...and then there was spring.

...ONE NEVER KNOWS what images one is going to hold in memory, returning to the city after a brief [excursion] in the country. I find this morning that what I most vividly and longingly recall is the sight of my grandson and his little sunburnt sister returning to their kitchen door from an excursion, with trophies of the meadow clutched in their hands—she with a couple of violets, and smiling, he serious and holding dandelions, strangling them in a responsible grip. Children hold spring so tightly in their brown fists—just as grownups, who are less sure of it, hold it in their hearts.– E.B. White, from his essay, "A Report in Spring", found in the book, Essays of E.B. White.

today has been just delightful. got woken up a bit earlier than i had intended when jake called me, and had a nice chat with him... then sent mme lyu a draft of my project proposal so she can decide if she can be my thesis advisor or not, did some work on my translation, and booked an excursion to the loire valley for when dad comes ... then i met scottie and her friend kessia, who is visiting lyon for the weekend, and we enjoyed the GORGEOUS weather today by walking around the roman ruins and vieux lyon. we stopped at a little bar/café on the hill beneath Fourvière and sat out on the terrace. i introduced scottie and kessia to "monaco"s, a.k.a. beer with a wee dram of grenadine in it, and it was a big hit. who knew that drinking pink beer could be so much fun? i bought mariel a really cute shirt - it has a giraffe with a bonnet on it and some crazy italian words ... it's just random enough that i think she'll love it... i had a migraine in the afternoon, but i took a nap and some medecine and when it finally went away i felt so much better in comparison that i could have danced all the way to dinner... scottie kessia and i went to dinner at a real lyonnais bouchon, "les amants st jean" in vieux lyon, and i opted to pay the 3 extra euros for the better meal and i think that it was money well spent ... i had a salade de chevre chaud, lamb with au gratin potatoes, fromage blanc, and a coffee -- all were delicious! all in all, a lovely, lovely day... and much needed, too. the weather had been pretty awful all week, so i was glad for a change ... and for a chance to wear my new skirt! hope the warm weather holds out for easter ... i tentatively told scottie i'd go to mass with them on sunday. the 930 church service will come awfully early in the morning, but it will certainly be a good cultural experience, non?

ok, enough of this. it's bed for me ...

Arles is a nice place to live... or at least, to visit for the weekend

pirate?

the market at arles was a wonder to behold. the main street was filled - for several blocks - with vendors selling fresh produce, sausages, ethnic dishes, spices, as well as other merchants selling everything from clothing to pans to cloth to stamps. add a generous dose of warm southern France sun and a nice cool breeze and you have one of my favorite France moments.

olives galore

such beautiful spices

the cafe that van gogh painted

(café la nuit)

our hotel was over there ------------>

gargoyles (les gargouilles) by the river

still refining my self-timer camera technique

such sexy ladies.

the roman arena

view from the tower at the arena

old wall from the roman theater

pretty details in every corner of Arles

the fountain and hotel de ville

such delicious colors

manif!

"chirac, if you still can't hear anything, plug in your hearing aid"

i took a little stroll today, since we still don't have class (the IEP voted a few hours ago on whether or not to keep up the blocage, but I haven't heard the decision yet...) and stumbled upon the huge manifestation going on at place Bellecour.... I had assumed that it would be over by then, since it was about 2:00 and it was supposed to start at 11. Even though I've seen many of these parades and demonstrations since being in Lyon, it still strikes me as something very bizarre. It seemed more like a festival that a demonstration, really -- there were people of all ages walking in the parade in the street, parents with their little children, lycéens, college students, much older people who looked like they've probably been doing this kind of thing since the student protests in '68..... many of them were proudly sporting anti-CPE stickers and holding flags and hand-made posters. At the center of the plaza, there were crowds of people milling around, sitting in the sun, and watching street performers who had evidently decided to profit from the gathering -- i saw fire breathers, jugglers, drummers, and musicians ... there were also merchants who had pulled their stands out into the plaza in order to sell sandwhiches, cold drinks, and kebabs. the french seem to truly cherish their "grèves générales" -- general strikes.

today was supposed to be the biggest strike yet. the government is inching toward compromise -- i think that sarkozy contacted some of the unions and student groups to call for negotiations, and i heard that there will be some changes made to the CPE law, such as reducing the contract to a 1-year period ... i really don't know if the protesters will take this or not. a lot of students are getting really fed up with the blocage, especially since we're getting to the point where our exams and credits and being called into question. the IEP and Lyon 2 are pushing for an end to the blocage, but have agreed throughout all this craziness to listen to the students and let us vote on what happens next. many others, however, are still fired up -- especially following Chirac's wishy-washy actions last weekend. people are not happy with Chirac at all, particularly young people. Clement and Louis have said that Chirac is seen as too old, too conservative, and totally out of touch with the people... as illustrated by his total failure to adequately address the CPE problem when a great majority of the country is against it and is in fact "dans la rue" protesting it. oops.

homemade signs abound...

the french communist party, contre le CPE ...

incidentally, Clément says that the French are not socialists ...

lots of milling and flag-waving

les membres du CGT, contre le CPE...

more protesters, followed by Man In Truck With Megaphone. (they actually have some pretty catchy slogans... good thing, because now they're stuck in my head.)

fire breathers, contre le CPE ... obviously.

les jongleurs ... mais alors, on n'a rien d'autre a faire quand toutes les universités sont fermées ...

ce chien est contre le CPE, aussi.

that's all! i wanted to take more but my battery died.