Elven is a small village in the northwest of france that wouldn’t be on any tourist destination but I am glad that got to check it out. The only reason i took a 5 hour train ride from Lille to Vannes, was to see my old friend that had moved there. Even though I was only going to be there for 24 hours, it was one of my favorite part of the trip. Damien and I had met over 20 years ago over shared musical interests and of course the first thing after i got off the train at 1130pm was to go to concert in the middle of the countryside. With less than 20 people there and beer/wine for 2 euros and the open night sky, it reminded why i love french culture so much. of course, we stayed up in the wee hours drinking home made hard alcohol and caught up on life after not talking for over 10 years. i was super happy to hear that my friend and made such a transformational shift in his life to do something more meaningful and live in the countryside. undoubtedly there is a growing yearning for me as well to step a way from this hyper connected city life that is makes it super challenging to cultivate a life of connection to real people/nature and spiritual practice. anyway, at first i wasn’t sure if i wanted to make this a long journey to the middle of nowhere for just 24 hours with my old friend but by the end, he reminded me of why i adore him and love the damn french so much.
