Arkansas Scenic Highway 7: Paris, Subiaco Abbey, and Beyond

The morning was one of those gorgeous, clear Spring mornings which make you happy to be alive. The birds certainly were–I heard them all day, from the land in Hot Springs I was leaving, through Scenic Byway 7 with its steep switch backs through the Ouachita Moutains, t

hen down into the valley where I discovered Paris, complete with its own Eiffel Tower

.The town plaza in Paris

It took me two hours to drive the fifty mile loop of  byway I’d chosen as my route out of Arkansas. I was ready for a cup of coffee.

I passed hamlet after hamlet with nothing but churches and gas stations, passed route intersections boasting fast food restaurants (sadly Sonic seems to have driven most small, local places out of business in these smaller town), until finally, I landed in Paris

.and parked on a side street.

A tidy, picturesque little town of not quite 4000, Paris had two (!) coffee shops.  I chose True Grit for the name.

True Grit was not decorated with John Wayne memorabilia, which I expected. I was kind of disappointed. Instead,  it was a homey little Christian coffee house which made good coffee and decent scones. The true grit is what it takes to stay a good Christian.

Girls with grit

I enjoyed my treats, chatted with the owner awhile who told me a story of how her family, as German immigrants during World War Two, had their well poisoned.  Luckily, there was enough fresh water constantly flowing that the poison was diluted and no one died.

I used her family’s treatment as an opportunity to share my thoughts about how immigrants are being treated today in our country. She was quiet for a moment, thoughtful, then said, “Yes. We have some of that going on here.”

I then wandered the streets of Paris awhile,  stretching my legs and taking in the sights

. Go Paris Eagles!

A wall with love locks

Main Street

St. Joseph’s Catholic Church,

one of the few Catholic Churches I saw in Arkansas.

But if it’s Catholic Churches you want to see, a few miles  outside Paris, one discovers the beautiful Subiaco Abbey.

Subiaco Abbey

Founded in 1878 when a land grant was given to the Swiss German Catholic Benedictine order by the Little Rock-Fort Smith Railroad Company to ensure the large Swiss German settler population who were actively mining and building the railroad would stay, this abbey was originally a priory.

Pope Leo XII, the big gun, raised the priory up to an abbey, naming it Subiaco, after the place in Italy where St. Benedict himself began his life as a hermit.

Since its inception, Subiaco has established itself as a committed steward of the land. Today, it is a self-sustaining environment with evolving solar power, hydro-power, and wind power fueling its many endeavors.

Subiaco runs a full time, all boys boarding Academy (such an easy joke, I’ll skip it)  for grades 7-12 with students coming from all across the world to attend its rigorous academic program. The monks farm and make a hot sauce and peanut brittle which are sold globally. It’s hot!

Subiaco created a state of the art medical center serving the Academy, the resident monks,

and also  community members with special needs.

It is an impressive and imposing thing, this Abbey, which is basically a city. And the fact that it flourishes in the Ozark corner of Arkansas is remarkable.

But finally, I crossed the invisible border into Oklahoma, that song burning a hole into my brain until I passed a semi truck which has completely flipped over on the exit ramp. That sobered me up.

I drove through the Cherokee Nation into the Chockton Nation, made my way to Lake Eufala, where I am spending the night.

Lake Eufala State Park

It is a quiet campground. Only a few other campers and they are far across the way.

The lake is very brown, the result of the flooding they experienced here, too.

The wind is whipping (like in that song!), a woodpecker is drilling the tree behind me. and I am looking forward to a nice sleep in the actual mattress I bought in Hot Springs for Pearl.

The four inch memory foam pad just wasn’t cutting it. My hips were aching every morning.  So….one of the benefits of my extended stay was that it made it possible to get myself a decent bed.  I feel blessed and grateful.l