Le Mistral est arrivé!

The hard, cold, driving wind known as the Mistral has finally made its presence known here in the south of France. Here, the wind is infamous. It is said that the Mistral causes law-abiding men to commit murder, makes animals go insane, and drives happy people to suicide. Not that the french ever exaggerate. Ok, it is windy, I'll give 'em that. But, it'll be all over in a few days, and we'll be back to sunny, peaceful weather in no time.

Then again, I have seen a few strange things today. This morning, on my way to work, I stopped into a Casino (it's like a gas station shop without the gas -- don't worry, I'm not gambling yet!) to get a bottle of water. As I left the store, a man came into the shop and left his dog outside, chained to a metal sign advertising fesh bread in front of the entrance. The dog was large, with the body of a greyhound, but pure white. As he walked by me, I heard him say to the animal, "Bouge pas! Sage!" Or, don't move. Be good. Moments later, I heard a terrible noise coming from behind me. As I turned around to see what it was, I saw this white dog careening down the street with the metal sign still chained to his kneck, clanging and scraping behind him! the dog ran down the street and right through the center of the busy market place. Scores of people dropped what they were doing to look at, or get out of the way of, the wild dog! And, chasing after him, though lagging rather far behind, was his owner, bright red with embarassment!

Later in the day, I saw perhaps the most bizarre police chase in my life! There was a police van full of cops that was trying to get around a "rond point" (or "roundabout"), but was blocked by a crazy man in an electric wheelchair! The man in the wheelchair was yelling at the police and shaking his fist at them, while the police were yelling back and trying to get the man to move his "vehicle" off the street. Ok, it was so much a chase as just an annoying traffic problem, but still, it was strange, and silly that the french police couldn't even manage to find away to get around a man in a wheelchair! But, as I find myself saying more and more these days, that's just life in France!

Ahoy Sailor!

First, I must warn you, my dear readers, that I'm a little bit tipsy. Yes, it is only 1:30 in the afternoon, but today we celebrate the release of the New Beaujolais, and all of France simply must have a taste! The salles des profs, the teachers lounge, is now full of slightly sodden teaching staff. Best of luck to those with afternoon classes!

That said, you will all be glad to know that I have finally met a sailor. We met entirely "par hasard" on the train on Friday afternoon when I was on my way home from school and he was heading to Rouen, his hometown, where he spends his weekends. We started chatting, and exchanged numbers, and after a several tricky phone conversations we managed to arrange a date for last night. We met in Toulon, walked around a bit along the marina, and then went to see a movie. It was fun to have the chance to really talk with and get to know an "authentic" French person, and I was glad to know that we felt about the same about the people in Toulon. According to my sailor friend, a non-native of the south of France, the people here are "superficiel". Toute à fait. But, I regret to inform my readership that I was not easily wooed by his french charms. As an American girl raised to believe that real men are meant to be sensible, strong, and only affectionate in a subtly reserved sort of way, I was a bit put-off by my french sailor's advances. I can understand, for example, that holding hands while walking along a pier is in theory romantic, but in practice holding hands is only something I do with my mom. I love my mom, but not like that. And, at other times, the sailor's moves just seemed a bit cliché. At a particularly tense moment during our film, I shuddered, and the sailor quickly made a grab for my shoulder, saying, "you are not too scared?" Seriously, I'm a big girl, I don't need to be protected from violent images in films. And, I absolutely had to draw the line when he asked if he could rest his head on my shoulder during the movie. I like my personal space, and I don't need to share it with someone I only just met. But, at least he asked. So, in the end, I told my sweet french sailor that I had a boyfriend in the United States. If anyone asks, he is six foot two, a cattle rancher and rodeo king, and must eat at McDonalds twice a day just to sustain his strength. I think I shall call him "Steve". I look forward to seeing my Steve in the spring. He'll be the only man in a ten gallon hat in all of France!

God Bless America, and all her sons!

The Times They Are A Changin'!

