Geddes Mission: La Route de Soleil

The A7 auto route that runs between Paris in the north and the southern Mediterranean coast is known as "La Route de Soleil" - to way to the sun. During the month of August, driving times on the A7 can more than double as seemingly everyone in France heads for the beaches. And in the winter months, a trip to the south can be a welcomed escape from the harsh weather elsewhere. So we were delighted to learn that we had the opportunity to travel down the A7 to the beautiful city of Aix-en-Provence to take part in a Self-Reliance Saturday with the single adults from the Nice Stake.

On Friday we drove down, stopping for lunch in the village of Salon-de-Provence. During our lunch, our wonderful self-reliance director, brother Momo Djemai telephoned us asking where we were. He informed us that there was an unusual storm headed that way and that the Saturday event was likely to be postponed. But since we were already so close to Aix and it was too late to cancel the hotel reservation, we might as well just wait and see. When Momo arrived, we had a nice dinner and team coordination meeting together at the hotel restaurant located in the countryside outside of Aix. And as anticipated, the Saturday events were postponed.

On Saturday morning when we opened our curtains, everything had become Idaho-en-Provence! There was something a little strange about seeing palm trees covered in snow. And our little Toyota "Yaris", a great car for dodging around in heavy traffic or parking in impossibly narrow city streets almost fainted at the sight. My 4x4 truck back in Idaho would have just laughed at the 500-yard-long snow-covered gentle incline that went back to the highway. To the Yaris, it was Mont Blanc! After multiple attempts backing down and making quick runs at the "hill" we got out and by Saturday evening we had once more traveled the A7 and were safely back in Lyon.

This weekend, the A7 should have been called "La Route de la Neige"!