Whenever someone mentions the country of France, my thoughts immediately jump to the two times I traveled there a few years ago. Paris, the City of Lights, was certainly the highlight of both trips with such amazing sights and attractions as the Eiffel Tower, The Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral, and the Arc de Triomphe, along with strolls along the River Seine, just to name a few. Of course the French food and their traditional five-course dinners along with sampling some of the world's greatest wines were all parts of these treasured experiences. Personally, I believe that one cannot avoid developing a taste for both the Bordeaux and the Beaujolais wines, both of which I still prefer to this day.
Then there was the road trip to the rugged coastline on Northern France to the town of Etretat, best known for its awe inspiring cliffs, including its three natural arches. And, like many coastal towns along the Northern Coast, Etretat still holds onto many WWII military remnants & memories.
Then there was the road trip to the rugged coastline on Northern France to the town of Etretat, best known for its awe inspiring cliffs, including its three natural arches. And, like many coastal towns along the Northern Coast, Etretat still holds onto many WWII military remnants & memories. 
Many others believe as I that France is a beautiful country replete with history, charm and mystique all it's own and well worth any one's time and effort to visit. I would enjoy spending more of our time together here sharing with you other details and photographs of my adventures in France, but right now you are probably wondering what it was that recently triggered my memories of France and thus provided the motivation for this posting. Well, I'm glad that you asked!
For a select group of people, what I recently discovered is old news, but for me and perhaps for you, this is new news. You see, there is small town in Southern France, named Bugarach, population 200, that had previously captured the attention of UFO and alien encounter enthusiasts and now has now garnered the attention of end-of-the-world survivalists. Prior to this, Bugarach was noted for an unusual rocky outcrop, locally known as the "upside-down mountain" and for a measurable deviation in the Earth's gravitational magnetic field. Because of these nuances, a strange sect of believers is convinced that aliens live inside the mountain and it's their UFO crafts that are generating the Earth's magnetic field to deviate.
Now we find ourselves in the year 2011, following Harold Camping's recent (failed) prediction of the Church's Rapture, coupled with the fears that the end of the Mayan calendar on December 21, 2012, foretells the end of the world, interest in the small city of Bugarach has been resurrected again as the only place on Earth where one can escape Armageddon.
For your edification, below is a link to an article published by the Christian Post that should help you explore this story in greater detail. Please take a moment to read the article, and as I have offered in previous posts, I will patiently wait right here until you return!
http://www.christianpost.com/news/french-officials-concerned-about-towns-doomsday-safe-haven-reputation-52085/
Obviously you can perform Internet searches on "Bugarach" for more in depth articles, photos, and videos to really quench your curiosity. However, my interest here, and the impetus for this writing, is not specifically to focus on doomsday theories nor on the end of the world predictions, but rather to address what I consider an interesting paradox, that is, an apparent collapse of logic and reasoning shared by two completely diverse groups of thought and conviction.
In the first group, we have those that believe in man-made hysteria such as UFO's, Extraterrestrial life, evolution, man-made global warming, and world-ending predictions (i.e., Mayan calendar), to name a few. This group does not believe in God, nor any references from the Holy Bible, even though nothing above that they believe in has been substantiated scientifically, historically, or otherwise. Nonetheless, regardless of fact or fiction, they firmly believe in the inherent supremacy and intellect of man.
The second group, represented by the Harold Camping followers, are the total opposites from the first. This group professes belief in God, in creation through intelligent design, and in the absolute truth of God's Word. They are encouraged by knowing that the Holy Bible, although under continual scrutiny and challenge, has never been proven to be in error, historically, scientifically, or otherwise. They give God credit for everything in the universe, past, present, and future.
Now, one would never expect to find members of these groups in the same room at the same time, nor sharing the same philosophical mindset, and yet they share one common frailty - both groups placed their faith in the wrong place, that is, both trusted in man's word and not in God's Word!
It's still both tragic yet somewhat comical to know that some people believe they can avoid end-of-the-world tribulations by escaping to places such as Bugarach, France. Although I commend their choice of destinations, their great escapes will be short lived because when God's plan prevails and this world ceases to exist, there will be no place to hide or to run, that is except to Christ Jesus. This world, as we know it, will go away as we learn in Revelation 21:
"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. "
Correct me if I am wrong, but no where did I see where Bugarach, France, gets a pass here. So, if you are still planning on escaping to Bugarach, or if you know of anyone contemplating that trip, I personally guarantee that you will eventually experience a conversion of the mind, body and spirit. Trust me when I tell you that you too will develop an eternal taste for both the Bordeaux and the Beaujolais wines!
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