Judy – Page 5 – Dear Liza

Into Toulouse

June 13

Dear Liza,

We had a long travel day getting from Montpellier to Toulouse. Our 1:05 train was delayed, then delayed again, then finally cancelled and a new one installed.

When the train finally arrived, it was old…I haven’t found a picture of it online to get a date, but it had been sitting outside for a while. The seats and tray tables were real metal, and the windows had curtains. There were only a few electrical outlets in each car, rather than one-at-each-seat in modern trains. And there was a definite wobble which pitched us back and forth as we walked up the aisle. This was vintage French train travel.

BUT we got free boxed dinners, since we had been delayed through dinnertime, and we got where we were going. We rode west from Montpellier along the coast, then cut into the hills past Carcassone, across the Canal du Midi, and into Toulouse.

The weather was cooler, which was a blessed relief, and we all felt a sense of “I’m gonna like it here!”

As we walked up the Rue Jean Jaurès towards our apartment, we passed neighborhood parties, fountains dedicated to Occitanie poets, shade trees, and gardens.

And by the time we had a salad and milkshake at the Café Albert and made our way up yet another antique stairway to our rented apartment, we were ready to be Home Sweet Home.

Another Adventure tomorrow, I guarantee it!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Living Architecture

June11

Dear Liza,

Just when we thought we’d seen all Montpellier had to offer, we stumbled across a thirteen-piece set of art installations placed all over the Old City.

Called Festival des Architectures Vives, this festival has run for 6 days every June since 2010. It invites architects from all over the world to create site specific installations on a certain theme. The art is installed in the courtyards of the ancient mansions of the Old City, behind grand doors that are usually closed.

The theme this year was “La Gourmandise”, which in English translates to gluttony. That is not accurate, however, because in French it just refers to the eating we do that is above what is needed for survival. You know, eating something just because it is tasty, or pretty, or fun.

Some of the pieces, like the cherry pie made of bouncy balls, are meant to be interacted with, and were, as we watched. Others, like the hundreds of antique spoons laid into sand, are most definitely “hands off”.

We found some pieces more engaging than others, and the secret was… no big surprise, The People! Each piece was explained by several local architecture students, and those who were enthusiastic made their piece more interesting. Those who spoke some English or were willing to engage with our bumpy French were also wonderful.

The piece I found the most thought provoking was called The Last Cheeseburger, and was a small room built of lumber and lined with empty water bottles representing the amount of water it takes to create a cheeseburger, from raising the beef to baking the bun, growing and preparing the pickles, lettuce, all the rest.

Inside the room is a cheeseburger on a plinth and covered with a bell jar. This represents the last cheeseburger made, using the last drop of water. It brings into relief the need to make wise choices about what we eat, for the health of our planet.

I am so glad we found this amazing art scavenger hunt! It let us meet some lovely people and see another side to this interesting city.

Next stop: Toulouse!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Day Trip to the Romans Part 2

June 9

Dear Liza,

By the time we got to Arles, it was lunchtime, and we know better than to skip lunch. Fortunately, we found Le France, a wonderful café with outdoor seating under the plane trees. Bridgett and I shared a chèvre chaud salade avec toasts. This is a generous pile of greens, mushrooms, tomatoes, basalmic vinegar, and rounds of toast with warm goat cheese on them.

It was wonderful, and it even left us room for dessert! We splurged, with a tiny chocolate lava cake, tiramisu, and crème brûlée shared between us. Oh, and coffee to finish the meal (and give us jet fuel for the adventure ahead.)

We walked through the city’s medieval walls and up the delightful Rue de Voltaire. Grape vines, wisteria, ivy, and star jasmine climbed up to balconies and made the whole street look like a painting and smell wonderful.

And right smack in the middle of town was the Roman Arena! Begun in 90 A.D, it was the scene for gladiator games and other violent ‘entertainment’. Being a firm believer in cognitive dissonance, I can hate the games and admire the architecture.

And I do!

This arena could hold 20,000 people, had bathrooms to accommodate them and efficient corridors that could clear the whole place quickly. It is still standing, and still in use, today. The electricity was being updated for the upcoming bull fighting season.

The most surprising thing I learned about the Arena was that in 1822, when France decided the Arena should be restored and maintained, the first thing they had to do was get the people living in it to move out! Apparently, in the lawlessness that followed the collapse of the Roman Empire around 500 A.D., folks moved into the arena and built houses, like a walled village. And their kids stayed, and they built more houses.

A few blocks up from the Arena was the Theater. It has suffered more from “recycling”, with only the first tier of its seats still in place. It is missing the wall behind the stage and all the decorated pillars but two that made it up the decorated back wall of the stage.

But this is still being used, as well, as you can see by the sound equipment being installed for summer concerts.

Closer to the Rhône are the ruins of Emperor Constantine’s thermal baths, but we saw them at a trot as we hurried to the train station for our trip home.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Day Trip to the Romans Part 1

June 8

Dear Liza,

Another transit adventure! “Since we’ve come all this way,” as Bridgett is fond of saying, we decided to take a day trip from Montpellier to Arles. It only takes an hour or so, and since we were traveling without our giant luggage, we had a quick, easy trip.

