Une Grande Aventure

Dear Friends,

Jane and I have been very purposeful about keeping Wednesdays free from lessons.  Today we decided to walk to St. Jean Cap Ferrat for lunch.  It is about a two mile walk each way if you walk directly and do not get lost.  It was a beautiful day full of bright sun and a nice breeze.  To get there we decided to walk to Beaulieu and then along the coast to St. Jean.

There is a wonderful walking path that goes by many magnificent homes (mansions) including David Niven's which is the only one that is on the sea side of the path.  For all the others are all on the inland side of the path.  This is a picture of David Niven's house from the path.  To continue on the path you go behind his house.

Jane decided to stop and play a little jazz as we arrived at the port.

St. Jean is a very nice new port full of large boats.

As you can see despite the warm weather the port continues to celebrate Christmas.

We had yet another great French meal.

Of course no French meal is complete sans du vin.

This wine is a nice bottle of rosé from Provence.  See if you can spot the one sentence in English on the back label.  The answer is at the end of this post.

Two hours after we arrived for lunch we decided we had better walk home, but by a different route.  But before we left we thought we would stop into this store to get a truly French bathing suit.

As you can see they have thongs, but unfortunately they were closed for the winter.

Thinking that we were truly French and that we knew exactly where we were going we began to climb up the hill which we thought would lead us to the other side of Cap Ferrat and then we could walk along that coast back to Villefranche.  We walked up and up some lovely stairs with absolutely gorgeous views.

As we approached the very top, we encountered a very nice Frenchman and in our very best French said, "Pardon Monsieur, je suis désolé de vous déranger, mais nous cherchons Villefranche."  He spoke back in French which we consider a great victory and told us very nicely that we were not on the right road and that we must go back down.  We understood most of his instructions and began our walk down the hill.  We came upon a small chapel.

The sayings on each side of the door are "all by love" and "nothing by force".  What a wonderfully uplifting sentiment in this violent time, especially here in France.

After a while we came to a fork and were not sure which way to go so we used our best French again on a young mother with her son who had just finished playing soccer.  She was very nice and responded also completely in French, another victory even if we were still lost.  We followed her directions and before we knew it we saw the Villa Rothschild and knew exactly where we were.

At about the same time we saw the man that had given us directions originally and wondered how he, who was walking slower than we were, had gotten ahead of us.  Of course the obvious answer is that he knew where he was going, and we did not.

By now the wind was very strong and we were walking in the shade. It was so cold that I had to put on a jacket over my shirt.  Sorry to those of you in Minnesota but here when it gets to be windy and shady I need a jacket even if it is 60 degrees.

Eventually we caught up to the gentleman who had given us directions and had a nice conversation with him all in French.  There were a couple of times that he did not understand.  I was surprised twice when I understood Jane's French exactly but he did not.  The only explanation for his lack of understanding must have been that he could not hear her speak since the wind was very strong and loud.

Eventually we arrived home, having taken over 15,000 steps for our grand adventure.

The English phrase on the back of the bottle of wine is, "A succulent fruit bomb ideal for aperitif or with typical Provençal cuisine."

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal

Île de Lerins Saint Honorat

Dear Friends,

Yesterday, we visited the Île de Saint Honorat just off the coast of Cannes.  We took the train from Villefranche through Nice to Cannes, then we walked through Cannes past all the fancy shops to the marina and took a boat out to the island.  The island and the boat are owned by the Cistercian monks as are the vineyards, shops and restaurants on the island.  It is beautiful place with old fortresses and building.  The first monastery was created on this island in the year 410.  The monks maintain a website about the island and monastery (here).  It is a small island only about 1.5 km by 0.4 km.  It is beautiful and very serene.  You can go on a spiritual, silent retreat for several days on the island which would be great if you want to do a retreat.  Here are some pictures.

Of course, the restaurant where we had lunch was also very good.

I can only imagine where the monks found those beautiful fresh raspberries this time of the year.  We had a wonderful adventure.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal

Je Suis Juif

Dear Friends,

Everywhere you go in France you see signs of solidarity and unity after the terrorist attacks last week on the offices of Charlie Hebdo and the kosher grocery store.  There was non-stop coverage of the national unity march yesterday in Paris.  It is estimated that there were more than 1 million people from all over Europe and from all walks of life.  The signs of unity were everywhere.  One that struck me the most was a young Muslim woman who was near the site of kosher grocery store attack carrying a sign that read "Je sis Juif" (I am Jewish) in a show of solidarity with the victims of the attack, the family and friends of the victims and the entire Jewish community in France.  There are many such signs now.

The reports of the march stressed the true solidarity of the French people for each other regardless of religion.  The Grand Synagogue of Paris was closed last Friday because of the threat of attack.  It was the first time that services had not been held there since World War II.  The service last night was attended by President Hollande and Prime Minister Netanyahu as well one of the leaders of the French Muslim community and other dignitaries.  It was a show of solidarity against extremists, bigots and hate and fear mongers.

The general public here as well as commentators talk freely about the need for the French government and the society as a whole to be more purposeful about integrating Muslims into the community and speaking out against those who stoke fear and hatred of "others".  In France it seems that all of the mainline parties are in agreement that in order to stop the radicalisation of Islam, all people must be integrated into the society and given hope for a good life.  There seems to be a general understanding that the actions and lack of action by the French government which excluded Muslims played a role in the radicalisation process.

Another item on the news yesterday was a report about young Muslims who are giving more impetuous to the reform movement within Islam.  It is a very hopeful sign.  So together with the signs from the national unity march in Paris, I have more hope today that this world can learn to be a single community while continuing to maintain its wonderful and significant diversity.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal