Posts tagged ‘people and cafes’

“A singular second doesn’t feel like much, but bunched together they transform into something excellent.”

Ravioli

A glass being full of rosé wine

Place Georges Clemenceau and château in Cassis, France Deutsch: Place Georges Clemenceau, im Hintergrund erhoben das Château aus dem 14. Jahrhundert in Cassis (Bouches-du-Rhône) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Aperitif before dinner in the garden.

Cassis, a city in southern France, seen from the cliffs

Coat of arms of Cassis (Bouches-du-Rhône, France) drawn by User:Spedona for the Blazon Project of French-speaking Wikipedia, with Inkscape. Source: Own work – Blazon: unspecified (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There are many reasons that I want to stay in France . But today, was  a plethora of  really good reasons.   10 Reasons , in fact, that  I will share with you and may surprise you

1) The Ravioli man was at the outside market today, and filled my bag with épinards ravioli  and ceps and his homemade sauce.

2) The bum that sits on the bench between the post office and the market with his 2 stuff toy dogs at his feet, his bottle of wine on the gravel,

was engaged by a fellow Cassidien which melted my heart. (Iris would identify with the 2 stuffed dogs).

3)  I have a new French teacher that actually lives in Cassis.

4)  She took me on a “field trip ” to speak French in the village, instead of speaking just to her in the classroom.

3) The lesson being:  When approaching the “Pedalogue” (the foot doctor), I would ask her in French  to please take me asap with my particular toe problem & describe it  …… she, and 4 others stood speechless while I made a fool of myself, but I just kept talking…….in French

4) It was remedied by a hand / arm coming through fancy bars on a tall window from a flat  in the middle of the tiny street in my village………he (the hand) was offering aperitif’s (at 11;45am) to the Pedalogogist, 2 siblings, and then to me and my new teacher.  It was so unexpected, and really beautiful.  I thought, “What a JOB this Pedalogue has, yeah! sure!– looks at FEET all day, but walks out her office, into the teeny street and her neighbor offers her a glass of wine as she gets to  go home now  for 2 1/2 + hours before returning to work!

5) We heard the history of the man “with the arm” offering aperitifs at noon and that he was BORN right here as were his siblings who were standing on the outside with their rosé wine in their hands,  their faces content.   They have lived in this village of Cassis for over 70 years and known everything and everyone!  🙂

6) The man behind the bars had a “Parrot” that recorded anything you said – children came up and spoke to the parrot and it repeated their funny things.  It also recorded my bad French.  It was a small moment of laughter………for all of us standing in the tiny street.

7)  We visited a  restaurant around the corner  from this “mini fete”, in which  to see a menu for my french food items vocabulary.  We  were  then offered 2 more appertif’s, given a seat at the already set up table, clearing it for us as we studied the French menu. They also gave us a  tiny bowl of fresh olives.  He kissed us both goodbye on both cheeks……..a happy proprietor!

8) Despite my TV in the apt taking 1/2 hour to come on, and when it does, the picture is green, and there  is no “vegging out” to some english speaking sitcom, at all, I remember  my outside wanderings  which render artists vistas absolutely everywhere I go. That is my TV – or better than……..

9) The little old woman next door to me was standing out in the sun as I walked home and I stopped to talk to her.  She  then invited me INto her abode   to  show me her expansive underground apartment when I told her I needed  a place for my kids to stay when they come visit.

10) I “tripped the light fantastic”, back to my little abode, realizing that indeed, a few seconds doesn’t feel like much, but when bunched together with good and happy people, who were at first strangers, then NOT, it ends up being one EXCELLENT day……….

Com, and trip it as ye go,On the light fantastick toe  (milton)

English: Panorama of Cassis (France) Italiano: Panorama di Cassis (Francia) dalla Route des Crêtes (Photo credit: Wikipedia)