Just kidding!

Our train from Montpellier was so late getting to Avignon that we missed our connection and had to wait for the next train, an hour later. Well, heck.

Except that the medieval wall of Avignon was DIRECTLY across the street from the train station! So, off we went.

Just inside, we found a cathedral (which was being used as the Tourism Office) and the connected botanical garden, which was being watered and cared for in the rapidly rising temperatures.

We enjoyed a stroll under the big leafy plane trees (which, I’m discovering, make every city more livable), some art I still need to research, and then it was time to head back to the station. Arles was just one stop down the line.

More tomorrow!

Love,

Grandma Judy

The Montpellier Zoo

June 8

Dear Liza,

It just keeps getting warmer here in Southern France, but we are determined to get out and see the sights. Grandpa Nelson invited me along on his “Gotta See the Zoo” transit outing, so I went.

We made sure to take cold water and snacks, found the tram stop down by the triangular shaped Square Planchon, and headed off. The tram took us up to the University of Sciences and Letters, and from there we caught a bus up into the hills. The dry hills and low trees felt like Toro Park in Monterey, California.

When we had left housing developments behind, we found the Zoo. The first enclosure is a generous aviary housing Red Ibis, South American birds that are the color plastic flamingoes only dream of being.

After that, though, the paths and the enclosures felt more like a rough draft of a zoo. The paths were unpaved roads and the signs were vague about distances and actual zoo animals along the way. The enclosures were full of trees and high grass, making it nearly impossible to see many of the critters. We passed cheetahs, emus and gazelles enclosures,, with nary an animal in sight.

There were lots of families with small kids, and it was fun trying to eavesdrop on their conversations. By The Tower (which I can’t find any online info about), there was a cold water spigot and lots of shady benches and tables, which kept everyone rested and hydrated.

Luckily, there were Grandpa’s favorites, the giraffes. We visited with them and the rhinos for a bit, and then headed back out. Some cold Orangina and potato chips from the snack shop renewed our will to live, and we caught the bus, then tram, home.

It wasn’t the adventure we expected, but an adventure all the same.

Love,

Grandma Judy

To the Med!

June 7

Dear Liza,

Montpellier is only about five miles from the Mediterranean Sea, and once Grandpa Nelson got the transit figured out, we had an adventure day.

We caught the Number 3 tram south. Montpellier has pretty much the same ticket-buying machines as Lyon, and I was able to help this fellow with his purchase. Bright reflections play havoc with screens!

We enjoyed the views of the city as the tram wound through business areas out to the suburbs, which were filled with parking lots, fast traffic and big box stores with names like Flunch and But.

Yep. Flunch. But.

But, of course, things can’t go absolutely perfectly the first time, and we ended up on the wrong leg of the tram line, in a place called Latte Centre. After a loud, barely coherent conversation with a bus driver, we realized our mistake, backtracked, and got on the right leg to get us to Perols, by the Etaing de l’Or.

An Etaing is a lagoon, and this part of the coast has lots of them, formed by barrier islands. They are shallow, buggy wetlands between the mainland and the actual beach.

At the end of the tram line, we needed to catch a bus…. But which bus? There was a lot of thinking and looking at maps. Figuring things out together is something we do pretty well. The bus arrived, Grandpa’s E-ticket worked, and we got to Palavas Les Flots, a little seaside village.

It felt a lot like Hermosa Beach, California, with small, square houses on tiny lots, all set along a narrow road running parallel to the beach. Towards the center of town, taller hotels and apartments march along by Cafés, restaurants and souvenir shops. Nearer the harbor, fishing boats tie up, waiting for the next days’ work.

Among the delightful surprises of the day was this statue of aviator and author Antoine St. Exupery and his most beloved creation, The Little Prince. The level of artistry was a bit disappointing, but, as the Prince understood, “what is essential is invisible to the eyes.”

We found Restaurant Barisano and enjoyed a restful, tasty lunch, and then went to put our feet in the Sea!

Being on a warm beach reminded Grandpa and me of when we were dating, and it was lovely just to sit and watch seagulls, kids playing, and boats coming and going.

We walked, snacked, looked at shops and one odd little church, and eventually realized that we had all had too much sun and ought to head home. The bus and tram got us back to town, where Auntie Bridgett got dinner started and we all lived to tell the tale.

And that’s the Adventure report for today.

Love,

Grandma Judy

People and Patterns Part 2

June 6

Dear Liza,

Wandering through the Fabre Museum in Montpellier, the portraits were fun to look get to know on a personal basis. Their life stories, which I looked up if I could, were reflected in their eyes.

The other type of paintings I enjoyed were the modern pieces that focus on pattern. The problem is, I always forget to record the title and artist of these sort of paintings, so I can’t go look them up or find them again.

I like to try and find the balance that the artist was looking for, how the colors are related, and what I can learn from it. My quilts are much like these pieces, with blocks of different colors and textures working together to make an harmonious whole.

And then there is this piece, which is a very abstracted , but still representational. See the houses? The clouds? The boats?And the woman? This is a fun kind of painting… part riddle, part artwork.

