As Far Away As Possible

 I had a great crazy idea. I wanted to get as far away from Jakarta as possible - not literally, as in distance, just as far away from the kind of place Jakarta is. Not forever. Just for a week...or two.

I wanted clear, blue skies. Air that smelled clean and sweet. No traffic. Lots of parks and trails. Space to walk and walk and walk.

I found my ideal destination...in Alsace, France. The great crazy part of this idea was that I decided we should rent cars (carS with an S because Europe doesn't have a lot of 7 passenger car rental options) and drive from Paris to Munster. I wanted the freedom of a car (instead of a train) so we could just pick up and go wherever and whenever we wanted.

The drive from Paris to Munster is long. Crazy long. Google Maps said 4.5 hours. It was closer to 6.5 hours. Plus, I was driving on the opposite side of the road than I had been for the past 2 years. A little stressful.

 

We relied heavily on Judy (our GPS), but she led us astray a couple times. Our favorite was when she instructed, "Turn left onto unpaved road" at a point when there was no road...only a forest thick with pine trees...and a very steep cliff. Ah Judy. We gave her a break after that.

 

The car rental was also crazy expensive. When pricing out train tickets verses car rental, I kind of forgot to add in insurance prices and the whole buying gasoline part. Ouch.

In spite of the crazy. My idea worked.

Can I tell you how wonderful it was to wake up every morning and look out my window at this view? Tears. Daily.

Do you see those hills behind the clock tower? Owen and I took the most incredible morning runs through those hills. The air smelled of fresh cut grass, wildflowers, and trees. It smelled green. My lungs sung praises to the clean air.

Each day, we walked into the town for fresh bread. My children played at the town square and at the nearby shady park.

On our first full evening in Munster, Owen and I took a walk in the hills behind our chalet. We walked until the sun set and the sky turned from azure blue to deep violet. We walked past small, well-kept gardens. We admired the window boxes dripping with flowers. We walked and walked and walked. We walked until my legs ached. But it felt so good to be outside. In the clean air. There was no buzz of traffic - the only sounds were our feet on gravel, the laughter of children playing at a nearby school yard, and a periodic moo from grazing cows.

To walk in clean air. Surrounded by nothing but quiet and green hills. Such a blessing.

Don't get me wrong. We love our Jakarta experience. But it was wonderful to be as far away from Jakarta as possible for this week.