Back in the USA

I got home just over 2 weeks ago although it now feels like its been a lot longer than that. It was a bit of culture shock especially since I stopped overnight by the Washington Dulles Airport since I was worried that flying direct to San Francisco would be too hard on Angel. Actually I think she would have done fine. The hotel where we were staying was hosting a large contingent of labor folks for coal mining. That was a real dose of culture shock. They were big bellied, loud, ignorant, and wearing T-shirts that said either “Coal is our Future” or “Coal Keeps the Lights On.” At breakfast I could hear them discussing the upcoming election – Kill me Now! I was definitely happy to get to San Francisco and leave the coal miners behind.

But since I’ve been home I’ve felt nostalgic about leaving my (at least I feel like it’s mine) little village in Languedoc. I won’t have to miss it too long as I’ve committed to exchanging houses again with Mel & Sharon next summer. I will sure look forward to returning.

A few things to be misconceptions

1. “The French are stiff and unfriendly.” The complaints you hear from Americans about the rude, unfriendly French is a bunch of hooey or else I’ve just been so very fortunate that I’ve never found these people. I have found instead that the French people are warm and welcoming if you are. They do appreciate it if you try to speak a little French but are very willing to try sign language and are patient when you can only say a few French words and can’t really put them in a sentence.
2. “The cost of living in France is very high.” Not where I was. Except for gasoline it seemed that most everything was less than in San Francisco. That includes groceries, restaurants, and getting your hair cut. Many activities are free or nearly so (e.g., village fetes, gold cup of water jousting, ferias).
3. “You can go really fast on the peage (freeway).” You can but you will get a ticket. The speeding tickets are nearly all done electronically with cameras. Since everyone (including me) that I’ve driven with in France has frequently driven over the speed limit and no one has ever gotten an electronic ticket I’ve always felt it was perfectly “safe” to do so. However, I have now learned that when you drive a French car you do get tickets. This summer I got one and also Tony got one while we were driving the Goldstein’s car. I can only guess that somehow the ticket issuance place knows when it is a rental car and doesn’t send one or the rental companies get a “free ride.”
4. “The milk in French supermarkets isn’t refrigerated and must taste worse than American fresh milk.” Not true. The French milk is somehow processed and doesn’t require refrigeration until its been open. It tastes perfectly fine. I wish our was the same. So much more convenient to have milk in your pantry and you don’t have to worry about picking it up when before you go home from the airport after vacation.
5. “You need to pay quite a bit to get good French wine.” I never paid more than 5 Euros for a bottle of wine from a winery or the store and it was always excellent. If it’s less than 2 Euros I wouldn’t buy it. In cafes I always got the house wine which was always cheap and usually perfectly ok.
6. “Rosé wine sucks.” Not Rosés from the South of France. They are delicious, particularly on a hot summer day/night.
7. “The beaches in Languedoc aren’t nearly as beautiful or nice as those of the Cotè d’Azur.” While it is true that those along the Cotè d’Azur are really beautiful, they are usually rocky and frequently hard to swim in. The Languedoc beaches tend to be long and sandy with very little surf in the summer. Much better for swimming.
8. “Languedoc is inferior to Provence.” Depends on what you are looking for. If you are looking for authentic French towns (not yet “cutified”) and mostly French people instead of the Brits, affordable prices, equally great weather, Languedoc is for you.

I’m going to do the same house trade next summer. Not sure I can wait that long but ………….

Last days in France

Place Concorde

Petit Palais

Pretty Sculpture and you can see it is autumn

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arc D'Triumph

Garden at the Tulleries

Monet's Waterlillies in L'Orangerie

Sue at Tulleries

The Bear's Den

Final days in France – Paris
Monday
Sue and I have been enjoying Paris to maximum. We’ve yet to take the Metro as we have been walking everywhere. Since our hotel is so central to everything (one block from the Seine near Chatellet metro stop) it is pretty easy to do. We’ve put quite a few miles, or should I say kilometers, on our feet.