Our day at the Fabre Museum was time well spent!

Love,

Grandma Judy

People and Patterns Part 1

June 5

Dear Liza,

Yesterday was predicted to be even hotter than usual, in the high 80s, so we chose to spend the day inside with art. Museums are always careful to protect their possessions, and we get the benefit!

The Fabre Museum here in Montpellier is housed in a combination of buildings from 1825, 1952, 1978, 2007 and 2019. Seeing all its galleries is a delightfully maze-like experience.

As we walked and stared and whispered, I tried to notice which kinds of art attracted me and which kinds I could give a glance and happily move away from.

Turns out, I like people. Portraits, formal or informal, whose eyes look right at you, catch my heart. I want to see into their eyes and get to know them. Elizabeth Denis, painted by her husband Maurice Denis, looks so happy and loved that she makes me glow.

And this little fellow, Albert Marquet, painted in 1904 by Charles Camoin, look so unassuming and gentle that I want to buy him a cup of tea and hear about his day.

And then there is Alfred Bruyas, who seemed to be everywhere! Bridgett took four pictures of his portraits once she recognized him, and there were many more.

A handsome fellow, to be sure, but more than a dozen portraits? Who was this guy? Using my broken French, I asked a friendly and animated museum guard… “Qui était cet homme?” The guard was happy to explain that Alfred Bruyas was an aristocrat, with more money than he knew what to do with.

He had wanted to be an artist but didn’t have the talent, so he chose to support other artists by commissioning portraits from them. Lots and lots of portraits, including one of himself as Jesus. Apparently he saw himself as a martyr, sacrificing his wealth for art. Hmmmmm.

So, some portraits catch my heart more than others. I guess using one’s inherited wealth for self-agrandissement disguised as charity is not a new thing.

Anyway, I love where my mind wanders in Art Museums!

Love,

Grandma Judy

When in Rome….

Dear Liza,

As I learn more about Montpellier, I understand why it is laid out the way it is. Like many medieval cities, it had walls around it from A.D. 985 to 1628, for protection. Most medieval cities were also built along the rivers, for easy transport of goods and people. Think of Paris, London, and Moscow. Their rivers allowed them to grow and prosper.

But the river closest to Montpellier, the Lez, is notorious for flooding. This area gets most of its rain in just a few weeks in the late fall, and the river has flooded many times over the centuries.

In order to keep the city safe, engineers have figured out how to keep the river in its place, while still using the area when the weather is good.

When visiting the shopping area called The Polygone, we accidentally discovered Montpellier’s beautiful solution to urban flooding. It’s called Les Echelles de la Ville, the Staircases of the city.

This is how it works. The Lez River, in the dry months of summer, is only a few feet deep and about ten to twenty feet wide. It is a narrow, flat canal passing between concrete walls.

Above the walls, reached by steep steps, are newly built cafēs and restaurants. More stairs up from there, the open, grassy Place d’Europe provides dog walking space.

Above that, about fifty feet above the river, is where the development starts. Offices, shopping malls, public pools, are all well above what might be dangerous flooding.

This development was completed in the 1980s but has all the earmarks of Ancient Rome. Arches, wide arcades, symmetrical open areas with lines of trees, and copies of Roman statues are all over. It feels almost Disneyland-ish in its dedication and exaggeration of the style (if Disneyland had a Roman Land).

As we walked through an air conditioned mall and took convenient, well designed escalators down to the river and then back up, I appreciated what a clever flood control solution this is. The liability of steep river banks had been turned into a comfortable series of stairs, creating long views and spaces for Framer’s Markets and sports activities.

So when the floods come, nothing is really damaged.

Clever people!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Exploring Montpellier

June 2

Dear Liza,

We are settling in to Montpellier pretty well. It is hotter than we are used to, so we try and get all our exploring done by 3:00 in the afternoon, then rest and do art during the hottest part of the day.

We started with the Travel Advisor list of “Things to do in Montpellier”, and found that most of them are right in our neighborhood!

The Place du Comédie is a wide open public square, surrounded by shops and cafés and with a fountain in the middle. Called The Three Graces, it has three marble women dancing above a lumpy rock where some marble cherubs are hiding, which is above squirting fountains and a pool. As you can see from the picture, the buildings surrounding the square are classic French architecture and very pretty.

Following the public square around a corner, we found the Esplanade Charles de Gaulle, which is a wide pedestrian walkway, shaded by dozens of plane trees. Benches line the area and fun blurpy fountains squirt up out of the sidewalk. It is a fun place to hang out on a hot afternoon, staying cool and being with friends.

In the oldest part of the city, which was built in the 1400s, the streets are still laid out in their higgledy-piggledy curves, not a grid pattern like we usually do today. I think this is what Paris must have looked like before Baron Haussmann did his urban renewal in the 1800s, creating the wide boulevards.

We have seen lots of places we will got back to and explore this book and toy store looks intriguing….

And the fine arts museum.

We’re expecting thunderstorms and heavy rain tomorrow, which will make a nice break from all this heat! So we’ll be inside, doing art and writing instead of galavanting all over.

Love,

Grandma Judy