12 January 2004

Driving from England to France

People in the US seem to think that France is the area surrounding the Eiffel Tower in Paris but France is a huge country made up of farmland and pretty little towns spread out from Belgium to The Alps and The Pyrenees. 

It seems as though every little town has the same focal point…a tall steeply pointed black-slated church roof in the middle of the town.  The tall pointy roof usually has a cast iron rooster sitting on top of it to represent France. 

Ancient stone barns surrounded by huge stone fences form the barnyards of the large farms scattered along French highways.  Another common site are the old walled cemeteries.   Off in the distance the little towns look like picture post cards bought at the drug store

The drive from Calais ferry to Senlis takes us past these beautiful sites.  I never get tired of just looking out the window at the landscape.  There is something magical about the countryside of France…maybe it’s the fall morning mist that forms almost every day, or the rolling wheat fields and massive forests. 

Brown signs are posted along the highways with drawings of the highlights of the region.  Senlis has signs for Saint Pierre Cathedral, and for Chantilly there is a drawing of the chateau and a horse jumping into the air to announce the horse museum.

Occasionally there are crosses with massive bunches of flowers to mark the site where loved ones died in car accidents.  I’ve noticed that the ones located near Senlis have their flowers replaced regularly.

Tan-breasted falcons sit on fence posts or big round hay bales looking for prey.  Brightly colored pheasant search for food in the fields.

In the northern and mid-sections of France the rolling land is filled with farm crops of mustard, potatoes, corn, hops, and tobacco.  In the summer the sight of hundreds of acres of yellow sunflowers growing in fields along the highway is breathtaking.  In the fall there are huge mountains of dug up sugar beets piled on the edge of the fields waiting for semi-trucks to come to take them to be processed.

On this same peaceful highway motorcycles whiz by so quickly we often don’t hear them until they are right upon us.  They buzz in and out of traffic like crazy bumblebees.  On some rural roads just on the edge of small towns prostitutes dressed in short skirts and high heels stand along the road waiting for customers.

During the vacation periods, which come every 6 weeks during the school year there are so many cars on the highways that gas stations have long waiting lines.  The cars are piled high with bicycles and canoes.  If you look closely among the camping gear you will see kids and dogs trying to look out of the car windows.

Another common site along the highway are huge cemeteries with hundreds of white crosses marking the graves of WWI soldiers who died in battles near where they were buried.  It is also not unusual to see men pulled over to the side of the road “using the facilities”.  I find this weird since there are lots of really nice rest stops with clean toilets and restaurants.

As we drove our usual route from the ferry to Senlis I was reminded of why France is such a magical place to the rest of the world.  Everywhere I look there is beauty, even in the mist of a miserable fall day.  When we exited the auto route (a 4-lane toll road from Calais to Paris), and paid the $20 toll fee I could hardly wait to catch a glimpse of the ancient steeple church that sits up high on the skyline in Senlis.  It looks like a giant gothic jewel shining down over the town.

We’ve been so lucky to have the time to know a little of France, and the people who live here.  I am glad to be back, even though it is just a short visit to get Lucy and Christopher, our cats.  The first thing I am going to do is walk up to Saint Pierre and touch the ancient walls.

Annie Warmke has lived with her family in Senlis, France until recently when they picked up stakes and moved to Hadleigh, England.  She writes a weekly column on life in a small town.  Someday in the not too distant future she intends to return to live at her farm near Philo, but for the time being she is a world citizen making friends in small towns wherever she goes.  You can be in touch with her through her email address:  annie@bluerockstation.com