Monthly Archives: November 2012

Un beau mec

It’s a good thing I don’t have to write this little blog post in french or I would never get it done. It takes me forever to compose even one sentence, and just when I think I’ve managed to write a little thought perfectly, Claire (one of my profs) brings out her red marker pen and covers the page with corrections. Soothingly she says – “but really it’s very good!”  Yet it’s hard to find my original words under her keen, razor sharp “améliorations.”

Both Claire and Christine, the two mainstay profs of the three-semester course I’ve been taking at IS, were thrilled with the re-election of president Obama.

un beau mec

This photo was posted on our blackboard at IS the day the results came in, and Obama was pronounced “Un beau mec!”  A beautiful guy!

Before going to school that morning, Dominique, our landlord, greeted me with a great hug (not usual in France – usually it’s kisses on the cheeks) and a great Hurrah for Obama.  A few nights later, Monique and Dominique brought together the Americans from “La Bastide” to celebrate Obama’s victory with champagne.  What fun!

Because Claire has two little girls and a third one on the way, I gave her Obama’s newest book “Of Thee I Sing” which he wrote for Sasha and Melia. She is reading it to her children now. If you haven’t seen this book, I highly recommend it.  To Christine I gave “The Audacity of Hope,” and to Dominique “Dreams From My Father.”  I offered to help them with translations 🙂

The silence from American friends and others on email about the election is quite strange to me. As someone here suggested, Americans must be very fatigued after the elections (witness Obama’s famous tear) and not eager to re-engage in political talk, even to celebrate. But I’m here – not there – and don’t really understand the silence very well.  But just ask me – was I overjoyed and relieved? 

As I mentioned earlier, IS studies are not all drudgery.  Christine thought we should learn a bit about

French cheeses and we were only too happy to oblige. We had a bonus treat with the opportunity to taste a sample of the Beaujolais nouveau – just released that morning.  Not a bad way to study french on a fall afternoon.

These beautiful afternoons are made for exploring the area around Aix.  In just about every direction there is something wonderful to see. Recently we traveled in a little arc around the northwest of Aix and were captivated by a little town called Ventabren, perched high on a hill with remains of fortifications left intact as witness to times past.  But what the history of this little man is I don’t know.

It was a Sunday and the town was shuttered for family lunches. We strolled through winding streets, not large enough for cars but just fine for walking, and mounted the hill to the cemetery, a vast recreation area, a view of Marseilles and an excellent restaurant that welcomed SweetPea and gave us shelter from a sudden cloudburst.

Ken is happy to report that his knees still work, thanks to the kind and excellent ministrations of a physiotherapist, an orthopedist, and a massage therapist.  All that good work and hours of working out at the gym and practicing on the golf courses of France has resulted in his shooting the best nine holes ever!  a six under par !  spectacular!

We wish everyone – friends and family – a very lovely Thanksgiving. Ken and I have so much to be grateful for this year and we’ll be sharing it with our new “family” here at “La Bastide” our apartment home, and we also have a party scheduled next week to say farewell to my classmates who are leaving after the final days of class.

Keep the emails coming!  We miss you !

Winter is Coming

I know you’ve heard about the Mistral: winds that sweep into Provence from the north bringing cold and sometimes wrecking havoc. In these past few weeks, the Mistral has been asserting its prowess, knocking over a cruise ship in the harbor at Marseille, downing trees in the local parks here in Aix, and generally making life very interesting. Rain has followed the wind, with severe flooding in some towns and villages. For a few days the temperature dropped to 0 degrees celsius at night – that’s freezing in any language – and Monique & Dominique turned on the heat in La Bastide. Now the days fluctuate between warm and humid to cold and windy. Winter is arriving!  The leaves are falling, and french scarves of all sizes, shapes, and colors adorn both men and women to make theatrical fashion statements.  Babies and toddlers are the cutest in their little winter hats and scarves.

To take advantage of the season, before snow comes to the higher elevations, Ken and I took a wonderful little trip during the past few days to the Gorges of Verdon. On the way we stopped to see an exposition of 20 atisans who make “santons,”  little figures in clay of the Christmas creche, and scenes of farm life in Provence. It took place in the charming little town of Greoux les Bains – a town that has grown and flourished around Les Thermes, a spa, where folks come for “the cure.”

Les Thermes
Ken at Greoux Les Bains

After some mighty fine crepes for lunch we drove deep into the Gorges of Verdun, magnificent scenery of steep cliffs carved by the Verdun River long ago. Driving along the edge of the cliffs had me holding my breath a few times, and we were grateful for guardrails of stone on some of the hairpin curves.  Night came quickly, before we were ready, and with snow on the mountains in the distance we decided to stop in the charming little mountain town of Castellane where we had dinner and kept warm in a fine little Chambre d’hotes – bed and breakfast.  In the morning we (including SweetPea, of course) were greeted at the breakfast table by a three-month old golden retreiver-shepherd-mix puppy who revelled in Ken’s attention.  A great way to start the day! And by noon we were back home in Aix for school and assorted duties.

In case you were worried that we would miss Halloween while in France, I can assure you we had a grand time at a party hosted by Karen’s classmate from Spain, Maria.  She went all out with decorations, and the folks at the party came from all over, including Australia, Wilton, Connecticut, Switzerland, etc. Great conversations and food.

 

Speaking of food – we continue to find charming little restaurants in Aix that become favorites.

Fanny’s in Aix

 

I’m very excited to try my hand at tagines – a simple Moroccan “stew” that contains all the spices I most love, like cinnamon, cloves, coriander.  I bought a great little french recipe book on how to prepare tagines and was a bit taken aback to see that the recipe called for a “fever” of “giraffes” – or at least that’s how I translated the words “feve” and “girofle”.  Fortunately, I have my dictionary at my side at all times and learned that the ingredients really are fava beans and cloves, but hey – I’m still learning!

As I write, a tagine of lamb and carrots and prunes and squash and potatoes is simmering in our oven and the aromas are calling me to dinner.

Stay in touch and come visit!!