The French Connection

It is, every day, a gift to be here in France: living a dream I carried in my  heart for over fifty years; sharing it with my dearest companions, Ken & SweetPea; receiving new friendships and tokens of love that keep me warm and nourished in this winter season. Such are the tiny figures given to our class at IS language school by a fellow classmate, Eun-Jai Lee, a beautiful young woman from South Korea, a pâtissière by training and passion. Each of us now carries with us the kindness of Eun-Jae as we go our respective ways – to Dakar, to Norway, to Thailand, to Spain, to Luxembourg, to the U.S. – or to rest here a bit longer in Aix.

A time to pause – the winter solstice has been described as a moment in time in which the sun rises to its farthest point north of the equator, and it appears to pause before it begins its southerly return. Some might say, particularly this year, that it is a time of great turning.

This winter pause is very welcome to me, coming after much struggle to learn french in daily classes and  negotiating everyday challenges. Now I sleep late in the mornings, read books in french and english, plan and carry out little excursions to nearby villages and towns with Ken and SweetPea. It feels so wonderfully luxurious. And it feels that this is an important time to consolidate all that I’ve learned so far to prepare for the next phase of my learning adventure, which will begin in late January with more classes. While I am stretched out like a cat in the sunshine on our little sofa, Ken loves to go off wandering the rocky hillsides near the Mediterranean, or the winding paths that lead to Mont Sainte-Victoire. Most days when it isn’t raining (and some when it is) you can find him on the local golf course just 15 minutes away, practicing and sometimes catching a game with locals.

Together we travel farther afield. A favorite area I discovered many years ago is La Fontaine de Vaucluse, a town where Petrarch wrote passionate poetry, and is the site of a geological wonder – an underground spring whose source has not yet been exactly marked. The waters  bubble up into a pool some 300 meters deep and spill to become the River Sorgue, which cuts  its way through towns and meadows. It bisects the town of Isle-sur-La-Sorgue to create a beautiful setting for weekly markets that line the river’s edge and fill the winding streets.

Daphne will be happy to hear that “bambou” products are everywhere in France. I bought bamboo socks in the open-air market at Isle-sur-La-Sorgue as well as an ingenious little basket (birthday surprise for Daphne – in the mail).

Last weekend we went a bit further afield to visit the Camargue – the wild, watery country of the Rhone Delta. In only a few days and nights we were suffused with stories of the deep culture and traditions of the Camargue with its “wild” white horses and black bulls with  uplifted horns. We stayed with Beatrice and Christian Chomel at their gîte, “Mas Farola”,  surrounded by their horses, peacocks, dogs and chickens. Their stories of “La Course Camarguaise” – akin to our rodeo, but more of a chase between man and bull, were very moving, since Christian had been a star of the arenas in former days.

For a marvelous,long day, Gudrun Bauer, (www.frenchcoach.net) a guide linguistique, who knows every inch of the Camargue,  drove us on back roads and through  private ranches owned by her friends to find special moments of beauty. In her town of Aigues-Mortes, we enjoyed one of the best luncheon meals we’ve had in France at her favorite little restaurant called “Au Vice Versa.”

And Gudrun knew well where to find the “flamant rose” the pink flamingoes that fill the delta waters in this part of the Camargue.  It was very cold throughout this trip, not exactly the weather for leisurely strolls along the 30 km of sandy beaches stretching out from Les Saintes Maries de la Mer. But it is certain that we’ll return in the spring and explore more.

We left the Camargue to travel a few hours south to the fishing village of Collioure that sits on the Mediterranean near the eastern edge of the Spanish border. Lina, our dear friend and neighbor in SLO, had introduced us by email to her good friend Lynne from LA who recently moved to Collioure from Toulon.  Having grown up in Hawaii, Lynne will always find a special place near the sea to call home.

With extraordinary generosity and good humor, Lynne welcomed us into her wonderful apartment in this well-known artists village, and together we enjoyed a day trip into Spain to visit the Dali Museum in Figueres. While I’ve often seen reproductions of Dali’s work in books, and a few of his paintings on walls in museums, nothing prepared me for the impact of being surrounded by this man’s creative genius in a museum all of his own. It was thrilling! The sense of movement, of creatures and objects taking new life in your presence, gave me a sense of great pleasure and joy.  I wasn’t expecting this sensation and welcomed it.

Back home in Aix we’ve been enjoying winter rains and bitter cold.  It’s a great excuse to stay indoors. Today is Sunday – the day I seem to choose to write this little journal – the bells of Saint-Sauveur Cathedral have summoned and released the town folk from mass, and we prepare now to go to the Cathedral this afternoon to hear Bach’s “Christmas Cantata.”  Ken and SweetPea are playing golf while I stay warm here. A wonderful arrangement!  Are we happy?  What do you think?!?

We saw “The Hobbit” a few days ago, and “Beasts of the Southern Wild” (which I had seen in SLO).  Loved both!   We hope you have time to see some good movies, enjoy some warm hugs, find new places to explore, and enjoy a good book. We miss you and love receiving your messages = karen@karenmerriam.com    We plan to stay here quietly in Aix during Christmas and perhaps take a little trip for a few days over to Cannes and Nice (only a couple of hours east on the Med) before New Years to visit the Chagall and Picasso museums – and find new golf courses.  Love to you, our friends and family.

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.”

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.

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!!