Lors de la rencontre du 21 novembre dernier, Vincent Fauvel, laïc de l’Assomption nous a présenté le travail réalisé autour d’une session internationale qui s’est tenue à Nîmes  l’été dernier. Une session essayant de mieux discerner quel est ce “chemin d’alliance” que religieux et laïcs expérimentent déjà dans de nombreux pays à travers le monde.

Le documentaire réalisé par KTO à cette occasion est visible ici.

N’hésitez pas à nous laisser vos commentaires

DL

Firstly, thanks to Peter from the Languedoc Page for reminding me that I had to get off my butt and check this thing out. I’d been sort of meaning to ride this 20-km long cycling path for over a year, but since it starts over 35km from home I guess I just never had the juice to go out and do it. But thanks to 19 degree weather and a busted PC that kept me inside all weekend (yes, it’s a Windows…need you ask?), I had lots of aggression to get out of my system. So, after lunch today I packed up a pannier and took off.

The ride to Sommieres took in mostly well-rolled terrain, which you can find here and here, but starting from there until Nimes it was all fresh. This shot was taken from the still-functioning Roman bridge you can see the first link above.

Here is the beginning of the voie verte, or greenway, that the department of Gard has built, right next to the hotel we stayed at a year ago, incidentally. Well, it’s not that incidental, actually. You see, this cycling path is built where a railway used to be (that hotel is a converted train station) – an eminently excellent idea that has been implemented in many countries.

The path was surprisingly well populated, especially near Sommieres. This pictures handily shows the multi-purpose nature of these things, with bladers, runners and the (unseen in this photo but there) ever-unpredictable kids on bikes (what prevents kids from travelling in a straight line anyhow?).

A nice economic bonus to building cycling paths over train lines is that you don’t need to worry about drilling through rock or making bridges and tunnels…it’s already been done for you!

Next, a couple of random pictures of the Nimeois countryside.

Another nice thing about this voie verte (and other former railway lines I suppose) is that it winds through some villages along its way. Here are some locals in Cavisson playing petanque, a game somewhere between shuffleboard and curling, and about as exciting to watch.

Here’s the map, as usual. The cycling path is between Sommieres and Caveirac. I’ll include it in my cycling paths entry as well.

View Larger Map

are viv + i?
“bonjour mon ami…” from southern france!

 using “rick steves’ provence & the french riviera guidebook“ (a.k.a. our “other” bible in southern france), vivien outlined a tour de southern france via our avis rental car: an opel. definitely a different experience for me… cause when i vacation, i tend to stay in one hotel/location for the duration of the stay and take a taxi. the long, windy and scenic roads from town to town were pretty fun to drive.

bonjour from hotel negresco in nice! le'g+v...

not knowing what to expect for the city driving/parking conditions, it was crazy and stressful! the streets were SO narrow and often-times one-way and it was shared by cars, bicyclists, scooters, cats and dogs all at the same time! in most intersections, they had these roundabouts that were a bit confusing as well… and just required you to pretty much close your eye and jump into the circle of death and drive around until you find the right road to get off to! you just had to pay attention to the many arrowed signs and pray you chose the right one!

when in doubt... always head toward "centre ville"...

total distance driven: 1234km = 766.772 miles
total spent on diesel: €106 euros = $158.73 USD
total number of swear words dropped: 11 “mutha F-bombs” :|

thank the Lord that there were so many things to ease my driving stress… paellas, poissons and pâtisseries, oh my! 

the places:

- paris

then a short flight to provence (southeastern region in france on the mediterranean, adjacent to italy):
- marseille
- aix en provence:  a happening place where one can enjoy people watching and modern shopping all while checking out some great museums dedicated to van gogh + cezanne.

fountain de la rotunde in the city center...

night time stroll down aix en provence's city center...

- arles:  van gogh called this place home for some time. here is where we also experienced “le mistral” for the first time. passing through the valleys of the rhone and durance rivers, the wind that blew through the streets and the open courtyards were UNREAL! there were times when i opened our rental car doors and really believed the door would rip off from the sheer strength of the mistral!
- st. remy:  great cafés and even greater chocolates! (and van gogh committed himself to an insane asylum in this city).
- les baux

home of "château des baux"... a fortified castle built in the 10th century. one of the most beautiful historic castle/site in france!

