18 fevrier
25 fevrier
We had a super lunch and afternoon with Monique’s mother and partner in their new apartment they’ve rented by the year in St. Aygulf. It’s about a 1 1/2 hour drive from Carqueiranne, very close to St. Tropez. Monique, you will really enjoy being there - wonderful sandy beaches very close by and lots of interesting places to explore like Fréjus, St. Raphael, etc. I took some video of your mom and even Roger cooking the “sauté de veau” as well as the apartment and the region. It was a very special afternoon - we hadn’t seen Jacqueline for over 15 years but it seemed like we’d just seen her last week. We had a wonderful drive home all along the coast and driving into a fabulous sunset in the end.
People really do seem quite spoiled by the weather here and complain if it isn’t brilliant sunshine all the time. It’s quite amusing, really. We had a wonderful meal in one of the restaurants in the port that specializes in fresh seafood of the region. First of all, “Degustation des Coquillages” (shellfish - 2 types of oysters (fabulous...Don and Elaine, I think they were even better than the Donegal oysters) shrimp, mussels, sea-snails, and something they substituted for the sea urchins since they weren’t available - a wonderful taste - like tasting the ocean. We then ordered from the “fish cart” - they bring you these freshly caught fish and you choose. We chose “Sars” - something very special from Provence waters. The presentation was incredible. They brought the two whole fish out on a flaming platter (soaked in anisette) with thyme and laurel branches on fire and sending off the most fragrant smoke. They then deboned the fish, made sure to get the cheeks out as well - to die for! I think I’ll try this with whole sole and thyme and rosemary branches - any volunteers?
4 mars
We just returned from a weekend trip to visit friends in Montpellier and to explore more of interior Provence to find letters from Annette and Elaine posted on our door. What a wonderful surprise! Thank you both so much. I really enjoyed reading the clippings. Mail seems to take a long time. I think the postal workers are taking some job action.
We visited Nimes and Arles and were incredibly impressed with their Roman arenas. Still bullfights in both at certain times of the year. Although it is a very cruel sport, it does remain a fascination for both of us. We saw a couple of bullfights on TV when we were in Nimes - very interesting to see it up close. The one we saw many years ago in Barcelona was in a massive modern arena. We won’t have the opportunity, but somehow, seeing a bloodsport on a sweltering day in an arena where gladiators fought it out over 2,000 years ago has a strange appeal.
To more tranquil subjects. We also visited an astoundingly beautiful village called Uzes which has, among many things, a beautiful cathedral and tower (rather like the leaning tower of Pisa. I probably took a roll of film in 10 minutes since everything was so wonderful for the eye. Even the cats sunning themselves on the roofs seemed to have some magical aspect. We arrived on a Sunday morning as the bells were tolling for Mass and we went inside the cathedral to see the interior before the Mass started. The young priest was greeting and chatting with all the parishioners - a very charming scene after all the physical beauty.
uzes.mov
Uzes Cathedral, Sunday Mass
On the main street of the village there was even a flea market and we found a really neat old publicity ad for one of our water bottles dating from the 50’s. Many antique stores, all with dogs lying across the threshold in the sun. We went into a very large one mainly to look at the beautiful tables, armoires, huge paintings etc. - nothing very portable but beautiful to look at. Lo and behold, in a little corner was an old Ricard water bottle from before WW II. He sold it to us for a great price ($15). Then onto Pont du Garde, that very well known Roman Aquaduct - a wonder of the world, really. A Unesco sight now and very well done. Many, many inspirations for painting. I’ve done 15 paintings so far.
Amitié,
Jim and Janice
