Linda's Journal
June 2002

back to journal 2002 index
back to journal index

June 5, 2002

I haven't done much around Paris this month, so far anyway. I just returned from Arizona (see new photos of my grandsons under photos) but I did have an interesting excursion with a friend to the 18th arrondissement behind the Gare du Nord, one of 5 train stations in Paris. Behind the station is an area the city of Paris is trying to develop into a new designer area. My friend, Chris, wanted to look at the work of a young lady in her 20's who designs these really great wall hanging that are woven using metallic threads. We wandered around the area and found an interesting park. It needed cleaning but had some interesting tile work and paintings.

This is actually a jungle gym type thing with a painted wall at the end.

A painting on a wall at the park

June 22, 2002

We are in Provence. Can you say HOT?! My God. I am stunned by the heat. I think I will be OK living here but I have to stay in the shade and not do manual labor in the sun. The first day we got here it was around 3 in the afternoon and we drove up immediately to our land. Maurice wanted to mark approximately where the house will be on our property. We found out that we had to have that area cleared so the architect can get on the land and do his measurements. We decided to save a little money, actually quite a bit of money, and do it ourselves. After about an hour I was feeling a little sick. There is a fountain up in the little village of Vitrolles so after we drank all of a big plastic bottle of Orangina I went up and got some cold water. We got the general area marked off and the next morning while it was cool, and it does get really nice and cool here once the sun goes down, we got ourselves back on the land and started sawing down trees with a chain saw that we rented or clipping them down with a big cutter and dragging everything to big piles here and there. The saw stopped working so Maurice went back into town while I made my way around the land cutting big branches off bushes and little trees so Maurice could get to them with the saw.

The land is covered with these yellow flowered bushes, guynets.

I was there a couple of hours and it started getting really hot so I stayed in the shade as much as I could and drank lots of water. There is some kind of neighbor hound dog that barked the entire time. I don't know if he heard me clumping around or if the is his MI. Down below a donkey occasionally brayed. What bothered me the most were the flies. I sprayed Off all over me and it didn't faze them. I finally started making a "magic circle"of it around me every ten minutes or so and it helped. We are going to have to find a way to get rid of them without wiping out the entire bird population. I'm sure they are going to be a problem.

Finally, Maurice arrived with reinforcements with his son, Benjamin, and a friend named, interestingly, Mathieu. They had brought some cheeseburgers with them from McDonalds which I haven't had in years. That was the best tasting hamburger I have ever had . I think I was really hungry-obviously. I only lasted another hour. They finished in about 4 more hours. So, we got it finished so the architect could do his thing. We will see the plans in a few days. After I got home I discovered huge bites all over my legs. I suspect they are what we call chiggers in the States. Man, do they itch. Ah, the glamour of being a land owner.

The grapes are just starting to grow in Provence

The next day was June 22nd which is St. Jean Day and it is a big holiday, or fete, with the French. I gather that it is a celebration of the beginning of summer. There were fireworks which we saw in a small village of Villelaure where our friend Jean Marie and Danielle live. They are kind enough to put us up when we are in the area AND they have a pool. The fireworks were short but really nice. Then a large bonfire was lit and after it was down to a small size people took turns jumping over it, I guess for good luck-kids mostly. At the end summer, St. Michel Day, there is another celebration. In the past, and I guess now, all of the hay, etc. is put in for the winter and the fire symbolizes this. All of these Saint days have all sorts of traditions that are thousands of years old. Neat. It was a real community happening. I don't know what will be done in our village. It is so small, probably nothing much.

The lavender is starting to bloom. It is harvested in July.

I liked this pot.

June 25

On the way back from Provence I sometimes can't stand it another minute in the car, it's a 6 1/2 hour drive, and so we made a stop at a town we've been to before for a half hour or so called Semur-en-Auxois. It has some great thick towers left from an ancient wall and there is a wonderful view driving in from down below.

View of the tower

An old arch in the town

While in Provence we made a quick trip to Cannes to see Maurice's son Ben. It has some really neat areas.

I loved this window

An entertainer with 2 trained cats on the street