- avignon:  we stayed inside the walls of this once fortified city. it is well known for its “palais des papes” (palace of the popes), where several popes and antipopes lived from the early 14th to early 15th centuries and “pont-saint bénézet” (bridge of st. bénézet).

a historical palace (which became the residence of the popes) in avignon, it's one of the largest and most important medieval gothic buildings in europe.

- orange:  seeing the theatre was seriously humbling. since we went kinda late in the tourist season, it was pretty much empty when we got there. and to enter this incredible structure… and taking the site all in gave me goosebumps + chills. to imagine what it must’ve been like in the past when it was filled to capacity and full of energy! the funniest part, was this lone cat that i had to take a picture of… so patiently sitting/waiting in seat 65 for some show to begin. hey andy, can this pic be submitted to http://icanhascheezburger.com/?

théâtre antique d'orange (“ancient theatre of orange”) an ancient roman theatre...

this cat (assigned seat 65) was patiently awaiting for the start of the show...

- vaison la romaine
- isla sur la sorgue
- rousillion
- pont du gard (one of the many landmarks in the provence region that is on unesco’s world heritage list).  and man… when you see this structure it’s truly awe-inspiring. so beautiful, so rich in historic worth… and still standing after all these years! makes me realize how young any of the structures we might have in the u.s.

pont du gard... if it was warmer we would have jumped from the bridge and swam!

- nîmes

the temple of diane...

the pg-version of the matador in front on the arènes de nîmes (thanks to viv + rick steves' guidebook!)

the maison carrée, currently under renovation...

BONUS PIC:

arènes de nîmes' lone matador under the spotlight...

- uzes
- cassis:  a small, quaint seaside port city… it’s referred to as “the poor man’s st. tropez“. this place was definitely my fav! if i go back, i’d stay here longer for sure. the vibe in this place was so nice and relaxed! and after being in the larger cities of aix en provence, arles and avignon, coming here was a great change of pace. the restaurants and shops near the water and the ocean view were breath-taking. cassis is also known for their  magnificent ”calanques” (see picture below). when we return to southern france in the future, we hope to spend more time here so we can charter a boat to the callanque en vau and spend the day on the beach (pictured below viv) and swim the crystal clear waters! t+t, bring your snorkel, mask + fins and join us… oui oui!

everyone in france rode bikes!

view of the boat moor from a local cassis cafe...

waterfront view of cassis

after an aftenoon coffee + gelato, a stroll to the beachfront does a soul good!

i scream, you scream, we all scream for gelato!

after hiking 1.5 hours we arrived to callanque en vau. your own private beach!

and then off to côte d’azur (a.k.a. “the french riviera“):
- cannes
- monaco:  i have NEVER seen so many maseratis, bentleys, rolls royces, and aston martins in my life. i thought viv + i would get shot for driving our rental opel through here.

the casino monte carlo... where true ballaz go to play! there's an admission fee just to get in and gamble!

- eze village
- nice: definitely a tourist mecca. they had an incredible open market on most mornings which looked like pike place market times 10. and the beachfront here was off the chart. seeing the ocean’s color at sunset almost looked fake. viv + i visited the marc chagall biblical museum (prior to going, i had never heard of this artist and after visiting, i am now a HUGE fan of his work) and saw his 12 paintings depicting various stories from genesis + exodus of the old testament (he also has 5 paintings inspired by song of songs). all i could do was just stand speechless and be mesmerized as i looked at each of the paintings. you could literally spend hours looking at each drawing. so much was conveyed through these paintings (the user of shapes and amazing colors)… a reminder to keep being creative and explore how art and faith intersects in my life.

upon entrance of the marc chagall biblical museum... this is your initial view!

viv mesmerized by the "noah and the rainbow" painting by chagall...

sunset in nice = SO nice!

- villafranche

au revoir (for now)…

for more reading:
- where in the world… (part 2)
- where in the world… (part 1)

It strikes me suddenly that I have not given you any news of your favourite Ligue 2 side and mine, the Norman conquerors themselves, Stade Malherbe de Caen, for over a month!

So let’s put that right, right now.

14ème journée (Friday 6 November 2009)

SM Caen                     0-0                   Tours FC 

13ème journée (Friday 30 October 2009) 

Stade Brestois             2-0                   SM Caen

12ème journée (Tuesday 27 October 2009)

SM Caen                     4-2                   Vannes OC 

11ème journée (Friday 23 October 2009)

 SM Caen                     2-1                   Angers SCO 

10ème journée (Friday 16 October 2009) 

Clermont Foot             1-3                   SM Caen

Only one defeat all season to date – and that to the redoubtable salty sea-dogs of Brest! I couldn’t be prouder if I had actually heard of these teams.

