Eye see France

Come and visit me!

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We got home from our two year France assignment in June of 2008. If any one is still looking at this blog you are more than welcome to join me over at my Photography blog 'Broken Cork' (which I've had since 2005.) I have pulled all the photos from this blog into that one. Broken Cork is my Photography Journal.

When the weather is lousy and I get nostalgic I look through my archives of the thousands of photos I took during the two years in France and I will post them along with the new work I try to create. So if your reading this please welcome, bienvenue to:

Broken Cork Photography

http://brokencork.blogspot.com/

Dorion

Nîmes it seems, is deemed to be supreme

2008-06-17T17:02:00.015+02:00

My wife and I were invited to dinner with good friends. A nice couple from Nîmes. We arrived early and they showed us around their marvelous old town. Operative word 'old'. According to Wikipedia Nîmes had a presence of semi-nomadic cultivators in the period 4000 to 3500 BC. Somewhere around 28 BC Rome realized the semi-nomadic cultivators were not keeping up the place and they were always late with the rent so they were ousted. Rome took over and built some Roman bling. Those Romans , their bling is all over this country.This is the Nîmes Amphitheatre. Very impressive. Like the Colosseo In Rome.

This is the the Maison Carrée

This is the The Jardins de la Fontaine

This the center of town - notice the palm tree, stay with me on this.

This crocodile (it's made of bronze,very life like) is by the Palm tree. . . .

And this is the town coat of arms.

and, as all towns in the South of France there is always great things happening.

I think I figured out how to post a video.

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This is the brass band I mentioned in the previous post. Somewhere in the middle a little boy starts dancing and it's hilarious.

I'm still here, where have I been?

2008-06-08T12:57:00.009+02:00

We're still in France. After our trip to Italy we fell into work/life routine and I took a little hiatus from photography. I still love it and I will definitely continue doing it – but I took a little breather. As for

France, it is still beautiful and we’re enjoying ourselves but our time is dwindling. We only have a month and half left and then it will be back to the U.S of A. Are we anxious? Yes, we are. Two years is long time to live outside your country. But we are also sad to be leaving so many French friends. I think this experience has changed me and my way of thinking about the world. We went up to the center of Montpellier last Sunday and just sat at a sidewalk café and watched Europe meander by our little table. My wife had a coke and I had a beer. We might have waved an American flag over our head with that order. As always street musicians were everywhere and a brass band formed around the statue of the three graces. They were good. I will try to post a video.

My wife went to Bratislava, Slovakia.

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Another great French Lunch

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Les Gourmand.

I had another great French lunch with the good friends I work with.
I had :

Gâteau de foie gras aux éclats de pistaches, réduction de Carthagène et bouquet fraîcheur

Jarreton d’agneau braisé aux aromates, mijoté d’haricot coco à l’ancienne, ails confits

for wine we had :

Le chèvre frais du Pic St Loup

Um, cheese, fromage . . .sorry it wasn't on the menu. Goat cheese I think, very good.

Crème brûlée aux marrons, fleur de thym et brisures de marrons glacés

Venice - Welcome

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Venice Entrance

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One thing I noticed about Italy and it's different cities is that they are like an Italian family, all related, but with entirely different personalities. With that said Venice was like the crazy uncle that always had everyone laughing at the dinner table.

Venice - Gondola

2008-01-06T14:54:00.000+01:00

The Gondola is symbol of master Venetian craftsmanship. They are built to list to one side so when the gondolier stands to the other side the craft sits straight in the water. Aside from gondolas the city conducted most of it business through these waterways.
One interesting thing I saw was a "mason boat" (my own terminology.) It was a long boat with a cement mixer mounted in the middle. There was cement, sand and gravel on one side with a tender, and the masons worked on the other side. If work needed to be done on the front of a building they pulled up to it and went to work.

Venice - Piazza San Marco

2008-01-05T14:27:00.000+01:00

The Piazza San Marco is a beautiful square and the largest square in Venice. It's a must see if your in Venice, pigeons know this as well. It was like playing a game of bird-twister walking across the square. The architecture was incredible to see.

