Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Souvenirs de Ménerbes

Normally I don't drink bottled OJ or orange drinks. But the French have a way of making ordinary everyday objects beautiful. So I drank up and brought the bottle home to paint again. Ménerbes , our next village perché, is perfect for painters. Here Picasso had a house and Peter Mayle wrote 'A Year in Provence' . While the others did pleine aire painting, I went off to find the local café to paint le p'tit dej'. The Café Le Progrès was purchased recently by New Yorker, Eli Zabar, but there were no signs of renovation that I could see.I mentioned to the proprietor how beautiful this blue glass was and she gave it to me! Derby Blue, was written in English on it ? The French have a penchant (present participle of pencher, "to incline, to bend," ) for things BLUE. You hardly ever see a car in France that's not deep blue. French artists, Yves Klein only painted in blue and Geneviève Asse lives in all blue house. Ever hear of French Ultramarine Blue?One quotidien object not made to last - these beat up French sugar cubes I saved from the May,2005 Paris trip. An American sugar sachet could easily make it into any time capsule.Café Le Progès
Place Albert Roure
MènerbesProvence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur / Vaucluse

2 comments:

  1. you hae captured the blue light of Provence!

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  2. I ate at the Lipp Brassiere, same thing. I commented on the glass, and they gave one of the originals!

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