Next match isn’t till next Friday when we take on a town that actually exists, namely Nîmes. This time, I’ll keep you posted. 

Parole de Caennais.

Comment ne pas commencer ce tout nouveau blog sans parler de METALLICA, groupe que j’adore depuis 2003. Pour information, non je ne suis pas quelqu’un de “pinturluré” de noir, qui aime satan et s’amuse dans les cimetières… on est pas dans Twilight !!!

Ceci étant dit, juste ce petit billet pour vous annoncer la sortie du dvd “Français pour une nuit” (blu-ray, dvd, coffret collector) vers la fin du mois (23 novembre il me semble) qui est le dvd du live de METALLICA à Nimes en 2009…

Niveau actualité, on devrait retrouver les 4 horsemen vers le printemps/été prochain dans notre beau pays avec, à ce qu’il parait, une tournée en province (Marseille? Lyon? Metz? Bordeaux? Lille? Une tournée des Zéniths?)

Autre Actu de ce côté, voici une interview de notre bon vieux Lars Ulrich à cette adresse : http://www.cyberpresse.ca/le-soleil/arts-et-spectacles/sur-scene/200911/01/01-917362-lars-ulrich-batteur-de-metallica-cameras-concert-et-colisee.php

A bientôt,

Zbak

]]> http://futurrouge.wordpress.com/2009/11/02/regularisation-des-afghans-de-nimes/ Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:24:54 +0000 Futur Rouge http://futurrouge.wordpress.com/2009/11/02/regularisation-des-afghans-de-nimes/

Au titre de la réparation nous demandons la régularisation

pour les 19 afghans de Nîmes!

Cliquez sur l’image pour voir la video

Dix-neuf demandeurs d’asile afghans, « évacués » de la “jungle” de Calais le 22 septembre dernier ont été placés en centre de rétention à Nîmes puis libérés par le juge des libertés et de la détention le 28 septembre à minuit.

Depuis, avec l’aide d’associations et de citoyens, ils multiplient les démarches pour pouvoir déposer leur demande d’asile.

Renvoyés de la préfecture du Gard à celle de l’Hérault, après être passés par l’Office français de l’immigration et de l’intégration (OFII), ils attendent toujours de pouvoir accéder à une procédure d’asile normale .La préfecture de l’Hérault exprime son acharnement en voulant les placer délibrement dans une procédure expéditive dans laquelle ces afghans ne pourront pas faire valoir leurs droits.

Le ministre de l’Immigration, Eric Besson a été aussi sollicité, par diverses associations, en vain…

Nous signataires de la présente pétition, dénonçons vivement le non-respect du droit d’asile et des droits fondamentaux de ces migrants.

Empêcher ces Afghans de demander l’asile dans des conditions normales :

- C’est, les priver des conditions d’accueil décentes qui devraient leur être garanties et les mettre en situation d’échec.

- C’est, les renvoyer vers les passeurs de la « jungle »,

- C’est, préparer leur expulsion vers un pays en guerre et en pleine insécurité.

Nous signataires de la présente pétition demandons, en réparation des nombreux manquements aux droits de la part de l’Etat, la régularisation inconditionnelle des 19 Afghans de Nîmes afin qu’ils puissent bénéficier de l’asile en France.

Signez la pétition ICI : http://placeauxdroits.net/petition2/index.php?petition=27  

Sur le chemin du retour je suis à Nîmes. Ballade au centre ville, les arênes et le… Centre commercial…

El 23 de Noviembre se estrena el nuevo DVD grabado el 07 de Julio en Nimes Francia dentro del World Magnetic Tour que esta recorriendo el mundo actualmente, como ya habiamos anticipado,aquí os dejo la portada del DVD y el contenido del mismo en su version especial que trae varias cosas aparte del DVD.

Pour l’édition 2010, l’équipe de “Tu Tires Ou Tu scratches?” souhaite développer des partenariats avec les acteurs de la ville, n’hésitez pas à nous contacter:

3DFM

Lace, ribbon, and other kinds of trimming are really quite enchanting.

