The path the romans........

Friends And Lovers,

Forgive me for taking my time since I last spoke to you. The transition to a foreign country is not always easy and jet lag is never fun. So, since we last spoke or rather, read, I have been staying up late and waking up early. Tired, wandering the streets of Besançon (where I live) and stumbling here and there to order coffee, buy bread or have a beer, has had a strange effect on me. The reality of the situation creeps in when you are walking and then realize,I am a wandering 27 year old child in the adult world of France. For those of you who have not had this experience, I highly recomend it. Nothing cures the American Blues, like the humbling truth of not being able to easily order a coffee or buy bread. It is coldly efficient in prioritizing the things you have to say, and puts the ego in check. I love it. Though, I must say, your author is not without moments of inner frustration that screams: " I just want coffee and where is the bathroom"!!!!!!!

This, was the old me. This, was me a few days ago before I had a little walk in the countryside that the romans took a long long long time ago. After which I felt a whole lot better about all that I am doing here. I will be working on the history details of this trip, and I soon hope to be a good blogger and have photos, video, tweets, txts, DNA samples, smells, and anything else that may help me come into my own into the world of technology which to avoid this, I have been trying to hammer boards on the windows of "I'm old fashioned". (I listen to tapes on my walkmen and I usually do all of my writing on an Adler J2 Typewriter)

So, let me start at the begining, a little picture into the life I have been living here.

In Besançon there are wonderful cafès' shops etc. There is one shop that I have come to really enjoy. This may not seem like it has anything to do with a walk in the countryside, I assure you it does. This shop, Is a junk shop. Which those of you who know me, know that this is where I find most of my magic and wonder and unique treasures of life. The other day was no exception. So I walk into this store with my American colors coming out of my ears and say "Bonjour". I then go directly to the section where they have the cassette tapes.(Yes I know what you are thinking, Cassette What?) There are all sorts of gems in this box. From Kenny Rogers to German leiter hosen bands. Any and all can be found here. And like most individuals that listen to tapes, nothing makes the heart soar, like a truly buried treasure of old recordings with voice or music from long ago. Well my friends, I found in the depths of this bin, my very own personal holy grail. By random accident of chance, I am now the proud owner of a recording of a church service from some unkown church all the way back in New Orleans Louisianna, from the year of our lord, Nineteen Hundered and Eighty Nine. This tape has everything, Soulful preaching (samples coming soon) A rendition of amazing grace which only southern churches can manifest, and the best part of the tape, dixieland style music by a band all the way from switzerland. What more could you want from a random tape bought from a junk store in france? I tell you, the planets were aligned that day. Which brings me to the next part of the story.

The Climb.
Friends and Lovers, I told you the story of the Church tape, because it is the best way I know how to set the tone and mood of my travels here and the things that I am seeing. What is life without a bit of magic and providence? Boring! Let us take our cues from Socrates and examine this life, further.
The Day was Tuesday. (Mercredi en Français. Also, right now as I am typing this, some children are walking below my window singing, just thought I would let you know) It was a very nice day as far as the weather was concerned and I was inside planning on being tired and not doing anything but doing the best job I could do playing sloth. (one of the seven deadly) I then get a phone call from my girlfriend Julie.(who I am staying with and one of the main reasons I am here.) She told me the weather is great and that I should go outside. As I had said, I was already well on my way to having to ask for forgivness in my slothness. (our father......who art thou.....) I decided to take her advice and see what was out side. I got ready, left my camera behind on purpose and went down the stairs and out the front door. I set out with no direction in paticular except away from Besançon. I made my way out of town and start seeing signs for hiking trails. These looked to have promise, so i start off in the direction of something called the Chapelle des Buis. The Chapelle was about 3km away and this was up a bunch of hills and 300m above sea level.(?) Anyway, it was high up. So I am walking along these trails and it is in beautiful countryside. The paths are either made of rock or overgrown pathways all of which I still have no idea of where I am going. Eventually I find my way to the Chapelle des Buis. It is a tiny little place but the view from outside is great. So I venture inside. Turning the handle to the church, I hear my pressence become known in this holy place. Much to my shock, there is no one inside. Not a soul. This would never happen in America. I expected security guards armed to the teeth like the houses of the holy in New York or Chicago. You would think that God would not need security officers but then again, God can't be everywhere. So I walk around the sanctuary and turn the book of prayers to the right day and sign the guest book: "what a nice surprise to get here after a long journey, Hathaway". Like I said, I did not know where I was going so it was great to stumble on to this tiny holy place after finding the church tape earlier in the week. So I head outside and look for where to go next. There are signs pointing just up the way to the Notre-Dame de la Libèration. This place was even stranger than the last. This is what it looked like:

Then down steps which you cannot see in this photograph, is the crypt where ther is an alter and a bunch of chairs surrounding that. Needless to say, I was shocked again when I found myself alone in this place. So I hung around A while and looked at some of the names and lit a candle for my visit there. All very strange things. I then left this place and continued walking towards the town of Morre. Following the path through the woods and up and down the hills, was all adding to the wonderful events of the day until I reached a certain point on the path where you come to a very nice scenic point looking down upon the town of Morre. This is where you can look accross the way and see a wooden cross high up just like where I was. I start off down the path towards the town and it becomes a bit rocky. Then it gets steep and even more rocky and unstable. Then I realize after slipping, that I am not on the path that I should be on and I have to be careful. It is this point that I pause to count my blessings for my hiking boots. I looked up and looked down and had to think about which direction to take. Do I risk falling again and cimb up? or do I very carefully make my way down the steep hill and possibly risk losing my footing and slide into a tree and break my leg etc.? I decided to risk falling and continue down the hill. Like a survivalist and good hiker, I made my way down in a zig-zag pattern using trees to hold onto as I looked for a safe place to continue walking. After a few minutes using my agility and increasing the pace of my heartbeat, I made it back onto the path. I am not going to lie, for a few minutes I did not really know what to do. Here I am a foreigner in the woods on a strange path and I have nothing to tell people where I am. But, I found the path, all was not lost and it was at this point that I had a tiny little mental spark. It was this moment on the hill where I did not know to go up or down that I look for in my life. Life forcing me to make a decision. Moments like this, push us all forward or backwards after the dull everyday motions that seem to sometimes drag us into lethargy or boredom, spur us on. As I may or may not have stated, this trip is happening now for many reasons. I guess I came here to try to break a shell of doing nothing that has surrounded me. To break free from the mental cement I have been building. Most of you don't know a lot of the things I have been doing these last few years but I have been wandering around the united states with barely any money and have been scrutinizing everything I see. I have been taking pictures, making music, and writing books. I have been a traveling hermit with good reason. More about this later. Back to the path on the hill, So here I am safe from danger and now heading towards the village of Morre. I arrive in the village, which is small and pretty much dead which I thought funny seeing as how the village is called Morre. A touch of Irony here now as I just had a small brush with danger on a radom journey only to end up in the empty village of Morre? While thinking about these little bits, the bar, which was closed, opens, I have a much needed beer after having walked five or six km up and down hills, reflect on the days travels, then walk another five or six km back to Besançon knowing that I am a different person. I realized as I found myself nearing the town, that I had punched a good size hole in the mallèble shell that surrounded me. I could smell fresh air and feel a bit of my anxitey towards the future being released to the universe to go where all anxiety goes, wherever that may be. The day was brighter even though it was cloudy and overcast, and I felt pressures eased. Friends and Lovers, I urge you to go on a similar quest. Maybe it won't be in the mountains, and maybe you won't find secret churches, but you may find something you have needed to wake you up from a slumber. It may be that final push to get you out of a rut. Or, it could be a eureka moment that has been elluding you. Or maybe the fresh air would do you good. Whatever it may be, I hope I have not wasted your time with this little story, but that it was an entertaining little break to your whole universe that is swirling and exploding around you at this very moment. Go enjoy, our cells only explode for a certain amount of time, today could be your cinematic hollywood moment.