In France, French poodles are not called French nor poodles!

We have been telling people Niko is half "poodle" pronouncing "poodle" with a French accent. This revelation was always met with blank stares and puzzled looks. We found out why. The French poodles are called "caniche." Who knew! This pearl of wisdom was imparted to us by a veterinarian we met when we took Niko in for his allergies.

Last week Niko's allergies got out of control and he was scratching and biting his skin to the point of drawing blood. Aside from the fact that he was very uncomfortable, we feared his lesions would keep him from entering back into the United States. We were a bit concerned to say the least.

We met a lady in one of the local parks (parc Jordan) who Natasha and I named: "the crazy dog lady." She would not tell us her name or much about herself but spoke to us in rapid French so we always sought her out to practice our French. She is very eccentric and dresses with colorful ethnic jewelry and clothing. She appears not to like many people in Aix but she adores dogs. She has two dogs, who get along well with Niko and we have, on several occasions, met up with her and her dogs.

A few weeks back, when she found out we were planning to take Niko to a vet we found walking around Aix, she was horrified and gave me a card from another vet. From that day on, she asked every time if we have gone to visit the vet. We already had an appointment for his travel certificate with our vet and felt it would be easier not to change vets.

When the crisis with Niko's skin happened, I decided I would give "crazy dog lady's" vet a try. Fortunately, I still had the card and we were able to find the vet with no problem. A very gentle, middle aged vet greeted us and in no time he was examining Niko. His place was very basic with older office equipment and no receptionist. Our other vet's office was modern, sleek and had a polished receptionist. It was also considerably more expensive and we never, in the 3 or 4 times we have been there, actually saw the vet.

The new vet told us, "the crazy dog lady" had mentioned us to him. The vet spoke Spanish and told us he was married to a Salvadoran lady. He also told us, that a few years back he got rid of his expensive practice and downsized his expenses in order to have more time and contact with his clients. We saw this in action. While we were there, two clients came in and interrupted him with questions about their animals and the vet cheerfully addressed their concerns without charging them a cent. He took care of Niko's problem and the bill was very reasonable. The "crazy dog lady" is not that crazy after all.

Today is Saturday and all the street markets are open. We had breakfast in one of the many outdoor restaurants and we walked around town, mingling with the hoards of tourists from all over the world. I have been doing a little souvenir shopping. I am trying to see everything with fresh eyes and not to allow my experiences to be blurred by the dulling effect of familiarity. The weather is fantastic and I am enjoying my last week in Aix. Life is good in Aix en Provence!

I had another outing with my painting class

Monique (my oil painting instructor) came back from Italy with her usual enthusiasm and energy. I went to her class on Tuesday as agreed and I found her with 3 small children, several students and a line of people waiting to see some apartments she had for rent. The small children turned out to be her visiting grandchildren. The students were an international group, who were taking French classes in the mornings and painting classes with Monique 3 times a week. There were 2 women from Flemish Belgique, a Finish girl, a Japanese young man, a French older lady, an Austrian young woman and 2 French teen agers. Monique was smiling throughout- with no apparent rush or care in the world.

I decided to work on a painting of Cassis, I had started before the break. See seascape painting.

I have been working with oil painting and a knife instead of a brush. One of the reasons, I have been able to use oil paints is because, Monique has introduced be to a miracle soap that cleans oil paint as easily as if they were water based paints. The savon Marseille is made of olive oil and it is fantastic. I have never seen anything like it. This soap is now being "gentry-fied" and spas are selling it with pretty scents and attractive packages- but you can buy the original for very little money. I will be bringing some back to the US, but I wish I could bring more.

Thursday, Monique invited me to join her class to visit the lavender. When I asked her were we were going I was told simply: lavender. I told her in my bad French that was a flower not a place, as far as I knew and she clarified the issue by saying we were going: "on back." Not very precise but an answer. The group left in two cars and we were soon at a lavender farm were we set up to spend the afternoon painting. I was able to paint two lavender fields oil paintings. See pictures of my creations.

Travelling with Annika

We went along with Lawrence and Natasha to one of their Provence's day outings. We had to buy a new car seat for Annika and we piled in the smallest 4 door car I have ever seen. Annika had a cat nap in the car in a most uncomfortable position (see picture).
We visited a couple of quaint little towns. See Jeff's blog for details of our trip. I will just include a few pictures.

