Certain cultures give off different feelings to the viewer, resonate different auras. Two places, that are only a few hundred metres apart geographically, can give off a totally different emotional response on an outsider.
After London, I took a train along the coast to Scotland. I instantly fell in love with the area and all it’s beauty. I stayed in Fife, which is a little inlet between Dundee and Edinburgh. The Firth of Forth (Northern sea) surrounded mostly all of the land which made the scenery that much more spectacular. Each little town, each little fishing village was quaint and wonderful in it’s own way. The roads in the area were simple and narrow and were surrounded by rolling valleys and herds cattle or sheep. The people are humble and generous, and at the same time very rough and lively and full of expression. They swear and yell as if it would be an every-day requirement - their mouths spitting out the thick Scottish syllables.
The area is very natural, the way God intended it to be, and the landscape is delicate and rough at the same. This is something you can feel after just a quick ride around the area. Scotland has a way of being so breathtakingly beautiful without having to be showy.
My next destination was as opposite to Scotland as night and day. By train, I zoomed to a place in the south of France called St. Tropez or, as others call it, St. Trop-D’Aisle (St. Too-Much-Luxury). Everything is outlandishly expensive, and luckily, I had accommodation through a family friend. The city lies on the French Riviera, overlooking the Mediterranean sea, and for a long time, it was the getaway hot-spot for the rich and famous. The sky is always blue, the weather is always warm to the skin. The landscape itself is something to write home about. The sea is accompanied by rolling green hills, peppered with orange-roofed villas. The vegetation is plentiful and various and flowers, vines and palm trees are all villa-side necessities. On my first day, I walked to the top of a back lying mountain to take in the view and I literally had to stop and take a breather.
Oh, the beauty! The luxury! What more can one want, right? That’s what I thought, but after only a few hours in the town, I felt queasy. St. Tropez, unlike Scotland, is the totally in-your-face, look-at-me-I’m-so-rich-and-luxurious type of beautiful. The type of blinding beauty that constantly shines itself into your face. Too much of a good thing. After you’ve experienced a culture once, it will leave a mark on your that you’ll always carry with you. Here are top ten ways you know you’re in St. Tropez:
10. The young people are either models or model look-alikes.
9. The older people were once models or are post-laser model wannabes.
8. The predominant car make is a BMW convertible.
7. Everyone is so dark that you can’t tell one race apart form the other.
6. Children under six wear designer clothing (think Dior, Armani, Valentini).
5. The minimum about of Francs you can take out at an exchange bank is equivalent to 120 Canadian dollars.
4. The way to get on your yacht is via helicopter.
3. In your four day vacation you not once saw a backpacker or budget traveler.
2. Everyone looks the same.
1. You try to get on board what you thought was a cruise ship of St. Ropes but it ends up being someone’s personal yacht.
There is no real purpose for the town other than helping visitors indulge themselves in the richness and beauty of the area. Is there even a school in the area? A hospital? The only hospital would be a burn-victim unit from all the unprotected sun exposure these people are getting.
My time spent in St. Tropez helped me master the act of laziness. The town itself isn’t know for having any organized tourist activities, so it’s plain to see how easy it is to be engulfed by laziness and indulgence in a world of sand, sea and hot sun. My days were spent around the pool or by the sea tanning. In the evening, I walked around the area and gawked at the beautiful people. Yet, after only a day, it was too much for me. It’s like eating a whole chocolate cake at once- it’s too rich and creamy for your stomach to handle, so you feel sick. The richness there sickened me. People say that inner beauty is more important than outer beauty, but that statement is a true fact when you see it happening all around you. In Scotland, the beauty is there but it invites people to come experience it with open arms. In St. Tropez, most people hoard all the beauty for themselves. They use it all without knowing a limit. Soon, I fear, there will be nothing left.
