Africajarc !!

We spent the weekend of July 25th and 26th camping with our new French friends, Benoit and Nadine. Benoit, who I believe I wrote about earlier, has really made a significant difference of my ability to acclimate to the French culture and my work environment, as well as our ability to see some things in France that we couldn't have seen without his help.

We stayed on the property of Benoit's girlfriend's Mom's gite (French B&B), again in the Le Lot region, very close to where stayed a couple weeks ago. Her Mom is 79 years old and runs this place basically by herself. She was full of energy. She surprised Randi and I when showing up in town, while we were shopping for groceries. And then we'd get back to her place and she was there already...she was everywhere! She only speaks French, so it was a little difficult to communicate with her but she still made us feel very welcome and we could see she was a wonderful lady. She was hosting not only her B&B customers but Benoit's 6 frinds, including us and a lot of family (Nadine's brothers, sister, cousins, nieces, nephews). The farm itself was originally a 250 yr old hunting lodge and has a nice history to it. They have several different buildings on the property. It SO reminded us of the cabin on Clear Lake in Pequot Lakes, MN, with people sleeping everywhere and us tent camping in the yard... but it's a LOT older and it's in France of course.

The event everyone was there for was the Africajarc festival, in the small town of Cajarc. It is a well-known annual festival there, that raises the normal town population of 1000 people to about 20,000 people for the weekend.

During the day there were outdoor food markets, as well as Africa related clothing, jewelry and art for sale. As the evening started there were a few different smaller stages with bands playing unusual instruments with a jungle beat. We had tickets for the big stage on Saturday night to see a few bands, including the reggae man Alpha Blondy. He was pretty entertaining. One of his encores was a cover of Pink Floyd's 'I Wish You Were Here'...it was cool. Everybody loves that tune. Speaking of which....anyone who is reading this right now, I could say to you honestly, "I wish you were here".

Benoit had informed us, during the concert, that we would all be eating homemade French onion soup, when we returned to Mom's house, after the show!! ...say what? I thought maybe I didn't hear him right but sure enough, after the show, at around 2:30am, there were around 20 friends and relatives, sitting in the brick building that served both as a large dining room and sleeping quarters, all waiting for soup. It was incroyable !! The soup had been simmering all night while we were at the show. When we returned I watched as Nadine finished preparing it by pouring the soup into a pan that had many layers of a hard crusted bread and large grated cheese. It was really phenomenal. I dare say magnifique ! It was the best french onion soup we've ever had. And, believe it or not, they served more wine!! I was amazed by the complete buy-in by everyone there, for soup and wine at 3am. It really was superbe.

The final highlight of the weekend was the 3 1/2 hour lunch on Sunday before we left.
We had made really several trips with them the day before and on that day, going to the markets to buy food for this event and everything again was very good. We had a couple pastis before lunch and then wine with lunch. Then afterward Benoit poured shots of some type of liquor into everyone's mouths, one by one. He tried to fill my entire big mouth and then purposely poured over the side of my mouth and everyone enjoyed that. But his girlfriend Nadine got him back with the same treatment. It was fun. Luckily we ate enough to counter the liquor before driving back to Toulouse later in the afternoon. We all enjoyed the day of eating and drinking. The French take their meals very seriously and it's really fun to watch it unfold and be a part of it.

Randi's new vehicle

Ran just got her new wheels.



It gives her some 'options' for accessorizing...and the entire interior is filled with shoes !

The Climitizer !

There's a new superhero in town. His name is Climatizer !!

We broke down and bought a 220V standalone room air conditioner that we hope to sell to somebody here in a few months.

He not only cools down the room but he makes enough noise that we can't hear anyone outside screaming French gibberish late at night. Speaking of which, if you're gonna have somebody talking or yelling outside your window when you're trying to sleep, it really is better if you don't understand a thing they say...it's a lot less interesting and you don't stay awake trying to hear what they are talking about.

ROMA !

Ran and I celebrated the French Bastille Day holiday weekend (July 10-14th) by flying to Rome for 4 nights.

It was a whirlwind trip filled with history and some sort of Dan Brown'ish quest for family heritage information.