I have heard it said around the villiage that “all fibers majors love lace,” which is maybe true, but we all deal with love in a different way. Kara, Caitlin, & Lexi, buy up these trims at every opportunity, while I (and perhaps Cali & Whitney are like this as well) tend to just admire the beauty and intracacy of the lace, and then move on. I often get overwhelmed with trimmings (unless I have a plan of what I will use them for) despite my love for them.

So in Nîmes, we went to this beautiful trim shop. Before going, I kept hearing all this talk about this amazing place with beautiful trim, and was anxious to see it.

After going to the Colosseum ,the Contemporary Arts Museum, and watched that 3D movie at the Maison Carreé, we rushed over to the trim shop and devistatingly, it was CLOSED for lunch and would reopen at 2! (And we had to be back at the bus by 2.30.)

So Caitlin, Megan and I all went out to Lunch and killed time for 2 hours, and then at 2pm, the doors were open, and we may have been the first ones in the door. It was a really tiny shop where one wall was covered with hundreds and hundreds of buttons, and the other wall had ribbons, lace, binding, elastic, and thread galore. It was beautiful. It quickly filled up with people so it didn’t help my ability to make decisions by being stressed and unable to move, so I settled with buying quilting thread and deux boutons. The owners of the shop were really sweet helpful people, and donated a bag of scraps/remnants to the fibers girls. It was a lovely shop. I wish we had had more time.

As I said in  a previous post (Tour of Nîmes), a performance by New Yorker Jonah Bokaer brought me to the Musée Carré d’Art, the contemporary art museum in Nîmes, for the debut of its current major exhibit, “Projections.” There were many great things to see, not the least of which being the crowd of maybe 250 people who emerged from the nearly deserted town I’d been walking through all day. 

The brochure mentions various meeting points of the dozenish artists presented, including manipulations of time and references to science fiction. What it doesn’t mention is greenery which was an equally present trope. A Chris Cornish video piece, Ballard, is composed of over exposed shots of tropical plants in a greenhouse. Shown on a CRT monitor at chest level, the video is small, with wonderfully oppressive framing by nostalgia and reference to video technology; I sort of feel like it doesn’t want to be there. David Arsham’s drawing series Night Light presents computer generated architectural forms in the midst of overgrown wilderness. The forms are like I-beams or parts of playgrounds. To me they are more playful than “le cataclysme” referred to in the literature – some of the more tropical pieces look like Mayan ruins, if the Mayans had used Erector Sets. Lorent Grasso presents an installation in the largest gallery of various media. A video projection on one side of the room seems to have been captured by a camera mounted on the helmet of a bicyclist. The camera zooms across an open pathway in a dense deciduous forest, somewhere sort of Appalachiany, and intermittently runs into clouds of gnats that zoom around the lens in all directions. The recurring sound of the insects was delicious. This video was paired with one on the opposite wall of a giant levitating moon rock and complemented by large scale enlargements of lithographs depicting antiquated visions of future technology. I found it all very cute, not the kind of cute that one would say in contempt but a nice kind of cute. It was nice that these things were together in such a simple way, it was all very sort of pat which was funny considering that everything individually was so huge and epic. 

The real treat of the evening was Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle’s video Oppenheimer. An actor portraying J. Robert Oppenheimer stands in a shallow pool of water in the middle of – again – a greenhouse full of opulent tropical greenery. The camera work is mostly still shots peppered with some slow pans – this helps the air feel very moist, the whole thing feel very slow and weighted, very hot. Oppie wears a slight half-smile in one shot, looks down at his feet in another. His expression is often quite neutral but he does look at the camera – he has beautiful eyes. Again, the literature was a bit dark in tone for my tastes. There is some reference to this scene as a fantasy of Oppenheimer’s purgatory, and though there is the question of why he is waiting there that brings up thoughts of some dysfunction I mostly find the idea of Oppenheimer with plants quietly funny and beautiful. 

For dessert, the premiere of Jonah Bokaer’s new dance piece Replica. Set against a glowing white styrofoam wall designed by David Arsham and the glowing white Maison Carré in the background, the piece was quite well situated. I first became familiar with an earlier incarnation while watching backstage during a Family Matters performance at Dance Theater Workshop, in which I was performing with David Parker and the Bang Group. It’s nice to see the longer work, which has this sort of creamy smooth approach to time. It’s nice to see the sculpture that emerges as the wall is dismantled by Arsham, and it’s nice to see the dance which looks like sculpture. Jonah of course performed his work beautifully as did Judith Sanchez-Ruiz, whom I’ve always loved watching. She has something of a deer-like quality, not so much in the leapy way that people usually mean when they call a dancer deer-like but in the way she regards the space and holds her head. As many people know I love deer so this is really a treat for me. The duo’s well-considered clarity showed quite beautifully the complex lines of energy in the body vocabulary, particularly in a solo for Judith with a great many lateral torso shifts – she looked like blown glass. Electronic music provided by Arp, lighting design by Bokaer.