On the otherside of the Piazza was the Piazzetta that opened into the lagoon at the mouth of the Grand Canal. Two tall pillars stood at the waters edge and top of them were statues of Venice's two patron saints Marco and Todaro (see insets.) Between the two columns was the
site of executions. Our guide said all the people you see passing between the columns are tourists . Because of local superstitions no local Venetians will pass through them.
Did I walk between?. . .um, no. Why tempt fate?
As always, click picture for larger view

Venetian Glass Blowers

2007-12-22T18:20:00.001+01:00

Venice is world-renowned for their Blown glass craftsmanship. They had incredible examples of their talent. I was lucky enough to witness one of their artists in action. They seemed very weary of me and my camera and come to find out later they have had problems of people photographing technique and replicating the famous Venetian glass. There's only about 8 people in Venice that are skilled masters in this art.

Florence

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Florence

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Florence - Cops

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Florence - leather

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Naples

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Naples

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Naples

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Naples Castel dell'Ovo (Egg Castle)

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Naples Castel Nuovo

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Capri - us

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Capri

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Capri

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Capri - I want to live there

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I will go back there.

Capri - what a beautiful island!

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Capri was beautiful. Words escape me as they often do but this island was made for the eyes.

Pompeii three columns

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Pompeii - Vesuvius

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I wanted to post this shot because it has the two peaks of Mount Vesuvius. The crater is in between the two peaks. This means that if you drew a line following the outer edges of the two peaks and intersected it at the top , thats how big this mountain was before that fateful day.

Pompeii

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The city of Pompeii with Vesuvius looming in the background.

Meet a Pompeii man

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This guy woke up on August 24th 79AD in his home town. A beautiful town that overlooked the Mediterranean sea. he had thoughts about his life and his children and then a massive volcanic eruption occurred. Him and his town disappeared .

Pompeii - the dead of pompeii

2007-11-18T19:06:00.001+01:00

The dead of Pompeii. From what the tour guides told us the people died from asphyxiation from the wave of volcanic heat. They were then covered with volcanic ash. The ash hardened and the body decomposed. While they were excavating Pompeii a bright guy was finding these body cavities and thought it might be a good idea to pour plaster into them and create a mold of the tragedy of that fateful moment.

Rome Statues

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Some of the many statues in Vatican city

Rome - Vatican

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This is the tomb of Pope Alexander VII, by Gianlorenzo Bernini. What I liked about this work was the skeletal arm of death holding an hourglass to the pope telling him that time was running out. I have worked with a deadline before but not like this.

Rome - Vatican

2007-11-17T18:35:00.000+01:00

Ok, I have to make a confession. I am a sculpture nut. I love art in general , photography , paintings and all other avenues. But, when I stand in front of a statue I really feel it. So when I stood looking at Michelangelo's Pietà it was breathtaking.

Rome - Centurion

2007-11-16T19:01:00.000+01:00

A centurion eating lunch. I never thought I would label a photo as such. There were many people dressed as early Romans. What they did was grab your camera and pose with you and charge you 5 Euro. I have to say that their costumes were very authentic.

Rome - The Colosseo

2007-11-16T14:21:00.001+01:00

The Colosseum in Rome. What an incredible structure that was built by emperor Vespasian between 70 and 72 AD. It used to be covered in white marble. My question was how did it get in such disrepair? It's in the center of a thriving city. You would think they would have kept it in all it's splendor. I got my answer from the tour guide 'Georgio.' The Colosseum did well putting on shows of men fighting men, men fighting beasts, beasts fighting beasts, etc until around 500 AD when Romes economy went sour. Then the squatters moved in . They sold the white marble facade and turned it into a giant apartment building. An earthquake in 1349 caused the outer wall to collapse and the rest is history. I can only imagine it with the white marble and its silk roof . Please click picture for a better view. This was a panoramic shot that I used 5 separate photos to create.

This was our guide Georgio. He kind of had a 'Ben Stein' thing going on. He was really good actually. He taught art history in college until he retired.

Italy!

