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Private life: Bike vacation and the sweet scent of freedom

Today’s picture shows you a moment of peace, sketched after a refreshing hop into a pool, in a pretty, but rather “plastic” hotel. I used the last 15% of my ipad’s battery to quickly sketch an nice contrast of colors and shadows, straight and less straight lines and a tree that falls out of an otherwise balanced scene. Usually, I am not a pool person, but after cycling 100 km in 30°C (+), a pool is nice. And usually, I am not a plastic hotel person, but if there is no alternative: I gladly take it and cannot but realize that a chain hotel may miss the soul, funny front desk clerk, and dusty corners and little bathrooms and odd pictures on the wall, but it comes with streamlined comfort and optimized amenities. 

So, yes: like every year the last 15 or so years we went for another bike vacation. Southern France. Supported for the first time by our electrically assisted bikes: Wonderful. We could do a tour that we never would dare to undertake. Up and down the Haute Sevennes. And yes, it is called Haute Sevennes because there are amazingly high mountains and steep slopes. Thanks to the ingenuity of a couple of engineers and a few Watts we followed the wild lavender there, and wild rosemary and enjoyed the scent of freedom the hair flowing in the wind under an endless blue sky, for two weeks.

Of course, if you run a business and basically run it by yourself, there is no such thing as doing nothing, really. There are always urgent interviews to get done, questions from perfume lovers, shipment details and supplier issues. And there is always a line of thoughts of new things that I want to do, of pictures that I want to paint and of scents that I want to present. There is always something, but still: It is freedom, and sometimes a vacation is the perfect excuse to simply not answer some queries that I sometimes grumpily answer, like requests from duty free stores….

Unfortunately, this vacation ended yesterday night, and after downloading the 420 emails back home, I am back in the tracks of everyday. And, yes, I am looking very much forward here where I am again: If I put my ear on these shiny tracks, I can hear the train, autumn is around the horizon, and I hope for some yummy fruits.

I wish you all a lovely day and am looking forward to sharing a few more pictures and stories and insights after two silent weeks!