1 May – 30 June
On the first of May, a perfect spring day here, after a leisurely stroll to the Lez (where along the way I made this picture of one of the fountains around Montpellier) we shared a glass (bottom right) of Château d ’Yquem of the 1997 vintage at our favorite boîte, Hôtel Pinard, to celebrate our meeting on that Sunday, 18 May 1997, in Boston.
As I said previously, this issue (and only this issue) will cover both months so that the date of future issues will relate to their contents. Doing this also gave me a break to fully enjoy all the events to celebrate my birthday and all that has occurred since Bonny and I met. Pictures can say so much more (and better) than my palaver, so except for a few captions to identify locations, etc., from here on I’ll be letting the pictures do the talking for me.
5 May – ¡ Cinco de Mayo !
16 – 19 May – Collioure
Just fifteen miles east of the Spanish border where the Pyrenees meet the Mediterranean this jewel has been the destination of princes and pirates, artists and art lovers. To paraphrase Caesar: we came, we saw, we fell in love.
The Knights Templar built the Château Royal in the 13th century; later it became the Court of the Kings of Majorca. Fort Saint Elme, 500 feet above it, was built in the 16th century to protect the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon (Collioure did not become a part of France until 1642) and both structures were improved during the reign of Louis XIV. Today they are places for tourists from everywhere to visit. Château Royal is right on the harbor, and if le chat approves, you are welcome to explore on foot. Fort Saint Elme is currently closed to visitors. It is five kilometers (three miles) up a narrow switchback road through vineyards, but there is an alternative: Le Petit Train! (Because I had just taken off my sunglasses I had to squint.)
“The small maritime city had the right to receive pirates and privateers, to sell them food and to buy them [sic] goods. Collioure lived in fine hours, when the ‘malandrins’ of the seas found a haven to sell their thefts from all over the Mediterranean…” (Collioure l’Orientale: between fishing and corsairs by Anne Oriol Tailhardat, 16 June 2021)
Today there are no pirates or privateers claiming these rights; instead fishing boats flying the flag of Occitanie. Ships, like this five-masted cruise ship, that must drop anchor outside the harbor and send their passengers ashore in tenders. In Collioure today the anchovy is king: around 4,400 tons of anchovies are produced here annually.
We found ☆☆☆☆ Hôtel Casa Païral in the heart of Collioure to be perfect for us. Its heated swimming pool was only a few steps from our room and across the garden was the entrance to the salon where we enjoyed breakfast every morning. Over the archway the ceramic tile legend reads: « JE GOUSTERAY LE BIEN QUE JE VERRAY PRESENT. JE PRENDRAY LES DOUCERS A QUOY JE SUIS SENSIBLE LE PLUS ABANDONAMMENT QU’IL E SERA POSSIBLE » and we certainly did. Every Sunday morning the weekly Collioure marché is held in Place General Leclerc next door.
This is just a small sample of what we saw there, and we were told it gets much larger in the summer!
Henri Matisse by André Derain, 1905 (Tate Museum) André Derain by Henri Matisse, 1905 (Tate Museum)
In 1905 Henri Matisse, at the suggestion of fellow artist and friend, Paul Signac, came to Collioure with his family, and invited fellow artist André Derain to join him. Their collaboration came to be called Fauvism from “les fauves” (that literally translates into English as “wild animals”) so called because of their (for some) extravagant use of saturated colors. Not only are their works on view everywhere in Collioure, but in the works of other artists and in the everyday scene, their inspiration lives on.
These are some examples of what I see as how the color and the spirit of fauvism lives on in Collioure today.
Landscape and seascape views …
people at play (pétanque – similar to bocce) … sculptural succulents … people just relaxing …
People entertaining … and being entertained … or just walking their dog – a collage of images to illustrate that
inspiration is everywhere you turn in Collioure.
3 June
You may have heard or read about the “mysterious” artist, BANKSY, whose work has been showing up around the world, beginning in Bristol UK, in the early 1990s. Since I have previously commented on street art in Montpellier, when it was announced that a collection of Banksy’s work was coming here this month, it was inevitable that we would go to see it. When my family arrived for my birthday, and as a birthday treat for me, we made another visit to the expo with them. Because most of Banksy’s work is political, I’m only showing a few examples of what we saw.
