…and this is literally the first moment when I have had the time to enter a post. I am sitting in the kitchen of the Metardier family who have all left for work and school. It this is a beautiful room, perfectly outfitted with all kinds of modern stuff, but set is classical French kichen chic. Chris is still sleeping. He and I are billeted here, Kelvin is with Denis, and the two women off somewhere else. We had dinner last night with the President of the local club and his wife, together with the Metardiers and the President elect. Another beautiful home, this one contemporary and magazine cover perfect in every way.
Last week was centered in the city of Toulon HQ of the French Navy, and a serious place. We were entertained wined and dined (and wined some more) by the six clubs from the city and its surrounding municipalities. It was a very full schedule, and a definite energy fade by Sunday. Le Pradet is a city which borders Toulon to its East, and we started there on Monday with a tour led by their club, which included a visit to the municipal art center, a modern facility where local performance groups can stage their plays and practice and rehearse. Christina was very impressed. They took us to lunch on the central plaza and we sat “outside” (under the enclosed awning) and had a huge meal including lots of wine and desert. The next stop was a museum in a 19th century copper mine and its dark wet tunnels provided adequate cover for droopy eyelids. From there to the sailing club (founded by the ex president) was next for a beverage, and the chance to see 80 kids from the Ardeche region (about 3 hours inland ) being introduced to the sea paired up in Optimist prams. Very cute. That evening we attended our first club meeting in a sumptuous hall called Les Gulles Casse, (broken faces) – not too appetizing a name but the site of the world’s first plastic surgery hospital established after WWI. The team made their first presentation reading their paragraphs in French, a gesture very much appreciated, which brought applause to every one.
The five of us were housed by three Rotary families in Toulon, ladies together gents together and the old guy given a private apartment in the home of a third. Very,very nice digs for all, with great and friendly hosts. Not much English spoken, but everyone seemed to get along fine. Since Toulon was heavily bombarded in WWII , and the downtown hastily rebuilt, the fancy buildings that once occupied the waterfront of the City have all be replaced by blocks of not very interesting apartment blocks. Consequently the best addresses are on the hills overlooking the harbor. We were all up there, in my case the view was across a pool on a terrace surrounded by romanesque columns vines and so on. Looks an ad for a Mediterranean vacation. My hosts were retired jewelers who had established and built a very successful business with six outlets on the Mediterranean. Couldn’t have been nicer, we ate breakfast every day which featured my favorite “ficelle” a long skinny baguette, sweet butter and cafe au lait. Alain would “decend” to the Village each morning before I arrived at the table to make sure the bread was fresh. I dream of this breakfast when I am at home.
The wine from the Cotes de Provence region – the legal name for registered wines produced here – is primarily rose. That is to say REAL rose, as it comes out of the winemaker’s vat, as opposed to mixes of reds an whites a practice which is clearly carried on elsewhere in the world,but much frowned upon in France. It is good stuff, served cold and goes down a bit too easily. So far no major adverse effects noted other than a little drowsiness after a big mid- day meal, all of which are BIG.
We got a special tour of a huge hospital (800 beds) construction project in the center of Town, conducted by the project manager himself. It is a year away from completion and I recognized all the tradesmen fitting up the mechnicals and wall finishes. Loved it. I think some in our party might have been a little bored, but… hey.
There is a Rotary club with exclusive female membership (do you believe it?) and we went there for lunch. The women were all impeccable, with their very proper attire beautifully augmented with just the right scarves, broaches and so on. Stunning really. The youngest member, a lawyer, took us to see her parents farm just on the edge of town. That was a shock. This couple (exactly my age) is operating a major vegetable operation based on the CSA model they found at the Roxbury Farm in Columbia County in upstate NY. It is a huge operation that includes four full time and two part time employees .
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