The whole world is turned upside down, and for once, this is a good thing! Our little American enclave here in France is all a-flutter with the good news coming out of the States that finally we will have a Democrat majority in the House, and maybe even in the Senate too! Oh yeah, and buh-bye Rummy! Could this be the beginning of a new era of peace and prosperity? Well, if so, it's about time!

But, that's not all the good news! Oh, I can barely type, I am nearly shaking with joy! Yesterday, the lawyers came to resolve the land dispute with our evil neighbor, Pascal. It was quite a stressful ordeal for all of us, but I would like to think it was worse for me since I was stuck in the house watching Gus, and had to wait anxiously for the results, all the while catching snippets of angry french bickering and wild gesticulations through the windows. But, when it was all over, we came out on top! Of course, we were right all along -- Pascal had built several buildings without a permit and illegally narrowed the right-of-way, not to mention the septic system he had installed in the neighborhood well -- but the result of all the hemming and hawing was the best outcome we could have imagined. Pascal and his lawyers offered to trade land! Instead of having a small triangle of land that can only be reached by walking through Pascal's backyard (and his illegal swimming pool!), we could have a contiguous piece of land surrounding the house that we would immediately fence off and have complete privacy PLUS more gardens and grapevines!

Of course, this also means that all the time I spent working to clear the land last week may have been for naught, but hopefully it will only be a matter of months before we are able to secure a land swap, and I can start planning new and better garden plots. And, who knows, perhaps soon I'll be learning how to make organic wine!

Only one "mauvaise nouvelle", as we say in France. France Telecom cut off our phone line again yesterday! Incroyable! I spent an hour on the phone last night (for 35 cents a minute!) complaining in my most stern French to a bunch of incompetent corporate peons, and it was so frustrating that I don't even want to recount any more details. I will only say that I understand why the French aren't allowed to have guns, and why they smoke like chimneys!

Au Revoir Vacance!

Well, vacation, or "vacance" is over today. I can't believe it went by so fast. I had two friends come to visit, which was pretty exciting and a bit unexpected! My friend from high school, and college, Charles Ryan stayed with us for about a week while he was traveling from Germany to meet his brother in Spain. He helped out a lot around the place, clearing land for future garden plots, and doing a little babysitting of little Gus-meister. Charles also knows reiki, which he shared with us. It was cool, but I think I still don't quite "get" it. It's a sort of "laying on of hands" technique involving auras and positive thinking. Sadly, I didn't have any profound visions or moments of euphoria, although I did imagine growing beautiful vegetables during one session, but I think at that point I had accidentally fallen asleep! Oh well! Charles is on to Barcelona now, so hopefully he'll find more receptive clients among the Spaniards.

Zoe, my old roomie from college, and a fellow assistant in Digne, just north of Bandol, descended from the mountains by bus and train to spend a few days with me on the beach over vacation. Zoe is teaching elementary school, which is much more difficult than teaching junior high and high school, at least as I understand it. Unlike my students, hers know virtually no english at all, so she has to give them directions, and discipline them, in french. Zoe and I met in Aix-en-Provence and spent the evening there, just walking around, doing a little shopping, and noshing on tapas and drinking sangria. Then, we took the train back to Bandol, and Zoe spent a couple days with the whole gang -- Charles, Gus, Penny, and yours truly! It was a full house, but we had fun! Zoe got a great deal on a cashmere sweater in Toulon, and I finally had someone to share some gelato with! And, Gus was happy to have lots of people to play with and to lavish attention on him.

Now the house is quiet, and a bit chilly. November sort of sneaked up on me, it seems. All of October still felt like the height of summer in Minnesota here in the South of France, but suddenly there's a crispness in the air. The grape leaves in the vineyards have mostly turned from deep green to vibrant shades of orange and red. The other evening, when I was walking home from town, I could even see the white puffs of my exhalations. Soon, it will be time to harvest the olives, and take them to the community mill to be turned into olive oil.

Thanks to all of you who have sent me emails and instant messages! I'm online much more often now that I have wireless internet access at home. I apologize if I don't always respond right away, but I will do my best to be more prompt.
Bisous!

P.S. The photo is of Penny and Gus hiking up to the church at the top of old Le Beausset