Monday, November 13, 2023
La Seyne sur
Mer, near Toulon, France
Aboard the Enchanted
Princess
Sunny, 76F
We arrived at the sunny port of Seyne sur Mer about 7:00 a.m. and boarded the comfortable bus for Aix-en-Provence by 8 a.m. I mentioned to the tour guide that we would be touring Aix on our own, and most readers know I lived there for a year, from 1967-1968. I will try not to be effusive about this city of about 100,000 residents, and 40,000 students, but how do I do that in a town I love so much?
The countryside is very different from northern France we visited on our
World War I tours—olive trees, vineyards, lavender, the limestone mountain
range of Saint Victoire.
Sainte Victoire, named as such in the 16th century was painted
by Paul Cezanne, Picasso, Kandinsky, Masson, and Tansey—it is worthy of its
fame. As I have mentioned before I could
see this mountain from my apartment window every day! Our bus whizzed right before I could get a
good photo, so this is a borrowed one.
The first thing we did was go to 46, Rue Manuel, the first apartment I lived in (August through January, 67-68), built in the 1100s. It has changed so much, and we could see the gentrification of the area—this was an iffy part of the city in the 60s. To be blunt, the “bathroom” in the apartment was a “capsule,” an all in one toilet and shower. I was 20 then, so my roommate and I just went with it. Our landlady required that I boil water to wash my long hair. This was not a hardship.
My 2nd apartment (January to July, 1968) was much nicer, with
two elderly sisters, who seemed like my own grandmothers, both of whom died
while I was in France. Mme. Segura and
Mlle. Nougared, French Algerians who were forced out of Algeria during the
French-Algerian War, were so sweet and lived very humbly. I could take a sponge
bath daily, with a bath once a week—I had to give them advance notice so they
could turn the gas on for hot water. Again, this was not a hardship for a 20 year
old—and I respected their situation. They were friends with the neighbor next
door whose son owned a coucous factory in Aix. Mme. Ferraro invited me to visit
many evenings to watch television (mostly news) and President Charles DeGaulle
made frequent speeches. I had so many interesting
conversations with these ladies.
TK and I headed to Institut Americain Universitaire (IAU), my
school during my junior year of college.
We met with Dr. Garrett Heysel, Provost, who told us IAU had a four year
program now, about 400 students, and the school is thriving, not just in Aix,
but in Barcelona, Madrid, Tangiers, Morocco, and opening soon in Florence. He suggested that I attend a reunion event at
the French ambassador’s home in Washington in February. Let’s go!!
Aside to Friend Judy: No more hamburger sandwiche—when they hardly knew what we were
talking about at the Rotunde. It is now Le Burger, with French beef, fried onions, tomato,
cheddar, barbecue sauce, and house fries, all for $27! And believe it or not, I
located the steps where the telephone was –where we called those Army guys from
Camp Darby, Italy. Bet you remember that!
Time flew in my beloved home away from home and we had to walk to
where the bus was meeting us. This was a
special visit and I am so happy that I could return once more.
The vendors were setting up for the Christmas market that begins in
three days, the fountains are still intact, Monoprix (bigger grocery store and
5 & 10 like store) is still there, calisson shops are all over—many bakeries,
cheese shops, souvenir shops, trendy fashion shops, and more.