Replica will premiere in New York at the New Museum in December. You can get more information about this show and a lot of other things at Jonah Bokaer.

♦

Féroces infirmes retour des pays chauds

Delphine Gigoux-Martin

(en photo ci-contre)

♦

Finissage ‘boissons-chaudes’ : le samedi 24 octobre 2009  de 17 à 19h

Exposition à ne pas rater.

♦

LISTE DES PIÈCES EXPOSÉES AU PPCM

1 – « j’ai vu des barreaux je m’y suis heurté »

Installation vidéo, 3 projections de dessins animés, gouache noire.

j’ai vu des barreaux
je m’y suis heurté
c’était l’esprit pur

j’ai vu des poireaux
je les ai mangés
c’était la nature

(extrait du poème « le dilemme » de Jean Tardieu)

♦

2-« féroces infirmes retour des pays chauds »

Installation vidéo, 1 projection de dessins animés, vitres, souris blanches naturalisées.

« L’idéal se perd, comment concevoir aujourd’hui comme aux temps héroïques, une révolte spontanée jusque dans la cour des abattoirs ? »

(Raymond Cousse « Stratégie pour 2 jambons»)

On entre et on déambule dans un espace fermé : sur les murs des dessins animés de singes (des chimpanzés) glissent sur des traits de peinture noire. Trois projections et de fait trois dessins animés, des mouvements en boucle, une technique de l’essentiel, pas de coquetterie ni de fioritures inutiles : les projections s’étirent sur les murs, se souciant des portes et des piliers de l’endroit comme d’une guigne, « c’était l’esprit pur » dit Tardieu, c’est de la lumière et quelques traits de crayon, spectaculaire et sans volume… L’ombre de nos corps efface et s’ajoute à ces projections en cage. Les singes semblent indifférents à notre présence, la séquence vidéo rend leurs gestes un peu psychotiques : à travers ces rideaux de lianes…qui est à l’intérieur ? Qui observe ?

♦

Dans la seconde installation, Féroces infirmes…, notre corps de spectateur reste aux frontières de l’installation, on ne s’approche que par curiosité, quand nos yeux habitués à cette douce pénombre remarquent au fond quelques taches blanches. De gauche à droite, et dans une discipline de plus en plus affirmée, des petites souris se constituent en formation de vol, et littéralement traversent le mur. Leurs corps aplatis et ombres immobiles prennent place dans les dessins animés : un avion de chasse et un bombardier de la seconde guerre mondiale.

Nous observons la scène comme d’un cockpit d’avion, illusion créée par la fragmentation de la lumière projetée. L’écran s’étirant sur plusieurs parois murales, le tout prend la forme trapézoïdale d’une aile d’avion ou de cigogne.

Delphine Gigoux-Martin est représentée par la galerie Métropolis.

Another edition of Did you know…The sometimes brutal, sometimes trivial, always interesting facts about the lovely city of Paris from @Parishideaways:

Did you know…the motto of the French republic is ‘liberté, égalité, fraternité’ meaning “liberty, equality, brotherhood.”

Did you know…though 20,000 light bulbs light the Eiffel Tower, the nickname ‘City of Lights’ comes from the intellectuals in 19th Century.

Did you know…There is no Chanel 1-4: Chanel 5 was coined because the perfume was launched in 1921 on the fifth day of the fifth month.

Did you know…the word denim derived from “Serge de Nimes”, fabric from Nîmes, southern France.

Did you know…the Guillotine executed 40,000 during the Revolution incl King Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette – abolished in 1981.

Did you know…Paris comes from the Parisii tribe comes from the Celtic Gallic word parisio meaning “the working people” or “the craftsmen.”