We wanted to hear some local music so we checked out the web and guidebooks. To our happy surprised we discovered that the best place in all of Paris to hear music is right here in our neighborhood – who knew? We went to a small club, Le Sunside, just a few blocks away. The street it is on has lots of cafes, bars, clubs, and local color. It obviously has a substantial gay contingent – see the pic of Bear’s lair above.

Le Sunside was packed and we managed to get seats two rows back from the stage. I didn’t get the group’s name but it consisted of an awesome piano player, bass player, drums, and an excellent female singer named Melodie. They were really good and did mostly French jazz with quite a few Brazilian style numbers thrown in. The crowd was mainly locals. We stayed for two sets and left at midnight. We hadn’t had a chance to have any dinner so after checking out the fast food possibilities we got French crepes (mushroom and cheese) at a corner stand cooked by Pakistanis. Headed home around 1 am and there were still lots of people on the streets.

Sunday morning it was cloudy and there were very light rain showers. We headed out to walk down the Seine to the Tulleries Jardin. It looked a lot different than it had when I was there in mid-summer. The children’s rides were gone and so was the ferris wheel that MaryAnn Wolcott and I had ridden in terror. Instead the garden was still in full bloom but very quiet with just a few folks strolling about. We sat down in a quiet café in the middle of the garden and had coffee. A man who had been strolling by with some teenagers (his grandchildren?) came over and asked if he could take our picture. We said sure but were somewhat bewildered as to why he would want to. He appeared to be a professional photographer. He took a few pictures of us and left. Perhaps we’ll be on the cover of the Paris Match???

We went to the L’Orangerie museum. We decided that it is probably the very best one in Paris as it is small enough not to be exhausting and contains so many of our favorites – Monet, Renoir, Modigliani, Picasso, etc. The upper gallery is limited to only two large rooms with Monet’s huge canvases of the Giverney waterlillies – so beautiful. Downstairs is made up of the entire collection of an art dealer, Paul Guillaume, whose widow donated it after his death. The collection is amazing. We particularly loved one painter who we weren’t previously familiar with, Chaim Soutine. We decided he was the precursor to abstract art.

After the museum we headed to toward the Champes Elysee and then walked all the way to Arc d’Triumph. It was fun and good sighseeing but we really prefer the neighborhood where we are staying. The Champs Elysee is too houighty touity without anything really all that interesting. We passed up the fancy shops but did buy a few things (warm ones) in the Gap.

Our feet were really tired by the time we headed back to the hotel and we had to stop quite few times to rest our feet. Along the Seine we watched the Batou Mouches loaded with the tourists and also observed the many, apparent, house boats docked along the Quay.
Sunday night we decided we were too tired for a major evening of entertainment or fancy food. We had a simple meal at a little Thai restaurant (a great change from what we’ve been eating). Afterwards we had decided to take in an English language movie at a cinema in the neighborhood – Take Me to the Greek. Getting there wasn’t easy. The theater was in Les Halles Forum. Looked pretty easy on the map and on Sue’s Iphone. However when we got to where it was supposed to be there was no signage for it. We walked all around the large square and all we could were closed shops and a Metro stop. We even stopped and asked a cop who was busy talking on his cell phone. He said just go around to the right. We did – no cinema. Finally in desperation we went down into the Metro. The underground Metro had a huge, very tacky shopping center in side and we did find a movie theater way down at the opposite end from where we had entered. Unfortunately our movie wasn’t playing there. We asked the ticket seller if he knew where our theater was. He said it was inside the same mall. We walked around for awhile and found an art film place – we were pretty sure Take me to the Greek wouldn’t be playing there but asked a staff person anyway. She was very nice and said, “Yes the theater you want is here in the mall. You must go down the corridor to the left all the way to the end and then down, down, down.” We followed her directions and at the end of the mall in the metro went down four levels and there miraculously was a movie theater – like a bomb shelter far underground. We looked for Take Me to the Greek and it wasn’t listed. However, “An American Trip” was listed with the same cast. For some reason they had changed the name.

We sat through the movie and it was bad, bad, very bad. Quite an experience locating the theater followed by the movie itself which was incredibly sick and not even funny.

Our last day (today – Monday) was a Jewish day. We went to the Jewish History Museum in the Marai (very close to where we are staying), to a Jewish deli for matzo ball soup, and then to the Holocaust Memorial. All was very heavy but good – including the soup.

Tonight we are going to have “appertifs” at Marielle’s apartment near Notre Dame. She is Roger and Suzette’s daughter. Afterwards we will have dinner on Isle Saint Louis and then home to bed early as we leave pretty early tomorrow.

Back to Paris

Sister from Cologne

Nuns by our hotel - small world!

Me at Hotel Sully

Sue at Place du Voges

We got to Paris around 1 pm yesterday (Friday). Took a taxi to our hotel, went in and YIKES – we hated it. It was in a great location – right by the Chattalet Metro stop a couple of blocks from the Seine. The problem was that it was tiny, tiny, tiny – lobby, the smallest elevator I have ever seen, and even a tiny circular staircase. We got to our intended room and it was like a dungeon/closet. Sue is a bit claustrophic and it practically put her in a panic. We tried to get some alternative at that hotel – a two bed room, a second room??? Nothing. We got on Sue’s Iphone and my cell and started calling all other hotels in the area. We were somewhat at a disadvantage due to having Angel with us. NO CHIENS (DOGS) we were told repeatedly. Finally one hotel had a room and took dogs – Grand Hotel de Champagne – just a couple of blocks away. We checked it out and it was PERFECT!!! It even had two rooms – so we splurged and took them. We are so happy here. It is in an ideal location, the rooms are lovely, the staff couldn’t be nicer. I will definitely stay here on future trips.

We spent last evening walking around the Left Bank – it was teeming with local pretty people and tourists. Our hotel is right across from St. Michel – we are on the right bank.

Today we walked the Marai – loved it. Had snack lunch takeout in the Jewish quarter. Yum Yum – chopped chicken liver, herring mouse, latke, and dill pickles.

On our return to our hotel we saw a crowd gathered around people in white hats with many points. We got closer – the Nuns of Perpetual indulgence. We talked with a very, very nice one who was visiting from Cologne, Germany. He explained that the others are “all the Parisian Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.” He asked that we send their good wishes to the San Francisco chapter. We will!!

Final days in Abeilhan

Goodbye dear Abeilhan - see you next summer.

Sue and I in Minerve

Bicycling on Canal du Midi

Sue and Angel at Lac Salugu - it was cold!

Sue and I returned to Abeilhan on September 5th. I was recovering from a very nasty cold/flu that hit me just as I arrived in Barcelona. Unfortunately I “gave” it to Sue and it hit her just as we were returning to Abeilhan. I found my camera upon my return – it had been in the rear compartment of my suitcase so I had it with me the whole time we were in Barcelona. Too bad I missed out on taking pictures of that beautiful city. I’ll just have to go back.

Returning to Abeilhan was wonderful but the weather definitely had changed to autumn. Too cold to go to the beach to swim. Besides Sue wasn’t feeling up to it due to having the flu. We managed to have a good time anyway – drove to Lake Salugu which I wanted to see. The water level was low and it was definitely winter-like there.

One day we drove to Minerve and saw the “dolman” again. We went to Pezenas several times. I took her to Sete and to Cap d’Agde to see my favorite beach. All the way around it felt like summer was over and it was time to head back to the USA. My last day in Abeilhan we took a (longer than planned on) walk from Abeilhan to Espondeilhan to Pouzolles. It didn’t look that far on the map but it took quite a long time and it gave me a blister on my foot. It was beautiful walking along the road besides the vineyards and interesting to watch the grape harvest underway. However, it was pretty unnerving having huge farm equipment and trucks zipping by us at high speeds on the narrow road. We decided to try and hitch a ride home to Abeilhan from Pouzolles and did so successfully. A very nice Scottish fellow stopped and picked us up. We had a nice chat with him and when he dropped us off he said, “I’ve done my good deed for the day.” Question: Were we like a boyscout helping two old ladies across the street?

I picked up Sharon and Mel at the Montpellier Airport (my house exchange partners). We spent a nice evening with them and Mel drove us to the Bezier train station the next morning.

More local photos

Where oysters come from

The most delicious oysters in the world

Canal in Sete

pictures from Abeilhan environs

The reds will be harvested soon.

Kitchen at Chateau Cassan

Abbey at Cassan

Barcelona without a camera

I met Sue Levinson here last Wednesday.

Hopefully my camera is in the car at the Beziers train station. I wasn’t able to take any pictures in Barcelona but I have many imprinted in my brain. Such a beautiful city – Gaudi (and other architects of the day and into presents time) obviously had the freedom to be able to create freeldly using all their imagination. The result is amazing. The old, old medieval buildings and narrow alleys that create an endless labyrinth which trapped us every day, the “whimsy” gloriously odd shapes and colors of the Gaudi buildings, to be followed by modern day Barcelona architects that clearly embraces form over function. The result is a fascinating mix of artistic design and unencumbered creativity that includes the old and new equally into a single city.

This is a city of art and design that goes beyond just the architecture. Once you leave the touristy/tacky shops of the Rambla area, there are shops and galleries with beautiful clothing, interior design, sculpture, jewelry, paintings, etc. The general style is eclectic – not necessarily the most expensive or trendy. This is really what we found in the area called La Riberia. Another area that is vsoesy upscale and famous is Eixample and the stores there are the more familiar and exorbitantly expensive ones such as Cartier, Hermes, etc. We really preferred La Riberia.

We stayed in the Gothic quarter right across from the old Cathedral. Our hotel was new, very chic, clean, and convenient. Much nicer that the old place I stayed in last Fall in the same area.

We’ve had a great time here. A few of our experiences…….

1. Took the “walk” through the Eixample quarter that was in our guidebook. This took us past many of the best Gaudi buildings and ones by other architects who’d been influenced by hedim. We went into the Casa Battlo which is one of his best. Getting inside is essential in order to appreciate the beauty and complexity of the place. Beautiful colored glass in sea shapes in shades of pink and blue, blue and white tile chip mosaics forming the outside upper patio. Most rooms, windows, walls, have no right angles and their “lines” form waves of movement for the eye.
2. Visited the building and grounds of the University of Barcelona. We strolled through the beautiful enclosed garden where a number of students sat quietly reading in the shade of tropical trees beside pools with coy fish swimming. There were lots of feral cats hanging out there. Angel got thrown out of there (as she often has on this trip when we take her to churches, gardens, parks.
3. Sat in lots of sidewalk cafes , sipping cava (Spanish champagne) or café and watched “the world go by.” Ate way to many tapas and got very tired of them.
4. Appreciated many of the street entertainers including:
a. A very handsome dark young man who played the guitar like an angel. Sue bought a CD from him. He had recorded accompaniment on his boom box. Funny thing though, when he stopped playing to talk to a pretty girl he sounded almost as good as when he wasn’t actually playing himself.
b. A group of young men playing a variety of instruments, some quite unusual, with crazy rhythm in a style we’d never heard before.
c. A very pretty young blond playing the cello in a quiet space by the cathedral.
d. The elderly male opera singer that I heard last Fall who has a following of equally old local folks who sit on the steps and sing as his chorus as he goes through many famous arias (think the well known operatic drinking song).

5. Some of the street entertainers we didn’t appreciate so much:
a. Two guys producing huge bubbles with short rods and string. You kind of had to see it to understand it.
b. An entertainment duo that consisted of a really bad singer, singing really bad songs and a juggler juggling huge knifes that he kept dropping.
6. Something that was in a class by itself took place on Saturday evening in the square in front of the Cathedral. There was a large crowd of mostly elderly Catalans dancing their unique circle dance accompanied by a Catalan band (which you have to her to believe and its not exactly easy on the ears). The dance consists of a limited number of steps (four to the right, four to the left, and then kind of jump a few times).
7. Found a “budding artist” on the street. Young fellow from Argentina. He showed us his artwork which was somewhat bizarre but rather interesting. Suckers that we are we each bought an “original”. The ones we purchased were tamer than some such as “Venus rising from a toilet”.

