My first full day in France was St Valentine’s. Aix was decked out in Yayoi Kusama’s charming polka-dotted trees to open the 2013 Marseille/Provence Cultural Festivities. I look forward to seeing more from this festival.
I am getting my bearings downtown, and started at the centre, where the flower market assembles every day, along with the more prosaic gifts from the earth (right now we’ve got a lot of root vegetables, and plenty of salad). Had a relaxing lunch and went home to unpack.
My sister organized a welcome party for me, and all the guests made traditional French/Provençale fare, sang some corny local songs, and read me passages from Marcel Pagnol. It made me happy to have such a warm welcome in my new country!
I am happy living in land of such rich history and culture. As a visual person, I delight in all the details, and though I’ll miss the natural beauty of California, and, of course, family & friends left behind, I draw a lot of pleasure from what I see all around me.
For the moment, I am staying at my sister’s, in St Cannat, a village about 1/2 hour west of Aix. So I am enjoying village life….
going to the boulangerie for the daily bread…
Fantastic fresh fresh every Wednesday morning…
And now I will need to attend to getting my life officially French: applying for the Sécurité Sociale. The forms were a bit intimidating, but the fonctionnaire was kind and patient.
I get a kick out of going to the banquet, with its rococo decor and no bullet-proof glass (tellers handle no cash):
WELCOME TO FRANCE my dear sister!
I’m loving it! Thank you for all the physical, moral & emotional support!