Hi Again From Aix-en Provence:
A little of the familiar and a little of the new. That’s what is in store here.
It’s June 10th and it was 92 degrees at 11 this morning and up to 97 degrees at 3:00 pm. Marlene is not happy with the heat. I’m very happy and sticking with my motto – “If you complain about cold, rain and snow, then you can’t complain about the heat”. It’s one or the other. The heat is the Arizona dry heat, so as I explained to Marlene in an effort to make her realize it wasn’t all that bad, you’re at least not sweating all of the time.
We keep trying to bend French culture to suit our American ways. It just doesn’t work. About 2 pm today Marz wanted to go out and grab lunch. Difficult for us in the first place, as we aren’t really thinking a full meal, which is what they are serving, if they are serving. Yet, we’re not interested in the French baguette sandwich with little or nothing on it, which is purchased on the run, usually not to sit down and eat. We were looking to sit down and have something light. We went to a nearby area and arrived at 2:15 pm. The Chinese restaurant waved us off ---- they had the air conditioning on very low --- anything to save a buck. So, we went across the street to a restaurant and found that they were closed at 2:25 pm. And, when they say they’re closed, there is no stretching the rules. And, that restaurant had no air conditioning on --- it was a sweat box. Again, we were struck by the reality that unless we went to downtown Aix-en Provence where there are tourists and a few restaurants open, there is no getting food at a restaurant from 2:30 to 7:30. So, yes, off to McDonalds we went. Nice air conditioning and the usual food. Chilis? Applebees? Fridays? Outback Steakhouse? We’re in the mood for wings, a tuna fish sandwich, a meat ball sandwich, Mexican food of any sort and on and on.
Last Friday we dropped the kids at the bus stop and got an early start to go to the beach village of Cassis, which is about 40 minutes from the house. It had been awhile since we were there. The experience was a stop to sit out near the boats and have breakfast (bread with butter and jam and juice and coffee), a wander through the Friday market and a lunch (for me a plate of pasta and a beer ---- there’s nothing light on the lunch menu and I’m not French enough yet to have a $20 salad for lunch). We ran into a little park that had a pond. I’m the American looking guy standing next to the pond. There’s a photo of the pond, which is much more appealing in person that in the photo. And, a quick photo of the Cassis harbor.
On Sunday, when the heat hit, Marz wanted to go to an antique flea-type market in Carpentras. Carpentras is about one hour away and a city of 30,000. It doesn’t make the tourist books, but had the usual French charm that is still charming to us. We think that towns that are not really noteworthy are really great looking and interesting. Admittedly, these French towns start to look alike after awhile. The antique market had small items, ranging from junk to some interesting items. The market was setup in a parking lot, which had an impressive WW I memorial at the end of the parking lot (see photo). We decided we would have lunch. Again, we didn’t want to grab a baguette sandwich on the run, so we went to Chez Serge, which we heard was a good restaurant. You see a photo of the outside of the restaurant and it was totally charming. The lunch menu was small --- as in smaller or more limited than usual. At least it was simple --- the price was 17 euros or about $23.00. You had a choice of carrot soup or fromage (cheese) as a starter, then either fish or filet of pork for the entre and either chocolate or frommage blanc (white cheese) for dessert. That was it for your lunch choice. Well, I would have been delighted with a bowl of chicken noodle soup (no such thing in France), but at it we went. We both chose cheese to start and it was a warm cheese in a light pastry on a big plate with a salad. Then, we both elected the filet of pork, which we took a photo of and it was good. Then, I had the chocolate desert (see the photo), which was milk chocolate mousse inside the chocolate balls. Marlene made the better choice (see the photo) and had the frommage blanc, which was a soft cheese, somewhat like yogurt but better, with a strawberry sauce and glazed almonds in the middle. The food was actually great, but it was a little more than we wanted to be involved in for lunch, but that’s the way it goes in France.
The Wilsons