We took the train in from the airport and this was the start of our feel for the massive crowds swarming Rome. The train was packed like we were headed for Mumbai (don't really know what that means but I pictured people sitting on top of the train).
We stayed at the exclusive, 11-room Residenza Cellini which we paid $150 euros a night (if you pay cash). It sounds expensive, especially if you wanna really take the fun out of it and convert it to dollars but Rome is like London or Paris...tres cher. As it turns out though, we were really happy with the place/deal. It was in a good location and was very clean and very comfortable...we would recommend it highly to anyone going there. It was quiet there, with air conditioning and a comfortable bed. After full days of walking, it was très bon.
We arrived at 2pm that first day and couldn't wait to get out there. We were immediately amazed by the size and beauty of Trevi Fountain. It took 30 years to complete (built between 1732 and 1762) and you've never seen on a fountain on that scale before...it takes up a whole side of a building. It looked so clean and inviting but it's good they don't allow you to get in it or it would be full with people.
Then as you continue down the road from the Trevi you eventually come out of a small alley way and then you just stand still...almost in shock. You are totally unprepared for the sight of the imposing figure of the Pantheon..it's magnificent.
From the time we came around the corner until the time we walk in and out of the 20 ton bronze doors we were just in awe of the place. We both think it may have been our favorite site to see there...if we were forced to make such a crazy decision.


The following day we saw the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. We were very happy to
have bought our Colosseum tickets online before we arrived because it was the difference of walking up to a ticket window, with no one in front of us, to standing in a line that looked like it would take at least 30 minutes to get through. We were also glad we didn't pay for any type of tour there, as they have an extensive storybook layout display of the history there...and it's in Italian and English! They raved about the emperor Vespasian throughout the displays. He dedicated himself to the construction of the largest known amphitheater. He encouraged artists and was the first emperor to establish and annual salary for teachers of rhetoric. They really seemed to go on and on about him. Afterward I felt like he was probably one of the greatest emperors of the Roman Empire, if not the greatest..and I don't remember ever hearing of him?? We walked from there to the Roman Forum. We saw an Italian couple who were getting married and taking pictures outside the Arch of Constantine, just near the Colosseum...it was nice to see the young Italians in love :) We wish we would have had a tour for the Roman Forum, as it mostly appeared to be an ancient Roman junkyard. Throughout the area there were places to sit down that were actually ancient building blocks of stone...seemed crazy.

On Sunday we wanted to travel to Bassiano, to see the town my grandfather, Urbano Coluzzi, grew up in. We hoped to rent a car but on Saturday we had the hotel check and they were told there were no cars to rent from any of the major car rental places in the heart of Rome. Apparently Obama rented all the cars, as he was in town for the G8 Summit conference and I wasn't sure I wanted to train to Bassiano, after not even getting a seat on our last time on there. And I didn't know if we would want to stay in Bassiano more than 5 minutes. But Sunday morning Obama released one car and we got it for the day. We drove about 90 minutes south into the mountains there. The Latina region was beautiful country. We were really pleasantly surprised by how clean, well-preserved and beautiful the town of Bassiano was too. I'm not sure what I was expecting but I thought it would have been more run-down and forgotten...kind of a dump. One of Randi's first comments to me was..."they left this for Chicago" :)

We walked through most of the old town, feeling lost at times with all the small, stepped passageways going in every direction. We both thought that the look and feel of the old town area, along with it being only navigable really just by foot, was unique when compared to all the small villages we've seen in France so far.

We stopped for a coffee and gelato just outside the old city wall entrance and saw some old pictures inside the ristorante. I stared at every face in every picture looking for one to wink back at me I guess ...but no luck. The language barrier proved to be a big one, especially out in the country.

After that we got back in the car and drove around the area outside of the walled city and happened upon a cemetery there. We both realized at the same time that this was a place we probably should have thought of going to before arriving, as it might be only place we'll be able to find some reference of the past...and besides, we can talk to the dead as good as we could talk to the alive there...sorry, sick joke. After entering it didn't take long to find many references to Coluzzi. I was hoping to find my grandfather Urbano's father, Candido, buried there but most of the graves were of a newer generation. We were chased out of there by rain but I have a email address to the cemetery and maybe I can check further on that.

I really didn't get any further with discovering my heritage but I feel like accomplished something I always told my Mom I wanted to do someday...in going to see where her father was from.