Granted, street art is not for everyone, but in my considered opinion, it is the foundation and beginning of all visual art. Afterall, like the paintings in the caves of Lascaux – and even including art in museums and private collections – all art is essentially street art: most of the time, all Art is a commentary on who we are, where we are going, and what we are facing – why we are here.
10 – 14 June – Célébrer mon anniversaire
You celebrate turning ninety only once – and only if you can hang around long enough to be there with your friends
and family. My two daughters, Sallie and Jenn, Max, Sallie’s daughter and one of my three grandchildren, Sallie’s husband Kevin Kennedy, and my nephew, Tom Yemm, came over to help me celebrate it. (Above L to R: Moi at the Banksy expo, Max- Jenn-Kevin-Sallie at Spiritus, Tom at Palavas-les-Flots, and Bonny at Spiritus.)
When Tom arrived from Paris we had a little drop-in for our neighbors to welcome all our guests at chez Mears, then headed to the Gazette Café for dinner and music performed by Bal Trad, Joubert Theophile (L) & Cédric Pierini (R).
On the big day we cavorted from Café de la Mer for coffee to L’Elytre for lunch to the Banksy expo at Parcelle 473, then a brief respite before dinner at Hôtel Pinard, which would not have been complete without making a wish. And mine? A secret of course! But I already have everything I could ever wish for!
18 June – Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert
- Any child left unattended will be immediately sold into a circus! * I prefer to drink with my friends than to drink in moderation. * Bending your elbow is better than not drinking your arms. *L’aperotherapie * A sign on the wall on the terrasse at L’Oustal Fonze in Saint-Guilhem-le-Desert
Almost 30 miles (45 Km) west and slightly north of Montpellier on the southern edge of the Cevennes mountains in a deep gorge is the village of Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert (current population less than 300). It straddles Le Verdus, a tributary of the Hérault, and it is on the Camino de Santiago. Called “le Désert” because it was deserted of any inhabitants when Saint Guilhem (Occitanie for “William”; he was also the Count of Toulouse and the Duke of Aquitaine – and the cousin of Charlemagne !) founded an abbey there – Gellone – in about 804 CE. Note the scallop shell over the door signifying that one of the routes of El Camino de Santiago de Compostella passes through here.
Le Verdus (“the green” in Occitanie) fed by mountain springs assured a steady water supply and the steep terrain provided protection. The Hérault provided transportation to the wider world at a time when roads were, like the Camino then as now, only mere foot paths through the hills. Even today, reaching Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert remains Challenging, no matter what mode of transportation one chooses; nevertheless, it is certainly worth the effort.
21 June – CélébraƟon du solsƟce d’été
Montpellier celebrates the day of the longest period of daylight in the northern hemisphere with music everywhere! L’Éccuson, Esplanade Charles-de-Gaulle, Place de la Comédie, along streets and in bars, music is everywhere. George, the manager of Spiritus, our favorite venue for jazz and blues, also plays guitar (above) and drums too sometimes.
22 June – À jardin et à cour – Balades musicales de l’Orchestre
It was a beautiful night but very warm. About two hundred or so folding chairs were set up on the Esplanade Charles-de-Gaulle in front of Kiosque Bosc for a concert by the Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier Occitanie, under the direction of Katharina Morin, of works by Haydn, Britten, and Stravinsky. We arrived before 7 p.m., but because of the heat they had changed the performance time to 8 p.m. Arriving early meant we could take seats at front row center. Not wanting to give them away, we stayed and listened to the orchestra rehearse. A good decision
too, because when the concert began, every seat had been taken – just the perfect summer evening for us!
There you have it – two months of our La vie. If I chronicled tout ce qui s’est passé this edition would be twice as long! Future La vies will cover only the previous month. July will be about our return to La Grande Motte for 14 juilette, and août will feature visits to Annecy and Strasbourg.
À bientôt !
John
La Vie de Montpellier 
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