Pilgrimage to Lourmarin

"Aujourd'hui, maman est morte. Ou peut-être hier, je ne sais pas."

"Today; Mother died: Or maybe yesterday, I don't know."

Cryptic words, but little did I know that when I first read them in French Lit 215 freshman year in undergrad that those words would inadvertantly steer my life onto a different path. It's been nearly 10 years since I first glimpsed at those lines of Camus' L'Etranger, and finally I am making the pilgrimage to Lourmarin, a tiny village of 1,500 in Provence. Since then I've read many of Camus' books in French class...or on my own, immersing myself in his philosophy, drawn to his absurdism, his love for the sun and the sea, and his stories about lost souls living in an incomprehensible world.

I guess it's called a pilgrimage for a reason - the journey must be arduous and the site most dear to one's heart. And the journey was no easy trek; Lourmarin is located at the base of the Luberon mountains - a 2.5 hour drive from Nice. However via public transportation...below is the journey


7:20am      TGV train from Nice to Marseille (I woke up at exactly 6;55 am and boy did I have to run), pass  out on the train for a while and luckily wake up as the train pulls into Marseille
10am         Kill nearly 2 hours in the St. Charles Station - buy my other tickets to Strasbourg and Paris..write some postcards...look for stamps
11:45am    get on the train to Pertuis...10 min later..the ticket collector says "You are on the wrong train...it's the train behind this one...RUN...it's about to leave in a few minutes ( btw there are only 2 trains a day so if I missed this one, I'm shit outta luck)
1pm      arrive at Pertruis train station - the lady at the trouism office said there is a bus from Pertuis to Lourmarin, but alas there is no bus. The dude at the train station called a couple of taxis...no answer. Ok what now?? Start walkin the 18km to Lourmarin...try to hitch a ride...or wait. Finally the taxi called back and said he'd come to the station in an hour. So...bs at the station for an hour.
2:30pm      cab is here and drives me and this Brazilian lady to the town
3pm         get to the hotel - 130 Euros a night - mind you I've been paying less than 30 euro a night for hostels; but in Lourlarin there are only 2 hotels - and this was the cheaper one. I drop my bag and pick up a map of the village with literally 10 streets, ready to explore. The lady at the hotel says "You are no longer in New York, you are in a village...you need to slow down." She was right. I ditched the map..seriously how could I get lost in a tiny village of 10 streets.

Here it is...the cemetary (honestly, I was kind of creeped out - I don't think I've ever been inside one); I walked in and several tourist pointed me in the direct of Camus' tomb. Standing in front of the grave, I wasn't sure exactly what to do...realizing that being here contradicted my own beliefs on death...and afterlife. But anyway, I was here to pay homage to one of the greats - a philosopher, thinker, writer, political activist - of the 20th century. So I did what came naturally, I sat there and wrote...and wrote.....and wrote. I scribbled a one liner of thanks - in the Camus style of writing of course - simple and short, yet rich in depth and meaning and stuck it behind the flowers on his grave. Thanks for turning my thought process upside down and inside out; thanks for igniting my passion for writing and philosophy, my love for the sun and the water, and my quest for more meaning in life.

I spent the rest of the day walking around the town - there is a guided tour called - Sur Les Pas D'Albert Camus - On the steps of Albert Camus - I picked up a brochure and visited each of his favorite sites in the city and it even had explanations on why he was attached to each site (ie - the Luberon mountains, the church, the futbol field, the château, etc) and why he loved Lourmarin so much. I eventually found the street he used to live on ( now called Rue Albert Camus)..but no idea which one is his house...his daughter lives there now. There was also an expo on Camus next to the office of tourism since it was the 50th anniversary of his death.

At the commentarty of my friend (Derrek); sorry I failed to mention food or wine. I did not mention food since I am a vegetarian and food in France is a pain for me - unless of course I eat french pastries for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But now I have something to say about food and wine...so I hope it is up to your expectations D! On the trek to Lourmarin I met a Brazilian woman who will be staying here for 6 months to study la cuisine from a famous Provençal chef. She told me all the vegetarian delights to try here...we both spoke shoddy French and she didn't speak English; so she ended up drawing some vegetables in my journal since I just did not know the words in French. I laugh like crazy every time I look at that page in my notebook. But anyway, some Provençal dishes to try were ratatouille, eclairs, fruits - cherries and strawberries, cheese, bread,pasta with eggplants; risotto; anything with les cèpes - a type of mushroom. I strolled into a bistro next to my hotel and started with a Salade Vert - simple ingredients, lettuce, fresh parmesean cheese, some herbs, and vinagrette - probably the best salad I've had in my life. Goes to show -all you need is a few quality and fresh ingredients to create a culinary masterpiece. Next course was Pâte au cèpes - pasta with mushrooms. The pasta was piping hot in a light butter sauce - when you take a bite - the pasta and the mushrooms just melt in your mouth. All the food in Lourmarin is super fresh - they only eat locally grown food - that's why the cilantro on top of the pasta tasted like it just came from the garden and onto my plate. And the cèpes - oh my god...you just have to try them.

I had a nice laid back day in Lourmarin...but everything here closes at 8pm....and yeh I'm ready to go back to Marseille.