The Trail's Our Thing

It’s a small world… un petit monde!

It’s Monday afternoon and I'm writing from-- where else-- the Carrefour Bar at the Place d'Arménie in Aix-en-Provence. I just had lunch with Trishmael from Slow Travel and her husband Gary who are here in Aix for a conference, and now the café has become "mon bureau" (my office) for the afternoon.. The waiters are getting to know me, and I do like the feeling of having a regular place to come and enjoy "la joie de vivre" in France.

I was here at this same café on Sunday, staked out at a table by the side of the building, catching up on e-mail. I had started a load of laundry at a “laverie” just around the corner, and it was about time to hustle back and move my clothes to the dryer. There was another woman, blonde and a bit older than me, by herself at another table. I had noticed her here earlier in the week and thought then that she was maybe British. But then on Sunday morning I heard her talking on a cell phone and she was American. So as I was getting ready to run back to the laverie, I thought I would ask her to watch my things and preserve my table.

I approached her and asked if she was American. And could she watch my things for a minute?

Of course, she was happy to. She introduced herself with her first name.

I said, “I’m Kathy. I’m here for three weeks studying French.”

And she said... “Are you Kathy Wood?”

Mon Dieu! What a shock! At first I thought she might be someone from Slow Travel who might even be reading my blog. But even stranger, she is a woman from the Knoxville area who a mutual acquaintance at home had been trying to connect me with. She used to live in Aix and occasionally bases here for some international work. In our e-mail that very morning we both had a message from this mutual friend giving us each other’s contact information!! And there she was at the same café at the next table at the very same time—in this city of over 130,000 people!

Wow.