Our last day we took the local train down the Coast to the town of Sitges (only 30 minutes away). It was pretty little seaside town with a beautiful sandy beach. We rented two chaise lounges and an umbrella and spent the afternoon enjoying the sun, the breeze, the view, and above all swimming in the beautiful Mediterranean.

We spent our last evening in Barcelona strolling through our favorite district, the Ribera, looking for the perfect bar, restaurant, and place to hear live music.

Update upon arrival at Abeilhan – found my camera in my luggage.

No Camera

Unfortunately I seem to have either lost or misplaced my camera. It is probably in the car at the train station in Beziers. So here I am in Barcelona with no camera. I will try to post now & then but won't be so interesting with no pictures. Sorry.

A Change of Seasons

Wednesday, September 1 enroute to Barcelona by train. I am on my way to meet my friend, Sue Levinson, in Barcelona. I left Patrice at the station in Beziers as she on her way back to Paris. Angel is snuggling in my lap and the southern France landscape is whizzing by the window.

Sue and I will have several days in Barcelona and then come back to Abeilhan for a few days before we go back to Paris and then home to San Francisco. I can’t believe my summer in France is coming to an end. In some ways it seems like it has gone by so very quickly and I don’t want it to end. In other ways it seems like it was such a long time ago that I left foggy San Francisco for sunny southern France. I’ve definitely gotten used to life here and will really miss it though I’ll be back before very long.

Four days ago something happened. Suddenly there was a new chill in the air in the morning and almost immediately some of the leaves on the grape began to change color. This change seemed to bring about vigorous activity among the farmers in ours, and surrounding, villages. We saw them suddenly working on their grape harvesting equipment. In some cases, like Roger’s, mechanical problems were found that had to be fixed immediately. Clearly they had observed signs that the time for harvest and crush was here and time was of the essence.

I was somewhat surprised. At the winery dinner at Les Trinites, and my subsequent visit there, we were told that a late harvest is expected as the winter had been prolonged and the summer heat late arriving. Obviously something had changed. I had noticed over the last few weeks that the red grapes had begun hanging heavily on the vines but the suddenness of the move to harvest took me by surprise.

We started hearing truck and heavy farm equipment in front of our house all night long. In the daytime we could see equipment and workers in the vineyards. They have been picking the white grapes and we see full truck bins of them being crushed into the wineries. There are also remnants of these grapes in the streets. The harvest of the red ones has not yet begun. I am sure that by the time Sue and I come back to Abeilhan the crush of the reds will be in full operation and the smell of red wine will perfume the air. What magic.

More Minervois Pics

Dolman

Minerva alley

Ancient bridge to Minerva

Minerva eroded pillar

Sunday drive in the Minervois

Frescoes in the ancient church


More frescoes



Ancient Church outside Siran

Today Patrice and I drove to the Minervois region which is north and west of Abeilhan. My favorite guidebook described this region as having lost much of its population over the last century but now due to its new wine production people are moving back. It has some of the oldest and most preserved villages and early sites of civilization in France. The area is named for the town of Minerve which has been inhabited for 5,000 years. It was largely deserted but now has 100 inhabitants, artist shops, and a few restaurants.

The drive getting to Minerve was lovely. The countryside was rolling hills, vineyards (of course), limestone outcroppings, and pine trees. The town of Minerve is on a high plain at the confluence of two rivers. There are steep cliffs surrounding the town and it was obeviously selected by ancient humans as it could be quite easily defended. However unfortunately, when Cathar survivors of Simon’s (whatever his last name was) slaughter of the Cathars in Beziers arrived in Minerve, Simon followed them and killed them in Minerve. The village is beautifully preserved and the current inhabitants have restored a number of the homes. It is a peaceful place and hauntingly beautiful. The artisan shops are pretty tasteful too. There were some visitors besides us but it was not at all crowded. So far it is my favorite village.

We had lunch at a lovely outside restaurant, something like “The Troubadors.” It had a huge wood burning oven and they were cooking red meat and pizzas in it. We were sure we had a celebrity sighting, Andre Agassi and Stephi Graf, and their two children! They sat quite near us. However close observation of the family revealed that they were speaking only French and using their eating utensils like Europeans so we concluded that they were not the Agassis or were certainly carrying out French impersonations very, very proficiently.

