Castet, France with Jag (September 10, 2025)
As I’ve mentioned previously, it’s the people, not the places that I fall in love with as I travel the world. This morning we set off to Castet, France and Violet rode up with Claudia Mundi in her car while I rode with her husband Jag (pictured below). Until this World Tour adventure, I’ve only had the pleasure of knowing Claudia as the incredible coach that I know her to be. Turns out her husband is also a coach having followed a fabulous career transition from lawyer and investment banker as well as C-Suite leader in various global companies, including one he’s currently leading.
I could totally relate having agreed to join Positive Intelligence for 6 years as their Chief Coaching Officer despite loving being a full-time coach the two years prior. Sometimes, as a coach, you fall in love with the people you are working with and/or the opportunity to support the organization at a critical time of growth when hands-on leadership is in higher demand than your coaching skills (and you’re fortunate enough to have both to offer).
Jag and Claudia Mundi as we explore the hiking trails of Castet, France
This very week that Violet and I are visiting, Jag is in the middle of a sizable global business transaction and yet he still found time to spend with us. All the more impressive when you consider the nature of his work has him connecting 3.5 hours ahead with India and 9 hours behind with the west coast of the United States ensuring his global team is aligned.
All of this is to say, I felt like I had found my long lost brother from another mother living in the south of France. In a two hour car ride together, the list of similarities in our histories was uncanny. We both grew up with a deep sense of scarcity and a drive to take care of our respective families. We both used our Saboteurs to build massively successful careers only to discovery the significant toll it took on our health and relationships (including our families). Today we both come from our Sage, live a sober life, meditate every day and experience inner peace despite so many outside circumstances beyond our control.
Life is happening for us, not to us … even when it’s not always clear the path that we are on and/or why we are being guided in this particular direction (at this particular time in our lives). I sincerely loved every minute listening to Jag and his life’s adventures as it was like hearing a parallel universe of my own story. What if I had been born in India? With multiple siblings? In a house that was always open to international travellers? Each nuance played a role in shaping Jag’s world view and I could easily see how it would have shaped mine too.
Once Claudia and Violet arrived in their car, all four of us (and their awesome dog) explored the hiking trails of Castet; and the hiking trails were fabulous. What I particularly loved was how the trails were tucked in and around the Pyrenees mountains, so that everywhere you looked you saw sweeping views of even larger mountains.
At this time of year, the farmers move up their animals to feed them before the winter months. That means you hear a chorus of bells going off as the cattle, sheep and horses all grase on the surrounding fields. Think giant wind chimes attached to animals spread out everywhere you look.
And the horses were so friendly — even the baby foal. They’d walk right up to you and let you pet them. Of course, if you didn’t have any food, they’d move along to greener pastures, but slowly so that you could get a few good pets in as they passed by. None of us tried that with the bulls, but they seemed friendly enough. (I just didn’t want my first hospital visit in France to be because I misjudged a bull who didn’t want to be pet ;-)
And yes, that’s Violet reenacting the eating of the block of cheese from Holland (specifically, Zaanse Schans, Netherlands — see related blog post.) And no, we didn’t feel the need to take down the full block of cheese in one sitting, despite how delicious cheese from France tastes.
Finally, the blackberries were totally in season. At the beginning of the trail, there were in short supply presumably because all the hikers rummaged through them. But by the end of the trails, there were hundreds of perfectly ripe blackberries. Violet and I know because despite being totally full, we kept seeing “the perfect blackberry” and couldn’t help but have “just one more.” That ended up being a few hundred between the two of us we guessed at the end. Yum!
Overall, a wonderful day of hiking, chatting, and eating. What a great day to spend with friends — long-time friends and newly made.
