiled, we talked to each other or rather we tried, it was just beautiful. And when they then, everyone got into his car, one even on the moped and curved home, everything was perfect.
The next morning we treated ourselves to a petit dejeune, a small breakfast at the bar. Whereas there was coffee from bowls and fresh baguette with jam. Then I got into a conversation with the boss that got under my skin. She first told that many people in her country are afraid of people with dark skin and especially afraid of Islam, and France also has a right-wing problem because of it. We have seen the other reasons for the right-wing problem even in the villages forgotten by politics. Then she told about her mother who spent 5 years in a concentration camp as a child and how that shaped her life. Wow, I can’t put this suffering into words. And NO, I do not feel guilty because I am German, and in every little village I am reminded of the suffering the Germans have brought into the world. Even if I don’t feel guilty, every word, every memorial reaffirms how senseless wars are and how stupid it is to think “you are something better than the other”!
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