We left Minerve and drove to Siran which wasn’t far. The guidebook said it had three wonderful sights which were not much visited – a 12th to 15th Century church with frescoes , a 7-sided Cathar church, another ancient church with a “beautiful” sculpted aspe, and a “dolman.” First we found the church with the frescoes. Most of the frescoes I’ve seen in France, Italy, and Turkey are pretty faded and much of them are no longer very visible. These frescoes were unbelievable. They covered almost the entire interior of the church with vivid colors and the figures were still very recognizable. We were awestruck and felt very privileged to be able to see such intact ancient artwork. Patrice lit a candle.

Our next stop was the Dolman which had a small sign saying “Dolman” on the roadside directing you to a very rough dirt road. We didn’t know what Dolman meant so we weren’t sure we’d even recognize it if we found it. We climbed the hill and there without a doubt was the Dolman. It was an ancient tomb (5,000 years old). It had a huge stone placed over the sides of the structure. It reminded me of the pictures I’ve seen of Stonehenge. There was nothing else there and nothing spoiling it (e.g., graffiti, trash).

Next we drove to what was the church with the sculpted “aspe”. We found it up a dirt road. It was locked but we saw what we assumed was the “aspe” (the area in back of the alter) from the outside and it had some sculpting even on the outside.

The seven-sided Cathar church was literally in the very center of the town of Siran and there was nowhere to park. The streets surrounding it were probably the narrowest I’ve encountered this trip so we just passed by it.

We headed home about 5 pm. It was a great day for seeing some very special places.

Patrice's Visit

River Jumper

Me

Patrice

Pezenas Cowboy Dancing

Marianne Lindgren left on Monday. It was great having here visit me here. Patrice Christensen arrived by train from Paris on Tuesday. It is her first visit to France and I hope she enjoys the South.

On Wednesday we spent the day at my favorite beach by Cap d’Agda. We rented chaise lounges and an umbrella and spent a very relaxing day. Had lunch at a restaurant right on the beach. Believe it or not it was really good. We both had moules and frites. At the next table was a large group of 20s to 30s something guys who obviously were on some sort of team. We decided not bicycle because they didn’t have shaved legs. Could have been soccer, rugby, or ??? Whatever, they were having a long and huge lunch – cocktails, appetizers, main course, and dessert. The chef/owner came out and drank with them for awhile.

The evening we went into Pezenas and visited many shops then had a good dinner at a nice outdoor restaurant Cote Sud. After dinner we as we walked through Pezenas we thought we hear western/country music – weird. We found its source – it was about 30 older French folks line dancing. Some of them had on shirts that gave the name of their dance club – looks like they do this regularly. They had a leader and he was the gayest French cowboy I’ve ever seen. Anyway they were having a great time. I was only sorry I had on my flip flops instead of real shoes or I would have joined them.

Thursday we drove north up the Herault River and checked out a number of nice little towns and beautiful spots along the river. From a tiny bridge high above the river we watched some daredevil guys and gals jump/dive from very high up. See the pic.

We then visited Saint Guillhem de Desert and then back to my favorite swimming hole on the river. Patrice decided she couldn’t decide which water she preferred the river or the Mediterranean. (me either).

Friday we went to Montpellier. We road the funky little touristic train through town and listened to the description of the various sights. Montpellier is fun day or night. There is lots going on. We checked out some of the stores and also went to the Art Museum and learned a lot about an artist, Cabenet, who lived/painted during the 1800s and was very good.

For dinner we went to L'Asparagus which continues to be a big hit with everyone I've taken there.

Saturday in Sete (Reprise)

This was a GREAT day. It was Marianne and me as Tony left for Paris on Friday.

We started the day by going to Market Day in Pezenas – always a great thing to do. It is a very good one - combination Flea and Farmers Market. We didn’t buy a lot – tomatoes, peaches, avocadoes, olive tampenade, and lettuce but the best purchase was a bottle of ginger juice. The British woman selling it described its health benefits (sounded kind of like snake oil). She claimed it treats indigestion, stomach ache, migraine, liver problems, and goodness knows what else. She encouraged adding it to tea, soda, food, or just about anything. I liked the way it tasted so I bought some and you know what? I think it works! At least it tastes great in Perrier.