2007-11-15T18:22:00.001+01:00

My wife and I just returned from a trip to Italy. We visited Rome, Florence, Venice, Naples, Capri and Pompeii. It was a great trip. I took over 800 photographs . Please be patient while I post them.

Street Festival - Palavas Les Flots

2007-09-29T14:35:00.000+02:00

We had some free time so we took a drive to a neighboring town of Palavas Les Flots. As luck would have it we stumbled onto a street festival.

This is George Jettsons house, its right down the road from Spacely Spockets. . . just kidding.

Happenings around town

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This is a concert scheduled in October. The signs are hung everywhere. The mustache and the maniacal eyes give him a Salvidor Dali look.

And, again with the creepy-ass clowns.

The day of the bulls in my village.

2007-09-08T17:00:00.000+02:00

Today they were running the bulls in my village. I'm not sure what the objective was but I think it was to move the bulls from one end of town to other while generally irritating the bull. There was some stunning horsemanship displayed however.
Some glossary : ABRIVADO is taking to bulls to the arena.
BANDIDO is taking the bulls from the arena (back to pasture.)
ENCIERRO is the time in the arena trying to catch the bulls.

And, yes the bulls live to fight another day.

If you look carefully these kids have a hand full of bull. I would be a bit worried that at one point the bull would say to himself "ya-know what? I don't have to take this."

I was about 6 years old and I yanked a cats tail and received a nasty scratch because of it. Lesson learned: Mammals with tails don't like having them yanked by mammals without tails.

That rule has worked well for me.

The horsemen formed a u-shaped formation around the bull. It reminded me of the president and the secret service. They had long sticks with forked prods on the end to steer the bull. I don't think the secret service uses these. . . .although, they were affective. Maybe they should consider it.

johnny hallyday

2007-08-28T22:26:00.000+02:00

I love this guy. He is very popular here and he should be. He is still going strong after a 40 year career and packs the stadiums. There was an argument about where this song originated. Of course it was famous in U.S.A. as 'Black is Black' and therefore considered an American song. I think it's origins come from Spain. It seems 'Los Bravos' wrote and recorded it before anyone. But you know what? Who cares. It's a great song and it transcends well in any language. I will always like Johnny Hallydays version best.

..in a place called. . .. The Twilight Zone.

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These signs are all over town and they're creeping me out. This guy has been visiting me at night with a carving knife.

You lookin at me?

2007-08-23T21:26:00.000+02:00

There are many little lizards (geckos?) around. Many years ago when I was in the service I was stationed on a little island in the South Pacific - Minami-Tori- Shima (look that up.) You quickly learned to let a lizard live in your room in the barracks. They're harmless and they feed on the insects which were not so harmless. After I saw some spiders that had cut biceps like Mr. World, cohabitation with a lizard was an acceptable alternative. Here in France, these little guys are everywhere. Personally, because of my experience on the island ,I like them. My wife does not share my enthusiasm.

Come have lunch with me.

2007-08-10T20:13:00.000+02:00

We went to lunch at work . Every few months we go to this restaurant , one of the guys in our group knows the owner. The owner came out with a Dorado that was 4 feet long, he was holding it by the gills and we all agreed "se bon!" he scurried back into the kitchen to cook our fish.
I did not get a picture of the owner with the dorado because I was caught napping and missed my chance. It is the first image that comes to my mind when I recall that lunch and I have been kicking myself for missing it. Then I thought well I used to sketch a little. Now, I am no more the artist then I am the photographer but, It might convey the image. Armed with nothing but a No2 pencil and a piece of printer paper I offer this drawing.

Now enjoy the pictures I did take.

Out came the shrimp and snails and then the cooked Dorado which he cut in half for each side of the table and a cooked Baracuda. After that came the muscles, shrimp and octopus. Then the fruit with a banana split. The food was excellent.

The hook was an added bonus!

Olives

2007-06-24T14:15:00.001+02:00

I have an olive tree in my yard. Right now there are little baby olives growing. These are about the size of a tic-tac. You can't eat them right off the tree because they're very bitter. They have to be cured. How, you ask? Here's a good website about curing OLIVES.
Personally, I like to mix a solution of vodka and vermouth, then skewer two or three olives onto a small wooden or plastic stick (toothpick works great.) and soak the olives in the solution. Gradually decrease the amount of solution over a short period of time. When solution is gone, the olives are done! :-)

Montpellier , A heck of a town.

