Janus
Named after the double-faced Roman god of beginnings and endings, January is a time for both reflection and
anticipation after the bruhaha of December’s holidays. Unlike what the United States experienced, our January weather was surprisingly mild here near the Mediterranean coast.
But January is not just the beginning of a new year; and, consequently I have decided to shift gears a bit again beginning with this edition of La vie continue. While I will do my best to keep the focus on the pictorial, and mostly for my benefit, but at the possible risk of boring you to tears (or hitting the “DELETE”) I will be sharing some of my “vie” that doesn’t lend itself to the pictorial. If this doesn’t interest you in the least bit (and I admit there is no reason why it should) just scroll past it to the pictures.
I do have a lot of time on my hands. My life here, which I am thoroughly pleased with, is not a series of pleasant
outings that lend themselves to capturing in images. I have a lot of time to devote to what has always been one of the most pleasant of pursuits: reading. Just for my pleasure over the last month I’ve read the Selected Essays of John Berger, On Photography by Susan Sontag, Waves in an Impossible Sea by Matt Strassler, Monet: The Restless Vison by Jackie Wullschlager, The Iliad and The Odyssey by “Homer” (both) translated by Emily Wilson, The Aeneid by Virgil translated by Robert Fitzerald, and am currently reading James Joyce’s Ulysses in my “spare time”. Fortunately, for
both my pocketbook and my available space, my reading these days is almost invariably on Kindle. As much as I have enjoyed owning “real books” over the years, I have now arrived at the point where their content interests me more than their covers.
Notre-Dame
Like many of you who had been to Paris, one of our first sights to see was Notre-Dame, and its image, along with the Arc de Triomphe, and le Tour Eiffel, always evoke my “City of Light” memories; so when that fire appeared on our screens on 15 April 2019 it was an emotional shock. Since that day whenever we visited Paris we checked on the progress of her restoration. Now that her restoration is complete, on 15 February we are headed for Paris with reservations to tour her with an audio guide on our cellphones. The picture on the right above (and of the fire on 15 April 2019) are from the Internet; the others are mine.
Marseille
Just over a couple hours away is France’s second largest city and one of her oldest, founded by the Greeks in around 600 BCE as a trading post to trade with the Gauls for tin and precious metals mined in the Pyrenees – and also slaves. The Gauls wanted wine, olives, and salt. (If they had just waited another millennium they could have produced their own: the regions around Marseille today – Occitanie and Provence – are well known for producing all three commodities.)
Today Marseille is a thriving modern city. Forget any stereotypes you might have of a dangerous, decrepit seaport town full of shady characters and gangsters, and replace it with a San Franciso without as much fog and a lot more sunlight (or the Golden Gate Bridge) Marseille’s hills rival San Francisco’s Nob, Castro, and Telegraph.
On 9 January we took an afternoon train from Gare Saint-Roch across the street to Marseille’s Gare Saint Charles and then a Metro to our hotel next to Orange Velodrome, a 67,000 seat semi-enclosed stadium in one of Marseille’s finest neighborhoods, complete with a Galleries Lafayette in the Prado shopping complex.
The primary purpose of our visit was to attend a candlelight concert at the 5 star Hotel Sofitel overlooking the Vieux Porte that evening to be followed by a three-course dinner there in Restaurant Effet Mer with each course accompanied by its own Pommery Champagne cuvée.
A Night on the Town
A night out on the town with friends at Trinque Fougasse Ouest (roughly translated: “Toasted Focaccia West”) one of several Trinque Fougasse wine bars in the Montpellier area, all of them featuring an amazing selection of wine (obvious from the background in the picture above) and this particular one has live music. This night we went to hear The Swing Doctors featuring Arthur Fell, piano, and Dr. David Cross, brass (trumpet, cornet, flügelhorn) with others playing jazz from the American Songbook.
Grand Finale
It was a real treat for us on the morning of the last day of January to get up before dawn and take the tram to Le Corum’s Berlioz Hall for the final rehearsal of Opera Orchestre National de Montpellier’s performance tonight, Crossings, with conductor Roderick Cox (an expat from Macon, GA). We had the pleasure of meeting him after the rehearsal.
A Most Musical Month
Yes it was. With any luck, the months ahead will also be so blessed. And by the way, I appreciate feedback of every kind. My shameless ego thrives on it. On the other hand, if you just are happy to feed vicariously upon our happy adventures, that is all the encouragement I need to inflict another ediƟon on you at the end of February (en français, février).
À bientôt !
La Vie de Montpellier 
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