Time... for spring.

I'm ready for spring! We finally switch to spring time this week end.

I sent a quick email to a couple of friends in the US to let them know:

- "we're changing our clocks this week end".

And I got the following answer from V.:

- "what kind of new clocks are you getting or do you guys just swap with the neighbors?"

Still laughing about it.

Val's Birthday - Costume party

Good times with some lovely air hostesses this week end at Val's birthday party.

More on Christophe Perillat... and the cows of the elementary school

I posted a message on Nordic Skiing not long ago. Sam interviewed that day the winner of the 50 mile ski race (Transjurassienne): Christophe Perillat. Here are more pics that Sam took right after the interview.

The winner finishes with a bell around his nake: that's the tradition.

The press room was in the elemetary school of the village close to the finish line. (Alex Rousselet is on the pic above).

I really like the cows on the wall behind the athletes! They were drawn by the children after a cow competition that took place in the area. The drawings are also inspired by a drawing from a (famous for his cows) local artist: Marcel Mille (see below).

Zoom on the mountains from the kitchen window...

Taken March 1st.

Swiss Tags (Flon/Lausanne)

Special swiss tags found downtown Lausanne on the way back from watching Une Education (movie that I would not recommend)... I can't help compare with the tags we took from Marseille (oct 08).

I never realized before I moved here how much the swiss are major fans of traditional papercutting art. "...Paper Cutting in Switzerland traces back to around 1800. Some of the most popular artists in Switzerland were- blacksmith Johann Jakob Hauswirth (1809-1871), Louis Sagy (a postman), Christian Schwizgebel (1914-1993). Schwizgebel mostly worked on animal life. His prized ornamental cuttings (see picture above) are considered true masterpieces. These folk artists laid the foundation and are still models for today’s artists..."

Lodeve. Bioules

Still during our week end in the South. We went to Lodeve (an hour from Montpellier) to see an exhibition from Vincent Bioules. It was dedicated to landscapes. He is the main instigator, with Claude Viallat, of a french movement in the 60's, called "supports/surface". He painted mostly abstracts until the late sixties with Claude Viallat. In the mid seventies, he went back to figurative painting. At 70 years old, he's now considered the best french landscape artist. His principal source of inspiration are the Nabism (like Edouard Vuillard) as well as Matisse.

Funny anecdote:

As we were entering an art gallery in Montpellier to see a Stephane Bordarier's exhibition, Vincent Bioules was sitting in the back corner of the gallery. Sam chatted with him about Hodler (Swiss painter) and we told him we were going to Lodeve the next day to see his paintings... Great coincidence!

Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert

A couple of week ends ago we went down South. Montpellier, Nimes, Lodeve.

Since there is no tourists right now, we took advantage of it and stopped by Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert. I really enjoyed the Cloister.

The village is visited mainly due to the fact that it's on St Jame's way...

one of the most important christian pilgrimages during medieval times.