2007-06-16T18:22:00.000+02:00

We went up to the center of Montpellier today. I never grow tired of going up there. This is just Europe in it's natural beauty. My wife and I kid each other, we say every now and then it catches up to us that we are in the South of France and we have a moment. Between work and stopping at the market for food our lives have stabilized into a comfortable existence. When we take little weekend trips like this, it reminds us of what a beautiful experience this is .

This statue is called the three graces ( "Trois Graces" ) which I googled and found that they are Beauty, Mirth and Good Cheer . A perfect statue for this places as there are ample examples of all three.

Life is beautiful.

Lifeguard Training

2007-05-13T14:28:00.000+02:00

We took a walk on the beach this overcast morning. Because it was early, the only other people there were the fishermen and a group of lifeguards in training.

The training was similar to what I've seen down in Cape May New Jersey. I guess there's not too many different ways to pull a saturated tourist out of the drink.

Escargot anyone?

2007-05-06T12:32:00.000+02:00

If I were a snail I would add another growth ring to my shell today. 46 years ago I was born all pink and wrinkly. For the most part I have enjoyed the ride so it is a celebration. Thanks Mom for having me.

We mowed the lawn and weed whacked. . .We're such party animals.

A day at the plage (beach)

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The bateaux (boats) on the sea. There's nothing sadder than a landlocked pirate . . .Actually this was a lady out for a stroll on the beach. I liked her outfit. It stands out in front of the blue Mediterranean sea.

This dog was a riot. His supreme goal in life was to get somebody to throw something for him into the water, then he would splash in and get it (or try.) He just patroled up and down the coast canvassing people to do his deed. Many people obliged him. The French are very dog friendly.

Cathedral of Maguelone

2007-05-02T20:03:00.001+02:00

This is a beautiful Cathedral by my house. It is older than the city of Montpellier . It has a pretty interesting past that you can read here - - - > Cathedral of Maguelone

Our Trip To Barcelona

2007-04-14T14:24:00.000+02:00

OUR TRIP TO BARCELONA SPAIN 04/11/07

My wife and I went down to Barcelona for a few days.
Its a four hour drive from Montpellier and a world of difference.
The sleepy Pyrenees met us at the France/Spain border with lazy clouds napping in the valleys.

Barcelona City

2007-04-14T14:07:00.000+02:00

The weather was not great but we made the best of our trip. We toured the city and went to the Joan Miro museum and had some great meals.

Christopher Columbus was there to meet us. When we told him we were from the U.S. he went on and on about about how there is a city named after him in Ohio. We finally had to ditch him in the crowd.

Barcelona Market

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Off of La Rambla street there was a market. We had to explore it since we are fans of the markets back up in France.
This market had everything. By everything, I mean everything. This one meat counter looked like a build your own sheep kit. (assembly required.)
This next photo is pretty graphic. Please view at your own risk and stomach strength.

The living Statues of La Rambla Street.

2007-04-14T13:29:00.000+02:00

We strolled down the famous La Ramblas street. What a blast. All along the street there were these living statues. This guy caught my eye. Aside from his Atlas costume you have to give the guy credit. Would you like to stay frozen in this position for hours?. . . Me neither.However, this guy wins for sheer originality of costume.
Note the skeleton in the side car. I had to drop a eruo in his bucket.This pleased him.

Barcelona Marina Documentary

2007-04-14T13:14:00.000+02:00

We stopped and sat at the marina for a while to look at all the boats. I had the Gilligans Island theme going through my head. . .When I got to the 'three hour tour' part I noticed these women filming from the end of a dock.
Word must have leaked out about our Barcelona trip and these women were here to document our visit. Please allow us our privacy ladies.

Alright, I guess they weren't filming me.

