Avignon
Saturday February 8th 2020
The flight was long
the 4 hour wait at Charles DeGaulle for the train south, endless
the train ride itself 3 1/2 + hours +
finally a taxi ride to my new address
It was still daylight
I had been traveling for more than 15 hours
Ignorance is bliss
museums ~ parks ~ Marseille ~ palaces ~ wandering for hours ~ PEOPLE ~ cafés ~ birthday parties ~ stars ~ marchés indoors and out ~ train rides ~ other towns ~ language meet-ups ~ Utrillo ~ restaurants ~ the other side of the river ~ Carpentras ~ flea markets ~ Ernest Pignon-Ernest ~ fresh flowers ~ churches ~ Dufy ~ exhibitions ~ shopping ~ FRIENDS ~ more than 1 kilometer from home ~ Palais des Papes ~ vistas ~ music ~ sketching outside ~ possibilities ~ Botticelli ~ Le Pont d’Avignon ~ time to put it off til tomorrow ~ cinemas ~ theatre
LIBERTÉ
the world was my oyster
March 17th 2020
Noon
confinement
the rules
attestation for leaving home with your name, address, date, hour, reason, signature, or risk a 135 euro fine
at most one hour a day outside of home within 1 km
to exercise or go grocery shopping or to the pharmacy
some one hour views
I take a walk alone every morning watching spring spring. Once in a while I see the occasional dog walker or jogger. Otherwise it’s a ghost town. The weather is starting to get nice. It doesn’t pay to think about how great it would be to paint outside, or visit Aix or Arles or sit in a café in the sunshine.
The isolation doesn’t bother me. I’m spending a lot of time with my imaginary friends Bob, Claire, Violette, Balthazar and Ganache who have their own troubles but are virus free…..and chapter two of Bob’s story is swimming along
Right now it’s all good. I’ll keep you posted
French lesson: Can’t take anything for granted and always have a baguette in the freezer