Life as a Provincial with family

(June 2016 - Roussilon, Provence, France)

Part I
Dottie and I are back in Paris this week and brought our ace news team with us, including our eight grand children, and their parents. There are lots of things to cover here, including the Euro Cup soccer finals (we watched Italy beat Belgium 2-0, on local TV Monday night, then Iceland tied Portugal 1-1. ) Tickets to the matches cost a bucket full of Euros, yet they are all virtually sold-out.
Soccer hooligans of every nationality abound.
The Russians are on the verge of being kicked out of the tournament and their unruly fans are being expelled from France. The English team and its team are also being told to cool it.
But soccer fans are not the only agitated folks here.
There is a huge pro-labor, anti-government protest going on across town as I write this report. Some streets are blocked, and tourists are warned to stay away.
The strife stems from an unpopular new law governing the length of the French work week.
This seems odd to us, because we tend to think that the Socialist government of Francoise Hollande is pro-labor. "Mais non!" Instead, the Air France pilots are on strike and we almost didn't get here. The garbage workers are on strike, and the railroad workers are striking on and off. Most oil refineries were closed down and gas stations are short on fuel.
Many others are joining the labor actions and demonstrations, and yet Hollande seems determined not to cave-in.
May was a really bad month here. It rained most days. The Seine overflowed its banks.
I was hoping to get some fly-fishing in from the front steps of our apartment here in the 17th Arrondisement, but the streets are dry again.
But the soccer matches are on. Huge public viewing spots have been set up around Paris so people can watch the matches on giant TV screens. Security is being stressed because the large public gatherings could be targeted by terrorists. Then a policeman in a town 30 miles from here was murdered this week.
Paris, always an enchanting city to visit, has taken on an edginess that is disturbing. It is not the best time to be here, but our plans were set months ago, so we came.
This morning, our grandkids are getting a French language and culture lesson from our Parisian friend, Elisabeth Sabatia. They will then embark on a big red "Hop-on/ Hop-off bus," to become familiar with the sites.
Fortunately, the labor strife has not affected the restaurants and boulangeries. In fact, there is a law in France that bakery workers can never go on strike. The French have had this priority straight since Marie Antoinette allegedly said something like, "Let them eat cake," and there wasn't any to eat because the bakers were out in the street with the rest of the revolutionaries.
All hell may break loose, but as long as there are warm baguettes and croissants every morning, the French will manage and Paris is still Paris.

Part II
Just another day in Paris

Between soccer hooligans raising hell both at the games and in the local bars, and the unions doing their worst to make the French government of Francoise Hollande look bad, plu cool, wet weather, it was with little regret that we said "Au revoir" to Paris, and headed south for beautiful, sweet and warm Provence.
Before we left, however, I checked out the Seine for fishing possibilities. It was so high, brown and roiled that it was scary. I've never seen it so high. Our kids and grandkids took a evening cruise on a Bateau Mouche boat, but the upper observation seats were closed because the boats barely made it under the bridges. Some parts of the usual route were closed because it wasn't safe for the boats to go under the bridges.
The unions were successful in closing down Versailles for a day, but we did manage to get our entire clan there on one of the open days with the help of the Paris to Versailles tour company. Our guide, Herve' , gave us a real insiders' look at Louis 14th's grand chateau and gardens. Herve's favorite royal was Marie Antoinette, wife of King Louis XVI and he gave us his personal view of the queen's life, who he believes got a bum rap from the royal court and the Paris mobs.
Louis XVI was also the king whom Ben Franklin convinced to support our revolution. Herve' pointed out that the king's help had more to do with France's quarrels with England than his admiration for Franklin and American independence.
Unfortunately for Louis and his queen, they both lost their heads a few years later during the French Revolution.
Paris wasn't quite finished with us as we arrived at Gare de Lyon to catch the TGV high speed train to Avignon. We were all standing in the huge indoor terminal waiting area, when police officers rushed in and began shouting and directing all of us, tens of  hundreds waiting passengers, outside to the parking lot. The entire terminal was vacated, presumably to search for a suspected bomb.
It was cold and drizzling outside, but virtually everyone took the incident in stride. Possibly more than a thousand strangers, family and companions all chatted, smiled, and waited, showing virtually no signs of fear or stress. After about an hour, we all were allowed back in the train station, then boarded our trains. 
Just another day in Paris.