Barcelona Aquarium

2007-04-14T12:56:00.000+02:00

There I was, about ten feet from the surface and life sustaining air. Unfortunately there was a threatening peril between it and me. If I was to make it to the surface I would have to fight. My adversary awaited the confrontation with a confidence that I found distressing. This was going to get ugly. . . . . . . . What?. . .Well, yea, I was inside a glass tunnel. .whats your point?

We saw many things that we later probably had for dinner.

I love Aquariums. I never grew up.

Coming home from Barcelona

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We had a great time despite the weather.

The drive from Barcelona to Montpellier was long and arduous. It pretty much poured the whole way. There was a long traffic jam across the France/Spain border and it seemed like there was about three trucks for every car on the road. Thats a dangerous ratio.

Flamingo

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Flamingo in flight.

Flowers

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It was a beautiful day and I was just itching to take a picture. These are flowers (irises I think) that are growing in our side yard.

Rue De La Monnaie

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This was a little side street in the town of Sommieres. When I walk around these little towns I am always intrigued by the little side streets that steer off in different directions and angles. This photo seemed (to me) to catch the atmosphere of one such street.

Post Note: I am told that in very old towns "rue de la monnaie" is where the ancient roman road entered the village.

(Thanks Peter)

Gorges De L'Herault

2007-03-08T21:41:00.000+01:00

My cousin and his wife came to visit me from the states. We took a ride down this beautiful gorge . I have been here 7 months and still marvel at the ancient structures. Enjoy the next 3 pictures.

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Pic St Loup

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This is Pic St Loup. A mountain that has it all. Great trails, great castles, great views and it's surrounded by vineyards that produces excellent local wine.

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This is the town of Sommieres . A great place to go shopping on Saturdays.

Hello Donkey

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This is a donkey that lives near us. His fenced in area is right along side the road and we pass him every time we go to work or shopping. In the realm of donkeys he strikes me as a handsome example. I noticed him from the beginning and had taken to saying "hello donkey" every time we went by. My wife just ignored me at first but after awhile she started saying it as well. Now we both look for him and worry when he's not out.
We went shopping in the little town of Sommieres last weekend. My Wife and her friend went into a little gift store while I waited outside. When they came out, she said she had bought me a gift. When I got home and unwrapped it it was . .a little statue of a donkey. It now sits on my desk. These are things that memory's are made of.

Glider

2007-02-04T14:03:00.000+01:00

While we were picnicking on Pic Saint Loup we saw a squadron of gliders take flight. Ok, it was one gas engine plane hauling these gliders up and releasing them. There was four of them in flight by the time we left. Think about it. Silently soaring above ancient castles. It doesn't get more obscure than that.

Tale of two castles

2007-02-04T13:42:00.000+01:00

We went on a picnic to Pic Saint Loup which is a mountain not to far from us. The view was stunning. If you look at the top photo you'll see an ancient castle on the very right (hard to see) and another on the very left. So you have two old castles with this valley between them.

This is the castle on the right (I know it's a lousy photo but the sun wasn't cooperating with me.)

And this is the castle on the left. Were they friendly with each other? Did they have some Carl Lewis type guy who would run messages back and forth? Maybe they were enemies. That would be awkward. Maybe there was some romance that suffered the distance of that valley. You could write a hundred different stories about these two castles. I would love to know the history.
Anyway it was a beautiful day and a great picnic.

Trip home (you had to be there.)

2007-01-28T13:21:00.000+01:00

This is a shot from the plane window. Photographs taken from the windows of jumbo jets are kind of like funny stories you tell and nobody laughs. After an awkward silence you say "well, I guess you had to be there." This shot is probably no exception, but I was on my way home on a flight from Montpellier to Paris and the beautiful Alps loomed in the distance. I was euphoric as I snapped photo after photo. This picture does little justice of what I saw out that window but try to imagine. . . . .ok, I guess you had to be there.

Going home

2007-01-05T19:36:00.000+01:00

We are heading back to the States tomorrow for our first trip back in six months. I wanted to leave you with another art shot before I left. I doubt I will be able to post for the next two weeks so I will get back to work when I return.