Au cours du mois de juin, une maison occupée proche du Vigan (30) se fait perquisitionner. Certains de ses habitants sont soupçonnés de vol à la roulotte. En fait, après avoir travaillé, ces derniers rencontrèrent des difficultés afin de récupérer leur salaire. Ils décidèrent d’alerter les salariés travaillant encore pour le même patron, mais également d’exiger vivement leur dû, qui leur fût remis non sans difficultés. Au cours de la soirée suivant «l’altercation», le véhicule du patron aurait été cambriolé. Dès lors la perquisition s’en suit chez les premiers soupçonnés et une personne est placée en garde à vue (Gauthier). Au cours de celle-ci, il est disculpé du vol, mais les flics veulent parallèlement obtenir ses empreintes, sa photo et son ADN, celui-ci refuse mais accepte de signer une Reconnaissance Préalable de Culpabilité.
À savoir : la comparution en RPC est une procédure récente du droit français, créée pour alléger le calendrier judiciaire. Lors de la GAV, si le prévenu accepte de reconnaître sa culpabilité sur un délit, en l’occurrence le refus d’ADN, il passera devant un procureur à huis clos, accompagné de son avocat, pour s’accorder sur une peine. Si aucun accord n’est trouvé, passage en procédure pénale habituelle.
Le refus de prélèvement ADN, est puni d’un an d’emprisonnement ainsi que d’une amende de 15.000 euros. À la création du Fichier National Automatisé des Empreintes Génétiques en 1998, l’État avait dressé l’épouvantail du délinquant sexuel pour en «justifier» la mise en place. En 2003, et cela sans surprise, les infractions les plus banales rentrent dans le fichier. De plus le refus de prélèvement ADN est un délit permanent, on peut être condamné et être reconvoqué indéfiniment.
Aujourd’hui, le prélèvement ADN est quasi systématique lors des GAV, les procès pour refus sont de plus en plus nombreux. Justice et science font apparaître l’ADN comme preuve irréfutable, ce qui est très contestable car il existe des patrimoines génétiques similaires [et l’empreinte génétique peut être altérée par la vieillesse, les maladies, le fait de fumer].
Le fichage ADN rentre dans une logique étatique de contrôle permanent sur nos vies, l’État, ses flics et ses scientifiques se sont dotés d’un panel large d’outils de surveillance via la diversification et la fusion des fichiers policiers (EDVIRST, CRISTINA, FNAEG) ; les caméras, le développement de la biométrie (puces RFID). Des fichiers de police tels ceux d’EUROPOL vont jusqu’à ficher les personnes dites «susceptibles de passer à l’acte», ce qui laisse entendre qu’il existerait une prédisposition génétique à des attitudes criminogènes.
Le refus du fichage s’inscrit dans une lutte qui va outre celle du fichage en lui-même, c’est une lutte contre un système qui tend à garder tout contrôle sur nos vies aussi bien en exploitant qu’en réprimant.
Le 19 octobre Gauthier passera au tribunal de Nîmes, dans le cadre d’une RPC, à aucun moment il ne pense pouvoir s’accorder sur une quelconque peine avec le procureur. Il exige la relaxe pure et simple. Ainsi, si celle-ci n’est pas prononcée, aucun autre arrangement ne sera possible et une procédure pénale s’en suivra.
Un appel à soutien est lancé, un rassemblement aura lieu à l’extérieur du tribunal. Créer des solidarités hors tribunaux permet de ne pas se cantonner à une défense juridique mais de poser nos exigences dans la rue, rééquilibrer le rapport de force. Et au-delà de notre soutien à Gauthier, c’est un refus du flicage en général que nous poserons ce jour là à Nîmes.
Venons nombreux devant le Tribunal de Grande Instance de Nîmes à 8h15 le 19 octobre.
CONTRE LE FICHAGE ! CONTRE LE FLICAGE !

Crocodile chained to a palm tree = Nîmes, which is where the Roman legions that fought for Julius Caesar in the Nile settled after they served for 15 years. It is also where I went for the day on the recommendation of a friend who had studied in Montpellier some years ago. I planned the trip around a performance by some New Yorkers, which you can read more about here . This trip was in part for my Mom, who wanted to see nice pictures, but of course my camera batteries ran out half way through the adventure. I tried the best I could.

The fame of Nîmes rests on all the old things it has, which are older than most other old things because they are Roman. The first I saw was the Arènes, which was big.

Next was the Maison Carrée, some sort of temple that has this beautiful color gradient, perhaps because of exposure to the sun or uneven cleaning? It was beautiful.