On Monday we capped off the trip by taking a tour of the Vatican Museums, St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel. The Vatican was so crowded it was incredible. But again we avoided incredibly long lines by going with a tour/guide there and getting our tickets online. The Vatican Museum is so crowded that the tours smartly have the guides with a microphone and all the people in his tour wearing a receiver and earphones...this way he didn't have to find a corner to gather around and talk to us...because there wasn't anywhere to go like that. He could just walk at a slow pace and talk to us through his microphone. It worked well. We breezed by most of the Vatican's 9000 pieces of artwork but that was ok.
My favorite work of art is definitely the beautiful masterpiece in the picture on the left :) But I think my favorite piece of Vatican artwork was the Laocoon sculpture because of it's influence on artwork for hundreds of years but mostly for it's story of discovery. In 1506, a farmer was digging in his vineyard in Rome when he began to uncover pieces of marble statuary that included a life-size figure. The Pope heard of this and dispatched the artist, Michelangelo, to go check it out. Almost immediately Michelangelo identified it as belonging to the Laocoon, a sculpture that had stood in the palace of the ancient Emperor Titus. Finding the Laocoon was a dream come true for Renaissance artists and patrons who were intent on restoring Rome to its ancient glory. Around that time the idea of returning Rome to it's ancient glory was gaining popularity with citywide art and architecture projects. When the Laocoon emerged from the earth, it further fueled that Renaissance dream. The Laocoon became a standard against which Renaissance art was judged. One of the artists most influenced by the sculpture was Michelangelo, whose representation of the human figure in motion was fundamentally changed by his study of the Laocoon. The muscular definition in the twisting motion of the central figure can be seen in numerous figures on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. They said "no cameras allowed and please be quiet" in the Sistine Chapel but when we got in there the chapel is completely full with people talking and taking pictures. Here a shot I took there...forgive me. Finally we walked through St. Peter's Basilica, the largest Christian church in the world, which holds up to 60,000 people...incredible.

Cyborg!

I have obtained my official residency permit. In the picture it appears like they not only took me for $300 euros but they've turned me into some sort of robot. I find myself ordering now in a very monotone voice "Je voudrais plus de vin rouge".

I have a blank look on my face, as though I am awaiting further instructions.

Learning the Language

It's funny/sad how when you first get here and do not know any of the language, you think certain words mean things based on a very similar English word. Like "espace" for example. For the first month or so, I thought we lived in an area called "Espace St. George" because they were trying to make the front of the shopping mall look like a space ship...Toulouse being a big space/aviation town as it is. But come to find out it just means like an "area"

B&B with the Brits

On Saturday, July 4th we celebrated America's independence by staying the night with British folks in the middle of France.

We took a car ride north of Toulouse to go see the town of Saint-Cirq Lapopie, before continuing on to see Cahor and then stay in a Bed & Breakfast (the French call it a
Gite) in the small village of Montcuq.

The medieval town of Saint-Cirq Lapopie (correctly pronounced like a 3rd grader would want to say it, La Poopy...still makes me chuckle when I say) is possibly the most charming little town in France, sitting up high on a cliff overlooking the Lot river and the Lot valley, in the Lot region. There's a lot to see there. It's a really small town that hasn't changed in like 600 years. It's hard to believe it but these people never go to a Home Depot to replace ANYTHING! It is very beautiful there...an artist's community town. There were hats for sale, jewelery to be purchased and artwork to see. Many folks there with their easels out painting the scenery. Everybody taking pictures. I'm sure there was many many boring blogs being added to.

From there we drove through the much larger medieval town of Cahors. It's has more of a dirty, run-down looking medieval look to it. We took a walk through the really old cathedral there and found the town, known for it's full-bodied red wines, to be interesting but not really charming...except for this dog fountain which we liked.

We made our way over to Montcuq and stayed at a Bed&Breakfast of some British folks who bought a 17th century farm 20 years ago (read their story online). They are really cool people (Peter and Zoe)...and we could understand the words comin out of their mouths!! When we got here we walked through the house and couldn't find anybody so
we walked way in the back to their pool and found the owner guy, by himself, singing through a sound system by the bar/small shack next to the pool. He starts singing towards us as we walk up, making hand gestures and belting out this tune. But then put the mike down, introduced himself, explained that he was singing in a local play in town there and practicing...so we wouldn't be afraid. His first question was "ya want a drink!" Needless to say we liked him right away. We stood by the pool bar for 30 minutes talking and drinking before we got into the house...felt very comfortable there right away ("straight on"). And the pool was nice too...it was hot that weekend.

On Sunday morning we found a great market in Montcuq...it was huge, blocking off the streets to most of the small town.

That country north of us is really wide open. I would drive on these little winding roads for 15 minutes at a time without seeing another car. It was real pretty and relaxing...although if they could block off the streets, I could see it making a really awesome Lemans-type race car circuit.