Fast Vacations

There’s fast food and fast vacations. My Swiss friend Florian vacations fast and infrequently. In 1993 he took one week to meet my friends and family in Florida and Boston. In 1995 he took me, my daughter and her significant other on a four day tour of Provence, but that hardly counted as a vacation because it was over the four-day Easter weekend when he couldn’t work. In 1998 he visited the Ukraine for less than a week, which was half pleasure, half business. Then last year he spent a long weekend visiting me in Argelès. Switzerland is a country where people vacation four to sick weeks a year.

Thus I was more than amazed that he proposed to take extra time while we went to his sister-in-law’s 80th birthday party in Dordogne. I was shell shocked when I got into his car that he wanted to add another day onto the trip.

When we were in Provence it was this is Nostradamus’s town whoosh, this is a medieval village whoosh and a number of other whooshes that remain pleasant blurs.

This trip seemed to be equally whosh. We saw the volcanic park whoosh http://www.inntravel.co.uk/destinations/rom_auvergne.htm, a medieval village whoosh and the château where Josephine Baker raised her adopted children whoosh. http://www.milandes.com


However after the birthday we headed for Futuroscope, http://www.futuroscope.com a park developed by the department of Vienne to develop the area as a conference centre and destination spot.

Long ago I learned not to prejudge what he proposed. We spent the day, one whole day, visiting the different theatres, admiring the architecture, flowers, water events, etc. One took us on a voyage where the water flowed under our seats and the birds flew over our heads. What impressed me most about the park was that there were only seven boutiques, selling either educational items or things that would not break or be thrown away in a couple of hours. The boutiques were tucked away. Not once did I hear a child cry “buy me…” Even the food in the park was priced equal to or less than one could pay outside the park.
We were not able to see all the exhibitions nor did we stay for the evening performances. This time it was my fault, because I had to get back to my commitments. He understood