Getting to know Annika

Natasha and Lawrence have been taking daily outings discovering the beauty of Provence. They have been renting a car for a week and taking day trips, leaving their bundle of joy, Annika with us for the whole day. Annika is a delightful child but ....oh my... our daily exercise did not get us in shape to deal with Annika. She jabbers as she crawls from one prohibited area to the next. I hadn't realized Jeff had noticed her jabbering until I heard him say: "watch out, taca-taca is heading for the electric fan."

Annika has definite likes and dislikes and she terrorizes Niko, no end. He puts up with her good naturedly but tries to stay out of taca-taca's way. Notice her leg is blurry in the picture? That is because she is multi-tasking: kicking Niko while she drinks her milk. She is strong willed and will be a challenge for her parents. Payback? Actually my girls were a lot easier to keep entertained. For example, Annika knows if we try to shortchange her with a non functioning remote control. She prefers to mess with the ones that we need for the TV. We think (hope) that when she can talk and walk she will be easier to deal with, but I am already envisioning a trial lawyer pint size.

A profitable week painting

I didn't blog for while but I used my time wisely. In between taking care of my wonderful granddaughter I spent some time painting.

My art instructor, Monique, went to Italy for vacation last week. I decided to paint on my own an acrylic painting I have been thinking about ever since I went to Arles.

In Arles, I saw a Roman coliseum that is currently used for bull fights. The Pamplona bull festival is in full swing this week and I noticed in the French news that there is considerable controversy about the practice of bull fighting, with the animal rights community demonstrating against it. I personally find bull fighting barbaric and not to my taste. At the same time, as an artist, I am attracted to the color and intensity of the dance between the matador and the bull. The Spanish dance, "paso double" is one of my favorites to watch as the staccato music punctuates the encounters of the bull and the matador. Here is my tribute to this ancient dance.

My son in law, Lawrence, liked the painting and I gave it to him for his office in the University of Essex, England.


My daughter Natasha decided she would also like a painting and gave me instructions to do a colorful painting with turquoise as the prominent color. She and Lawrence got engaged in Tahiti and wanted a Tahitian theme with a tribute to the French painter, Gauguin, who painted such wonderful Tahitian women. Here is my interpretation of her wishes.

Dinner with a French family.

Tuesday night we were invited by one of our conversation partners to have dinner at her place. Fabienne and her husband Marious picked us up at our apartment and took us to their cute house outside Aix en Provence.

They have recently bought a cute puppy and I was wondering if Niko would get along with "Full" (for poker's full-house). When the French say his name it sounds like "fool." Well, to each its own. Niko thought "Fool" was a little foolish and could not be bother with the puppy. After a while he gave up and started playing with him, so he ended up having a great time.

Our daughter Natasha came along. She is more advanced in French than Jeff or myself. Fabienne (pictured with Jeff, Natasha and Annika) and Marious were great hosts and spoke to us in French the whole time and we had a very interesting conversation. They have traveled extensively and every year they spend two months in Rio, Brazil. We had a lot to talk about, sharing our travel experiences.

They barbecued lamb and turkey and roasted vegetables. The wine was supposed to be good, but since my ability to appreciate wine is close to zero, I can't say it was good. We felt very privileged to participate in the normal social life of a French family.

Natasha and Erica just received notice one of the 2 books they have written together got published. We are obviously very proud of our daughters. Natasha, Lawrence and Annika are staying with us for almost a month and we are enjoying this gift that life has sent our way.

Bastille Day

Yesterday, July 14 was Bastille Day in France. That is the equivalent of our July 4th celebration. The French in Aix did not seem that enthusiastic about the day. In Paris, there were some great parades with the President participating and a lot of fanfare. We watched some of it on the television. The pictures I took here in Aix were of the town dignitaries and members of all the military branches. They paraded just a few blocks from our apartment. In the evening there were fireworks and that was it.

The last couple of days we have been taking care of Annika while Natasha and Lawrence went to Nice to meet up with some friends. She is really active and crawls all over the apartment finding trouble. We are barely ahead of her. She is extremely determined and 100% curious.