This was about where my camera ran out, which is a shame because the most beautiful stuff was next: the Temple of Diana (no historical connection to Diana), which is filled with pigeons and carved graffiti both Roman and contemporary, and looks like it might have been sawed in half along a diagonal; a beautiful network of pathways leading up the hill; at the highest point in Nîmes, the Tour Magne, which looks something like a bombed out conch shell; and, on the way down, some little waterfall fountains to walk underneath. Regarding the last, those from southeastern CT might think of a smaller version of the waterfalls at the old Mystic Falls mini golf course and batting cages. 

At the temple of Diana I noticed somebody walking out of a darkened hallway zipping up his fly, and my first thought was “Christ these people will piss anywhere.” At that point I realized that I’d seen more public urination in the South of France than anywhere else I’d ever been, even New York. I don’t know if this generalization has any foundation but regardless it endears me to this place all the more.

The First Million Years or So

600 Years of Unwanted Guests

Middle Ages and the Turn of Provence

Wars of Religion and Hocus Pocus Popes

Oppression, Resistance, Quel Renaissance!

Debating The Age of Bad Taste ou Epoch Classique?

Post-War brings Socialist Mitterand and the Revival of Occitan

The Joys of Being French, Oui or N’est Pas?

C’est La Vie in The South of France

Santon Fairs in the Var et Renoir at Les Collettes

Columns, Columns, Columns and a Bridge

Troubadours Cansos, Love Story, La Californie of Europe

Hug the road winding the Cote d’Azur

Bordeaux, Beaujolais, frescoes in Peille

Sailing to Promenade du Soleil

Down the Rhone: Orange to Beaucaire

Malabar’s bulging biceps swell

Jagged Alpilles, rocky plains of the Crau, marshlands of the Camargue

For the Rhone is a Saturdays Child

On to Nimes, the Gard and Montpellier

Le Vin’s de Herault and Agde founded by the ancient Greeks

Narbonne, the Corbieres and the Aude, Castles and Cathedrals abound

Last but not least, there’s the Catalans of Roussillon

Getting There

By Air, By Coach, By Car, By Train

By Boat, By Bus, By Bicycling

The Song of Summer, Cicadas tune

Siesta under pine trees and game of boules

Tender is the Night with starry skies

Bouillabaisse, Aioli, Thirteen desserts

Estocaficada and onion tart

Before Laying a Bet, will it be

Holiday Destination or Life on the Riviera?

Like the Fitzgerald’s and Hemingway’s

You will not be the first to stay

Avec votre coeur dans la méditerranéenne.

Bonjour!

Today we went on our second campus-wide field trip to Nîmes and Pont du Gard.

I’m going to be honest and say that I really didn’t feel like going, because my daily embroideries for stitch diary are due on Monday and I WAS behind (I am just now home from working in the studio and I’m almost caught up), so I felt like I wanted to just stay. I also didn’t know anything about Nimes, and it didn’t sound to interesting to me, so I just didn’t want to go really.

As it turned out, Nimes really wasn’t that awesome at all. We went to a colosseum-

which was a million times cooler on the outside than on the inside.

After Nimes we went to Pont du Gard, which was a pretty freaking big deal.

I mean, the Pont du Gard is what you see people on and swimming around in like… Kodak commercials. And I went there. Put my feet in the water. And experienced it.

Yes please!

It was really pretty.

It was even better because we thought that it was going to be rainy today, but it wasn’t! It was actually really really sunny and warm. Hot even.

After Pont du Gard we came home (Lacoste is about 2 hours away from there), had dinner, then Kara and I had a mini dance party, and I finally headed off to the studio to work on my embroideries. I needed to do some free motion ones. (I SHOULD be posting photos of those now, but I am not, I’m just going to tell a funny story instead.)

So I had just been stitching along, and was almost finished with a portrait of my dear friend Michael Zimmerer (I had promised him I would embroider him while we were here) and was listening to The Avett Brothers loud in my ears so I couldn’t hear much that was happening around me. But there were 4 other girls in there working, and all of a sudden I heard some talking. I then glanced up from the sewing machine and practically jumped out of my seat (I for real did jump- Angela said it looked like I had been electrocuted) when I saw this man and his giant dog standing at the door (this photo is from a week ago):

I don’t know how he managed to find his way into the fibers studio. Paige (another fibers girl that was working in there) was very aggressive about this and got him to leave, but man, I was freaked out for a second there.

I had only seen him once before (the day I took the photo of him) and I had laughed at him because I thought he looked just like an illustration or a claymation movie or something. Like a fisherman of some sort! I didn’t realize until tonight that that was the town drunk we had been warned about, because I’d never actually seen him wondering around Lacoste.