Part III

Life as a Provencial

I'm sitting in the patio of a 17th-century farmhouse converted in the mid- 20th century into the country residence of Simone Bircheron Jurgens, who added to the space by turning a couple of old stone barns into extra rooms. Her home was eventually upgraded into a spacious and charmingly rustic vacation farmhouse rental that can accommodate a large family or group of friends.
Simone, a former Dior model, purchased the farm following her divorce from Austrian film star Curd Jurgens, who played the villain in at least one James Bond movie. He was a bigger European film star, but also played a variety of sinister German characters in American films, including The Longest Day.
Simone named her place "La Madone." It is a classic Provencial farm complex of rambling old stone and wood beam structures. There are no fences or gates.
A well-kept natural garden surrounds the main house, which is on a very narrow backroad, just below the picturesque hilltop village of Roussillon. It sits amid a working vineyard, wheat fields and strips of lavender, now in glorious full bloom. We share our abode with the fauna of the countryside, including the furry little Loir, a species of dormouse that has big eyes and a long fuzzy tail. They are primarily nocturnal, live in trees and eat fruit. They also like to frolic on the old tile roof of the house - that is until a large owl put an end to their partying a couple of nights ago.
Some very famous human animals also partied here in the past. It is said that Simone hosted many Hollywood stars, including close friends Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, during her residence here.
Aside from the ochre-colored walls of parts of Roussillon on the hill above us, the views are pure Provencial landscapes in all directions - an artist's dream of of golden wheat, emerald green grapevines, brilliant lavender and trees of all shapes and sizes.
The older main house has a big kitchen, in which we prepare meals using ingredients purchased at the many outdoor markets that rotate daily from village to village in this part of Provence.
Local farmers bring in their fresh fruit and vegetables of the season and they are joined by cheese, meat, bread, and every imaginable food product. You cannot diet here. It is impossible.
This has been the place for "les vacances" since the Romans came here around 100 BC. They were in charge for almost 500 years and left lots of interesting ruins, some, like Pont de Gard, in great shape. Augustus Caesar also encouraged his officers to retire here.
Today, there are a lot of Brits and a few Americans with homes in the region, plus tens of thousands of French, European and North American tourists visiting during he summer season.
The countryside looks a lot like Sonoma and Napa Valley, except that the roads, although narrow and winding, are in better shape. While there are lots of vineyards, wine grapes don't dominate. There are fruit orchards, acres of lavender, wheat, and vegetables of all varieties.
Classic tile-roofed, stone and stucco buildings are packed tightly into medieval hilltop villages, each with at least one centuries-old church at the center. Their narrow streets are a challenge to drive, but become intriguing when we park on the edge of a town and stroll in.
I did check out the Sorgue River where I fished last year, it looked clear and cold, but I didn't see any trout, and the crowds along most of the fishing spots were discouraging.

Part IV

Nice to be home

Travel vacations are great, but it is so nice to come home.
I never get tired of the view coming into town from Four Corners, looking up Broadway toward City Hall with the hills in background.
Even on a Friday afternoon at the beginning of the July 4 weekend, traffic was light.  Preparations were being made for our hometown parade, and visitors strolled around our Plaza, probably thinking that Sonoma is an exceptionally charming town.
They are right, of course.
Sonoma Market was bustling with Sonoma friends and neighbors stocking up for the holidays, and everybody appeared to be in an upbeat mood.
In many ways, Sonoma Valley looks like where we had just been – Provence.  That part of France is one of the most popular vacation regions in all of Europe, and it is easy to see why.  To many people, it is the closest thing to the perfect place to live that they can imagine.  But then, most of them have never been to my hometown.
On Sunday evening, having almost rid ourselves of jet lag and time zone sleep depravation, Dottie and I drove out to Jack London State Park for Transcendence Theater’s final night of its first show of the season – “This Magic Moment.”
It was another wonderful, exhilarating, and inspiring show.  How fortunate we all are to have these incredibly talented, innovative and engaging performers as part of our community. I’m grateful every season for their decision to become Sonomans and share their dreams with us.