Monthly Archives: May 2005

Today I wake up at the epicenter of an ideological earthquake. The French rejected the European Constitution yesterday, 55 percent of the voters casting a “Non.” Here at the Deep Sun Café in Cannes, where someone forgot to turn off … Continue reading →

Fifi and Léonard received certificates from the Institut de Français this afternoon. Students and teachers gathered in the chateau’s grand salon for champagne, the ritual sing-a-long to Edith Piaf’s “La Vie en Rose,” and then the presenting of the certificates. … Continue reading →

Fifi receives her certificate from Frederic in the grand salon.  Send to KindleTweet

My Avance I class artfully arranged on the steps to the Laboratoire, where we practiced French in little cubicles wearing headphones.   Send to KindleTweet

Darlene’s Debutate I class after receiving certificates. Her teacher, Patrize, is in back row, third from left.  Send to KindleTweet

Jean, left, shares a laugh in class with Hanz, a Swiss banker, and Yumi, a Japanese woman living in Nice.  Send to KindleTweet

I had a feeling that my young fellow classmate from Germany, Axel, knew his way around a camera, so I asked him to handle the ticklish job of photographing Jean and me for DIVIDE, the literary magazine at the University … Continue reading →

I was looking at color patterns of the buildings facing the Villefranche harbor this morning when I took this photo. I didn’t even see the spectacular spokes of clouds until I checked the image on my camera afterward. What a … Continue reading →

Every time I see this photo in my Picassa file I like it more, so today it makes its way to the blog, breaking my usual hard-and-fast rule that a photo must be taken the day it is posted. Joyce … Continue reading →

Yesterday my professor, Jean, prepared us for learning a small thing. He lowered his eyebrows and began speaking in a low, conspiratorial voice. He looked around the room, as if checking for hidden microphones. He then said he had spent … Continue reading →