Modern markets and ancient water

Talking a breather after climbing to the top of the aqueduct
Originally uploaded by gonuke

On our first morning in Provence, we dove right into a wide variety of experiences. About 1 block away from our apartment was a huge market full of fresh produce and freshly made baked goods, sausages and cheeses.  There were also some vendors selling arts, crafts, antiques, books and mass produced crap from all over the world.  I was struck by the color of the spices at one table, probably all grown here.

We then hopped in the car to find an old Roman aqueduct (the Aqueduct of Roquefavour).  We arrived quickly but could not find any obvious place to climb or even learn more about it.  We stopped at a little hotel and asked, but it seemed like the locals took it for granted and really didn't see much purpose in visiting it.  After a (stereotypical) lunch of baguette, cheese, duck sausage, fresh tomatoes, red wine, etc, (all bought at the market that morning) beside a little stream where we skipped rocks, we found our way to the nearly hidden staircase and began our climb.  It was only after reaching the top that we found the sign that said to beware of rock slides.

Upon returning to the car, we played GPS roulette and ended up on our way to Salon de Provence for a surprise.

Our final piece of Parisien culture: the general strike

We still have one week left in France (heading to Aix-en-Provence tomorrow afternoon), but today we will experience a truly French phenomenon: a large strike in Paris (all of France?) to protest impending changes to the retirement system.  The government proposes to add 2 years to the mandatory retirement age, forcing everyone to work 2 years longer.  (There are other issues, but I my French is not good enough to follow all the subtleties.)  I was a little worried about how I might get to work but it turned out to be no problem at all.  The Metro was running normally on my line at 7:15 this morning and the bus was on time and didn't encounter more than the usual traffic.  So here I am...  Since I am giving a seminar presentation this morning, it was important to actually arrive at close to the right time!

Finding our inner narcissist

Some have already commented on the rapid reduction in the frequency of blog posts...  The problem is that not all the members of our family are equally interested in this medium, some of them finding it a little mundane to simply report our daily activities.  I make the case that:

1. if it is truly mundane then people just won't read it, and
2. there are interesting observations and stories each day that aren't mundane...

If you would like to hear more from people other than me (after all, I just work all day and hang out in our apartment all night) then you should drop them an email and let them know you want to hear more!