Since I had been packing up my things to go I was a little nervous to walk home, but thankfully, Michael (who I was finished embroidering!) happened to walk in so he just walked me back to my house.

I’m not really that worried about the illustration man though, I hear he only really likes blondes.

But man, I wish I could have a recording of me looking up from my sewing machine and seeing him, and practically jumping out of my seat. It was pretty funny, but completely genuine.

A l’occasion de la rentrée de la commission permanente du Conseil Général et pendant l’examen des nombreux rapports de la commission des finances et de l’administration générale, Thierry PROCIDA, Conseiller Général Nouveau Centre pour le Canton de Nîmes II, s’est vivement indigné d’une position du groupe communiste.

En cause, les indus de RMI, résultant de fraudes, une soixantaine, représentant près de 550 000€, que le département souhaite récupérer en se constituant partie civile suite aux dépôts de plainte effectués par le CAF. A l’heure du vote pour autoriser l’institution à ester en justice, le groupe communiste, arguant d’une possible dérive face aux contrôles qui permettent de mettre à jour ces fraudes, s’abstenait.

Thierry PROCIDA a vu rouge : « Cette attitude est intolérable. Comment écouter une majorité se lamentant sans cesse sur le sort des finances du département, et cautionner au sein même de cette majorité un groupe qui se positionne contre le fait de récupérer des crédits illégitimement versés à des fraudeurs ? »

L’entreprise voisine de Cons’eau + à Nîmes ne semble pas en meilleure forme, il ne faudra donc pas tenter de se tourner vers eux pour reprendre la clientèle de Cons’eau + …

Purif’eau, à Avignon, est également en liquidation judiciaire. Mieux : les salariés ont été foutus à la porte sans préavis, comme l’explique cet article déjà vieux de “La Provence” paru en Janvier 2009.

Purif’eau et Cons’eau plus, même combat ?

(cliquer ci-dessus pour lire l’article)

Depuis plus de 20 ans, l’hypnose clinique ericksonienne se fait progressivement connaître dans les pratiques thérapeutiques françaises. Elle va plus vite dans d’autres pays d’Europe, mais c’est une autre histoire !

Voici un lien vers un court article sur la pratique d’une médecin anesthésiste qui l’utilise pour des actes chirurgicaux, ainsi qu’en pédiatrie (paru dans Midi Libre, le 28 septembre 2009) :

http://www.midilibre.com/articles/2009/09/28/PANIER-Christine-Ricard-Anesthesiste-en-pediatrie-au-CHU-de-Montpellier-935903.php5

Voici un autre article sur la progression et les bénéfices étonnants de l’hypnose en milieu hospitalier :

http://www.midilibre.com/articles/2009/09/28/PANIER-L-39-hypnose-en-progression-dans-les-hopitaux-et-cliniques-935901.php5

D’autres métiers de la santé en tirent profit et confortent les aspects les plus constructifs de leurs pratiques au quotidien. Si vous souhaitez en parler avant d’approfondir la question et mieux vous orienter vers des organismes de formation compétents et des synergies d’équipes utiles, soyez à l’aise pour nous contacter.

Our mate called Pete was puzzled by the strange name of a team that has been propping up the bottom of the French First Division soccer table for several weeks. He has one of those widget things in iGoogle, and week after week this widget called the bottom team “格勒诺布尔”.

Grenoble (at the very bottom of the league table) in Chinese. Sorry if the rest of this post doesn't make sense if your computer doesn't have Chinese fonts.

So Pete did a bit of investigating into this strange glitch, and on a hunch he used Google’s translation tools to translate it from Chinese.

Poor old Grenoble. Yes, he found that the Chinese for Grenoble is 格勒诺布尔.

And that gave me the idea to put various Languedoc placenames into Google Translate and see what these too look like in Chinese. The table below shows the results:

Don’t believe me? Check out Google Translate

And before you ask, I don’t pretend to understand the underlying logic of it all. Mandarin Chinese may be spoken by 1.5 billion people around the world, but this written form of Chinese is as enigmatic to most Westerners as the Enigma code.

Its beautiful symbols are as mysterious and indecipherable (to me anyway) as the ancient hieroglyphs and inscriptions on the tombs in the Egyptian pyramids. I’ve enough problems as it is, just trying to brush up on my French!