After shopping we headed to Bouzigues, a little town on the Etang d’ Thau which is a huge inlet near Sete and Agde. This body of water is where huge volumes of mussels and oysters are farmed. Our destination was the Shellfish Museum. When we got there it was 2 pm and we thought we could better appreciate the museum more if we ate some oysters first. There were many restaurants on the water. After we went in to four of them, and we told by all that they were no longer serving and to come back at 7 pm, we gave up and went to the Museum. It was very interesting – covering all the various farming and harvesting techniques, mollusk reproduction (oysters are hermaphrodites, clams are male and female), lives of the fishermen, and history of the area. By the time we were done with the Museum we really wanted some oysters. We mentioned this to the woman staffing the Museum and she directed us to a restaurant that is open all day. There we feasted on a dozen shrimp, 3 dozen oysters, bread, and espresso for 32 Euros! The oysters were the without a doubt the best I have ever tasted – so fresh and sweet. I will be forever spoiled.

After this very late lunch we went for a swim in the Mediterranean – ahhhhh.

At the museum we had learned that this night was the finals, the Gold Cup of the Sete annual water jousting tournament. We were told to be there by 7 pm to get a good seat even though the event didn’t start until 8:30. We got there and it already mobbed but there were plenty of seats. It felt a little like a soccer cup – much excitement, wild costumes, balloons, and of course a lot of drinking at bars that were set up in front of the regular cafes. We had seen the staging area for what looked like all the police cars and ambulances in Sete.

Unfortunately I had forgotten my camera but Marianne got some excellent video of the event with her IPhone. To see what jousting looks like you can check out my previous post “Sete on Saturday” in July. It was very exciting – two teams – red and blue. Lots of cheering from the spectators. Music is played frequently – by musicians on the boats who play a clarinet kind of instrument and drums and by an brass band. All the music is pretty horrible sounding but it definitely adds to the festivities. We left before the end as it looked like it was going to be pretty rowdy.

Nice is Nice

Chagall Angels

Tony by one of the many fountains

Nice at night

Cote d'Azur

Cote d'Azur

Nice is Nice with Marianne & Tony

For our overnight adventure we drove to Nice. On the way there we drove through Cannes and along the Cote d’Azur. This is such an unbelievably beautiful – turquoise and dark blue water, red cliffs, many boats, and huge yachts. Although it was a long drive it was definitely worth it. We stopped at a little store and purchased our picnic lunch. The food wasn’t great but the view and company were wonderful.

In Nice we stayed at the Holiday Inn and I had the best hotel room I think I’ve ever had in France. Everything at the hotel was great and its location was perfect very close to the main part of town and the beach. After we arrived Tony and I went down to the beach for a swim. We were prepared with our water shoes and I remembered that the beach was all rocks. What I wasn’t prepared for was that there was some surf which makes the water get very, very deep fast. That is great for getting in but not for getting out. I was knocked down about 5 times trying to climb out. Tony didn’t even try to come in. The color of the water at Nice is really beautiful. It is almost a cloudy turquoise color.

We walked though the busy pedestrian streets to a large place with beautiful fountains. Then we had dinner in an Italian seafood restaurant which was very good. Nice is equally French and Italian.

In the morning Tony and I went to the Chagall Museum which was GREAT. I don’t usually take pictures in museums but I had to for this one. The final highlight was a documentary film with old footage of the Jews leaving Russia, Chagall and his fellow artists who escaped to New York during the second world war, etc. It was one of the best museums I’ve ever visited. It was also an invigorating walk which we definitely needed.

Then we drove a short distance to Menton and had a wonderful swim and lunch. Drove home and arrived at 9:30 pm. A long drive but great two days on the Cote d’Azur. Yes Nice is nice.