Sunk Boat

2007-01-02T09:02:00.000+01:00

This boats story is almost told. We found it walking along the shore on New Years day. Like the photograph, I had to stare at it that day to discern its outline. Once it presented itself to me I had to ponder it's history. Was it just a fishing boat used by a local man to pull in fish for his supper and perhaps the market. Was it forgotten after his death. Why was it never moved or disposed of. Perhaps it had a more colorful past. Maybe it shuttled some refugees up from Spain during Franco's repressive regime. I don't have the answers. I guess the beginning of a new year and the ending of the last one has made me reflective. Reflection was about all that was left of this old boat.

A cheval! A cheval! My kingdom for a cheval!

2006-12-30T22:03:00.000+01:00

Why the long face? There are these whites horses along the road in our town. I stopped with my camera and they came right over to me. We had a pleasant chat.

Christmas Eve

2006-12-24T21:07:00.000+01:00

Joyeux Noel everyone. Last night was Christmas eve and we took a walk into town after our traditional fish dinner which my wife did an excellent job on. I brought my camera and tried to do some night shots. This morning (Christmas day) we walked down to church and on the way back we found a market that was open we bought some peppers and clementines and then we found a bakery that was open and we bought a couple of croissants, a baguette and a little buche de noel. It's a traditional Christmas cake shaped like a yule log. It's a beautiful morning here. Merry Christmas everyone.

Palavas Les Flots

2006-12-16T18:45:00.000+01:00

The tower at Palavas. this is the next town (about 8 minutes) from us. We were walking during the day and went for a ride to the top. It revolves one turn per hour (I think.) The lower level is a bar and the upper level is a restaurant . I want to go there for the novelty of it. The locals curl their nose at the cuisine but say the view is worth it. I want to go for dinner some time.

Roofing in France

2006-12-08T08:33:00.000+01:00

There are a lot of carpenters in my family. This one is for them. I have been intrigued with the tile roofs since I got here so when they were roofing on the lot next to my house I had to take advantage. They don't seem to leak and they're very sturdy.

Annoying Habits

2006-12-03T15:20:00.000+01:00

I collect things. I have to bring something back from all my vacations. When I was first married it was little statues. I brought back tiki statues from Hawaii , Inca statues from Mexico etc. etc. I had them on my shelf in my den. My wife is not a big fan of bric-a-brac but she tolerated this character flaw. One day I realized I had too many statues when I was trying get the dust off them ("they're your statues, you dust them.") So I shifted to baseball caps. This too became cumbersome by the sheer volume of it. ("you have so many damn hats there's no place to hang my coat.") When I came to France I realized that before I started down any path I had better think it through. What I came up with is town stickers. Every town we went to has these coat of arms town stickers. They're actually post cards but the coat of arms peals off. This is great. I can scan them and post them before my pictures in my blog and even if we visit 500 towns in two years I can bring them home in a Kleenex box. Problem solved!

The beach

2006-11-26T19:40:00.000+01:00

On the drive home from Mauguio we swung by the beach. The wind was whipping and the skies whispered rain. This was an angry Mediterranean sea, but beautiful none the less.

Mauguio

2006-11-26T19:36:00.000+01:00

We went on a road trip to a little town called Mauguio. All the towns in the South of France are quaint and this town is no exception. This town carries a bull theme because of the big bullfighting arena which is there (go figure). There is a different type of bull fighting in south France that is more conducive to the bull because he gets to stay alive in the end. The matadors who are dressed in white, go running by the bulls and try to grab (hook) rings that are on the bulls horns. Of course this causes the bull some anxiety and he gives chase. The object is to get the rings off the horns and make it to the perimeter of the arena and scale over a wall before you feel the business end of the bull. I spoke to a guy at work that used to do this and he drew out schematics of the arena and the exact angle the bull should be at in order for a successful ring hook-age and horn avoidance.
It was pretty interesting.

Neighbor's House

2006-11-12T12:15:00.000+01:00

It was around 6pm and I was grilling on my back patio. The west sky was beautiful. The steaks were sizzling and the red wine was delicious. I felt like playing with my camera.

PARIS!

