Well my Dad would be quite amused if he knew he was sharing this blog entry with a shoe museum! Dad passed away early this morning France time (mid-afternoon in Australia). Although not unexpected it was still, of course, a heartbreaking call to receive from my brother. He was a great Dad and, in all the best ways, a wonderful human being. And he was the smartest person I've ever met in my whole life. I will miss him so very much.
Dad was really enjoying my travel blog and I'm glad the last one for him finished with the bit about La Confluence. He always did love being near water, whether that was a river or the ocean. I've now got a few days to catch up on with my blogging as I just needed to have a bit of a break.
So, the day Dad died, we had to be out of our motel in Lyon by 10am yet we couldn't book in at the next place until 4pm and it was only three hours drive away. We had thought we would visit the International Shoe Museum on our way to use up our 'spare time'. There was really nothing else that could be done but stick to this plan. My father wouldn't have wanted me to sit around wallowing in my grief anyway even if that had been possible. But it was with a very heavy heart that I packed up my stuff and left Lyon.
The shoe museum was in a town called Romans which is near Valence. We didn't see anything of the town as we just went to the museum, had something for lunch and left again. The museum was very interesting with displays of shoes dating back to Roman times right through to today's (and tomorrow's!) styles. It was amazing how many very old styles looked quite fashionable. But it was rather horrifying to see some of the tiny shoes worn by Chinese women who had their feet bound. They had shoes from all around the world including some worn by Indigenous Australians. But the map of Australia next to these shoes was missing Tasmania! We were tempted to let them know but the woman at reception didn't speak English and my French is nowhere near good enough to try to explain that the picture of my country had a bit missing. The last section of this museum was dedicated to shoes designed by Paris-based designers for the 2013-14 winter season so what we will start to see in Australia next year. This was one of the few museums where you could take photos inside so I was madly doing that for my 'shoe crazy' family members and friends. You know who you are!
I was very glad to arrive at our next destination. Lindee (bless her) did all the driving today. We are staying in a town in Provence with a population of 18,000 people - and approximately 10,000 feral cats. Seriously though, I'm pleased to not be in a city with all the busy-ness that entails at this time. Some peace and quiet is what I need now.
Vale John Edward Robertson - The bestest Dad ever!