Collouire Mob Scene

Monday Aug 16
We drove to Collouire thinking Monday would be less crowded. Wrong!!! It was their annual festival and we couldn’t even drive into the town to drop off our stuff. We had to park at the top of the hill and walk about 1 mile downhill to the harbor. I thought it had been crowded when MaryAnn Wolcott and I went. This time it was jammed. We did walk around, swam and sat on the most crowded beach I’ve ever been on. Even in the water it was shoulder to shoulder. When it was time to leave we found that the promised shuttle to the top wasn’t working but I found a taxi and for 8 Euros we were delivered to our car at the top. This is probably the best spent 10 Euros of the trip. Then drove home and vowed not to drive a distance again for a few days.

Not my favorite day. I won't come back in the summer.

Sunday in Sete

Me and Tony over Sete

Marianne over Sete


Frescoes in Church in Sete Hill Church

My neighbors - John, Roger, Suzette

Sunday, Aug 15
At noon we had appertifs with Suzette, Roger, and John – our neighbors here in the village. We sat in their garden. Between my terrible French, John’s semi-terrible French, Marianne’s good Spanish, Roger’s very expressive sign language, and Suzette’s good everything we shared great conversation and many laughs. I am going to miss them and will look forward to returning here next summer.

Afterwards we drove to Sete hoping to see water jousting but nothing was happening. We drove to the top of the town and enjoyed the beautiful view of the town, the Marseillane plage, the Etang du Thong. There was also a beautiful little church there at the summit with quite modern and very beautiful art work inside.

Then to the beach to swim, swim, swim. Ah the Mediterranean…… I am so going to miss it back in foggy and cold San Francisco.

Hanging out locally

Monica giving us a wine lesson.

Angel and Kevin in love



Location of winery

We decided to have a quiet day and enjoy the area around Abeilhan – very easy to do. We visited Les Trinites – the winery where I attended a dinner a couple weeks back. The winery is located in a tiny village, Roquessels, which is one of the few “hilltowns” here. It is owned by a delightful couple, Simon and Monica. He is British, she is Catalan. Monica met us at the tasting room and gave us samples of each of their wines. They are all excellent in my opinion. Even though she was obviously very busy with her daily activities (kids, lunch, etc) she even gave us a tour of the winery itself complete with a very good description of the terroir, techniques they use, the processes, etc. She is a delightful person. Also their “intact” smallish and handsome dog, Kevin, had a 1 hour love affair with Angel. I believe that the winery visit will be the high point in Angel’s trip to France.

After the winery visit we went to Pezenas, had lunch, and went to the shops. Pezenas is always a hit (Marianne loved it).

For dinner we returned to Asparagus for Tony’s final dinner there. I am now recognized by the maitre d’ by just my voice when I call to make a reservation. Maybe we are going there too often but it just so very good and a great value.

Fontfroide Abbey and Carcassone

Montpellier at night.

Garden at Fontfroide Abbey


Ferret walking!

Carcasonne

Tony and I visited Frontfroide Abbey and Carcasson. Both are quite close to Narbonne which is a pretty reasonable drive on the freeway. The only problem was that we had some problems finding Fontfroide as it can’t be located by the TomTom GPS and signage for it wasn’t very noticeable. Eventually we did find it and took the guided tour (in French) which was the only option. Again, as I’ve experienced a number of times now, the guide went “on and on” which even seemed to bore the French speakers. It is like so many others, an old abbey, but this one is very restored so it is worth seeing. The gardens are also very lovely.

We had lunch in the restaurant at the Abbey which is very nice. I remember many years ago, on our first trip to the western part of the South of France, that John and I had lunch in this same restaurant. That seems so very long ago now.

Since Tony really wanted to go to Carcasonne I agreed to go. It is not my favorite thing to do here as it is so over crowded with tourists and souvenir shops. I must admit that it is very impressive to see such a large medieval city restored to its full size and scope but yikes……. So many people and general crap. One interesting thing we saw was a young couple walking their ferrets. Such bizarre pets. One thing that was noticeable was that the male owner looked like a ferret himself. Unfortunately my picture trying to capture this likeness didn’t turn out.

Marianne Lindgren arrived by train in Montpellier so we drove there and picked her up. We had dinner in the large plaza there and enjoyed people watching and all the activity.