Though my travel documents–and our travel agent–list me as a tourist on this vacation, I’ve always wanted to think of myself as a Traveler. I like to think I am present in a new place but the reality is that I cling to my comfort zone, like a tourist, having fun the same way I would at home but with a more exotic backdrop.
Surely traveling is different now, in the time of Covid; we packed tests, masks, more sanitizer than usual. Fingers crossed we stay healthy to enjoy the trip even as numbers are rising again.
Nevertheless, for this trip I want to go beyond tourism and traveling. I want to be a Pilgrim, “to seek a self worthy of the experience,” as they say. In fact I am doing a pilgrimage, a mini-pilgrimage anyway, the day after we land. I hope I can attain and sustain that level of openness throughout the trip. Pondering these differences while we await our first flight, to Newark for our connection to Nice, I’m amused by my own musings–reminded of a meme I saw from Austin: “Be like I-35–never stop working on yourself, no matter how inconvenient it is for others.”
Our vacation is with our best friends and we are traveling to France–a few days at the beach (Antibes), then to Lyon for a river cruise up the Rhone. From there we’ll head to Switzerland–Geneva, Lake Geneva, Montreaux, Gruyere, Wengen, and then Zurich–where my wife was born. I’ve teased her about putting up a historical marker if we can find the hospital!
In preparation for my pilgrimage, I’ve been reading lot about Mary Magdalene, the woman at the heart of Christianity, Apostle to the Apostles, the first witness to the resurrection, (NOT a prostitute as Pope Gregory said). My English-speaking guide, Veronique Flayol, who specializes in Mary Magdalene–and, in fact, runs the Mary Magdalene Festival later in July, will be taking me to the grotto at Sainte Baume Mountain where, allegedly, Mary Magdalene lived out her life in solitude as a contemplative after preaching the gospel in the Provence area. To get to the grotto, according to Veronique’s website, we’ll hike about 50 minutes along the “Chemin des Roys” or Kings footpath, passing through the sacred forest of the Druids. We will also visit the Basilica in Saint Maximin; the crypt contains Mary Magdalene’s skull and relics. They say carbon testing was done and it is the skull of a Middle Eastern woman who would have lived about the time of Mary Magdalene. I can’t wait for this part of our trip, of my personal journey. I look forward to sharing some of the amazing sights experience of my visit.
A dear friend and virtual pilgrimage companion for this journey gave me some wonderful words to carry along, among them this quote from Thomas Merton:
“You do not need to know precisely what is happening or exactly where it is all going.
What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment
And to embrace them with courage, faith, and hope.”
It will be a transformational trip, one way or another. And, when we get home, I hope our doggies remember us!
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