2006-10-30T08:26:00.000+01:00

We went to Paris. What a great burg.
You can rent a little sailboat for the pond.
We stumbled onto a street market on the back streets.

The ever present security.
I took this shot so I could say this line "I ate the last mango in Paris." My apologies to Jimmy Buffet.

And the Louvre. .Jam packed with some of the finest art in the world.

Eiffel Tower

2006-10-29T20:03:00.000+01:00

We went to the Eiffel Tower and I went to the top. . had to. ..Once anyway. It was a beautiful day. I took a couple shots of the entire tower but then I thought everyone in the world knows what the Eiffel Tower looks like so I tried to get some different angles and perspectives. I hope you enjoy.
This guy shot me right after I took this picture. He only winged my shoulder and I managed to duck into the crowd. . . . . . . I'm kidding. . . . We actually became friends and he left his machine gun with my wife and we went up the tower together. . . . . .I'm kidding again.
The mighty Arc.
Gustave Eiffel himself (he's the one on the bottom.)

A view from the top. I held my camera out as far as I could.

I'm attracted to shiny objects so I loved these telescopes they had all over the tower.

The Champs-Elysees

2006-10-29T19:35:00.000+01:00

This couple cracked me up. My Wife and I were taking turns photographing each other standing in front of the Arc de Triomphe. I noticed my Wife laughing while taking my picture. When I went to get my camera back from her she told me this couple was hamming it up behind me while she was taking my picture. I figured they must want to be photographed so I turned my camera on them and they started posing. I was laughing, My wife was laughing and even the woman on the bench in the background was laughing. It was a good moment.

We walked down the Champs Elysee from the Arc de Triomphe to the Louvre. What a street!

The trip home

2006-10-29T19:25:00.000+01:00

This is typical of the views you see from the train window. I wish I knew the history of this castle.

This was sitting in the train station in Paris. The trains were clean and fast. Paris to Montpellier in 3 hours.

And then the lights went out.

2006-10-25T20:40:00.000+02:00

Ok, we went to Paris. We had a great time and I took a lot of pictures.
I will post them. But when we came back we had problems. We came home from work on a Friday night, I opened the mailbox and there was a slip in there. It was a from the electric company and it was marked up like a lazy student’s test paper. I had a feeling it was not a good sign. The power was out. This is what happened. Our real estate agent did her job and faxed a contract to EDF (Électricité de France.) They lost the fax, apparently. We have been living off the previous tenant’s electricity. They found this out and cut our power. This pissess EDF off because they realize they just got screwed out of 3 months of power money. Ok , this is Friday. We call a colleague for help and he jumps in to help us. EDF says Wednesday of the next week. We had many people call to fix this but Wednesday was carved in stone and Wednesday it would be. We lasted 5 days with no power.
The EDF guy showed up today (Wednesday). . ..he walked over to the little white box on the curb outside my street and inserted his key and opened the door and threw a switch. Wa-la we had power. Five days we took cold showers and sat around candles at night. We were being punished for their fault.
Good things that happened: Everybody at work tried to help us. They felt bad for us and generally had bad things to say about EDF. . ..it’s a monopoly.
A guy at work took all our freezer food and put it in his freezer.
The same guy insisted we come over for dinner and we did and had great time with him and his wife and two kids.
We got three months of free french electricity.
I made my my first French joke .. . EDF stands for Electricity Doesn’t Freakinwork.
It got a few laughs at work. La vie a belle (life is good.)

Sète Photo Three

2006-10-12T12:04:00.000+02:00

So ends our day trip to Sète. A quaint little French fishing village on the coast of the Mediterranean sea.

Sète Photo Two

2006-10-12T11:26:00.000+02:00

Clash of cultures:
This was a sign outside a restaurant. To the average European it is a colorful advertisement which promises great seafood from a reputable 'fisherman' character.

I thought. . . ."Village People?"

Sète Photo One

2006-10-12T10:41:00.000+02:00

We went to the seaside city of Sète. It's about 40 minutes from us down the coast. It was a nice little fishing village and a fun place to take photo's.

