Correspondances de Manosque 2010

Last week end was that time of year again when we go down to Manosque for a literary festival and hang out with friends. While Anne-Celine, Maxence, Jerome and Veronique are getting interviewed on their impression of the festival, Sam is chatting with Arnaud Catherine few tables further down.

Manosque 2010.

I had to post this picture of A.C. since I got the same one last year. The only difference... a bigger belly!

Manosque 2009.

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.

Manosque. Les correspondances...

We went to Manosque two week ends ago for a festival where contemporary literature, through public readings, takes to the streets. With stages in the little town, we could listen to writers talk about their books.

(Anne Wiazemsky reading above, grand daugther of Francois Mauriac).

We also listened to Danny Laferrière who's not only a writer but a great speaker. I really enjoyed listening to him and Anne Celine who had already heard him speak in Quebec got his book autographed.

And this is where we could take the time to write a postcard. They had little special places like the three above throughout the town for people to sit and write. That weekend we could send as many postcards and letters as we wanted for free. Lovely concept! (next time let's not forget the address book).

And I just had to post this one to remember Clarika who did a concert the night before. Sam and I enjoyed her show, mixing readings with songs. Great style! (The same morning, Daphne came and drunk her coffee at the table next to ours and had a casual chat with Sam. Too bad she was sick and leaving the festival early).

Manosque. Un jardin en ville.

Sam left Marseille definitely last Friday and I drove down from Switzerland to meet him in Manosque (Haute Provence). That's where we spent the week end (planned since the beginning of the year...) with Anne-Céline and Maxence. We stayed in a very charming B&B called "a garden in town", owned by Francette (former english teacher) with her husband and their big lazy cat. We found a dining room with a library full of english books. Perfect for Anne-Céline!

I would recommend this place. It's a great find and I know that we'll be back!

Here are some pics of the B&B and the website is here. I'll post more about our week end in Manosque later.

Door. Mirmande.

We're just coming back from a lovely week end in La Drôme. Beautiful area. Sam's sister lives in Crest with her family. We stayed with them and discovered small medieval villages. This picture is taken in Mirmande with Charles. And I added two pictures below stolen on the internet to give you a better idea of Mirmande.

And just in case you want to know where La Drôme is in France.

Cherry picking in Vic Sainte Anastasie

This past week end, we stayed with Sam's friend in Vic Sainte Anastasie. It was just pure pleasure to walk around these narrow streets and pick some cherries for the train ride back to Marseille.

Click on the picture and you'll feel like you're walking with us!

Arles. Breakfast at La place du Forum.

Café Terrace at Night. 1888

This week end, we took the train from Marseilles and went to Arles. 

Arles, once an important Roman city, was where Vincent Van Gogh lived and worked for more than a year from February 1888, producing more than 200 paintings and drawings. 

We got there early and enjoyed la Place du Forum without the tourists. But just like them, I had to have a picture of Van Gogh's café...

Still on the same place, the Grand-Hôtel Nord-Pinus with a  bohemian past during the fifties, when bullfighters and artists such as Picasso and Ernest Hemingway were entertained by its charismatic owners, a cabaret dancer and a tightrope-walking clown.

Doors. Arles.

Well... I hadn't posted any doors for a while.

Arles. Bull fighting.

"...Over 3000 years of history reside upon this rocky rise just north of the Mediterranean Sea on the Rhône River. Part of ancient Liguria, the site later became a city, Arlate, named by the Celts as the village amidst the marshes. After the Celts came the Greeks who made good use of this easily accessed inland port. The Greeks were displaced by the Romans and with Caesar's defeat of the Phoenicians at Massalia (Marseille) with the help of nearly 20 battle ships built by the Arlesians, Arles became the Roman capitol of Provincia Romana..."

"...Bull fighting is a major spectators sport in Arles, France and the first bull fighting event took place in this arena in 1853.

Arles, France has a school for young students who want to learn the basic techniques of bull fighting and about thirty students attend each year. If youngsters want to learn the basics of the Camargue bull games, Arles also has a school for them.

Arles, France has three major bull fighting events each year that attracts approximately 500,000 visitors to France and the arenas are completely full for each event..."

Cézanne's workshop in Aix-en-Provence.

" Cezanne's workshop offered to the University of Aix-en-Provence by the american admirers of the painter "

So I'm back in France. Took the plane last Thursday, landed in Marseille on Friday. Good trip. And I felt awake enough to spend last Saturday in Aix en Provence, half hour by bus from Marseille. Aix is Cézanne's town, french impressionist painter. We chose to stop by Cezanne's studio. A place that many americans come and visit when they stop in Aix. 

"... it is here that we feel the presence of the painter with the greatest intensity. He created his shelter there, a place of work and contemplation, from where on sunny days, he painted "le motif". On rainy days or really cold days, Cezanne stayed inside the workshop with familiar objects which became the models of his still life paintings : some pottery, bottles, vases, paper flowers or fabrics, fruits, mainly apples, as well as a some skulls. Lots of works, kept in renowned museums, such as "Grandes Baigneuses", were painted in this studio of light and silence."

Christmas shopping in Aix en Provence.

With a friend last Thursday, it took us 30 minutes by bus to get to Aix en Provence and we spent the afternoon shopping. It was nice to get away from Marseille to go check out different boutiques. 

La Cathédrale. Montpellier

A picture of the Cathédrale Saint Pierre (1536) that we took when we went a week ago visited friends in Montpellier. 

Les Baux-de-Provence

In the previous post, I was telling you about our wet outing to the Maussane et Les Baux-de-Provence. We didn't take any pictures of Les Baux and we found the village completely taken over by tourist shops. 

It is one of the most visited villages in Provence. It might be the second most visited village in France after Mont Saint Michel. The permanent population of the village is only 458 whereas the average number of visitors per year is more than 1.5 million. The village is dominated by a huge citadel which we didn't get to visit. We had to run away, chased by the storm. Here again I stole the picture from the web to give you an idea. 

Hiden in the village, we did find an authentic little print shop. Sam took a pic of the interior. This shop was Louis Jou's, of Catalan origin, he worked with Apolliniaire, Picasso and Cocteau. He bought and restored a Renaissance hotel in Les Baux, where he settled in 1939. We were impressed by the old equipment of typography and lithography.