The modern side of Montpellier

2006-10-10T20:39:00.000+02:00

We were up at the center of Montpellier again. The ancient architecture always grabs my attention. France has modern malls as well.

The Circus is coming to town.

2006-10-07T16:22:00.000+02:00

The Circus (or Cirque) is coming to town. They have these signs all over the town. I've been annoying my wife by saying "ZAVATTA!" every time we pass one. It's fun to say, try it.
Za-Vatta! . . .See?

Eating is Beautiful

2006-10-03T20:31:00.000+02:00

This is up at Comedee again. My wife and I were siting across from this dining party. I don't drink coffee after dinner so my inlaws have me drinking Sambuca. They don't have Sambuca in France so I figured it was something that I would have to get "un-used to." At the same time my co-workers were telling me I can't live in the South France without drinking "Pastis." So it was this dinner that I tried pastis for the first time. Guess what? Pastis tastes a lot like Sambuca! It's anise based.

2006-10-03T20:13:00.000+02:00

The street musicians are fantastic up at comedee centre (center of Montpellier). This area is Europe coming at ya!

Soccer ball tree

2006-10-02T08:33:00.000+02:00

It was a busy weekend but I feel guilty for not posting.

I have a tree in my yard that grows soccer balls. Soccer is called football in France so I'll honor that. So I was out doing yard work this weekend and noticed my football tree. The mower makes a heck of a racket when you hit one of these footballs.

The "Carbonnière Tower"

2006-09-20T21:27:00.000+02:00

Off in the distance you see The Tower of Constance. This structure has walls that are 16 feet thick. I would hate to have to run cable vision though that. King Louis IX
(Saint Louis) stayed here when he was in town. It was also used as a prison and many of its 'guests' were French Huguenots. Because I am subject to whimsy on occasion I thought maybe some disgruntled Huguenot prisoner got out of this prison and decided he wanted to put as much distance between himself and this tower as he could. So, he left and founded the town of New Paltz. . Maybe,.. maybe not, don't know.

Aigues-Mortes, the entrance.

2006-09-13T22:39:00.000+02:00

This is one of the entrances. It was odd because the side we were on was quiet and open and when you went through the door you were in the center of a thriving village. If you click on the picture and enlarge it you can see the village inside.

Our trip to Aigues-Mortes, the walled city.

2006-09-12T07:23:00.000+02:00

We took a trip to the walled city of Aigues-Mortes. Pronounced Egga-Mort. It's huge walled city about a half an hour from us.

Buda Castle

2006-09-08T20:59:00.000+02:00

My wife went to Budapest, Hungary on a business trip for a day. Now, that's a sentence I never thought I would say. She was very impressed with the city and gave it the thumbs up for a future weekend trip. She surprised me and wanted to take pictures on her trip . I tried to offer her camera's of quality, but she wanted small, small, and smaller . I came up with this crappy digital about the size of very fat credit card. She was happy with it. She came home with this picture which I thought was great. She a resourceful and crafty woman and that's only 2 reasons why I love her.

Budapest, I come to find out is actually two cities. Buda and Pest with the Danube flowing between them. My wife said it was very clean and the shopping looked plentiful. Unfortunately, her business meeting and flight schedule prevented her from doing much shopping. Hence, the green light for us to go back.

It's Saturday, time for a walk.

2006-09-02T17:39:00.000+02:00

We try and walk every day we can. My wife's under the impression that it is somehow good for your health. I would dispute this but she has the worlds doctors and health professionals on her side. Me being out numbered, I walk. Saturday is a great walking day in our village. This picture and the following are the sights of one such Saturday. I hope you enjoy it.

Tower again

2006-09-02T17:37:00.000+02:00

This Church tower is the tallest structure in our village. You saw it in the previous post as well as this one. It is difficult to take a landscape shot without including this majestic tower. It begs to be photographed.

A Horse!

2006-09-02T17:35:00.000+02:00

South France is horse country. They're all over the place. The climate and terrain is similar to our American west. Its dry and plenty of grasslands to graze in. I don't know much about horses but they all seem generally happy and well adjusted here.