Thursday, June 18, 2009

Thursday in Antibes


This morning I woke up early to visit the Thursday Market. Each Thursday morning the vendors bring their wares to sell: tablescloths, clothes, shoes, jewelry ... it's really amazing ... but, I resisted and did not buy a thing ... this time ...

How spectacular is this market ... monument, palm trees, umbrellas ...

Last week I purchased two beautiful tablecloths for my table in the dining room of Villa Fontaine ...

The beautiful Jaguar that picked me up for 'dejeuner' in the spa 'Thalazur'

For my appetizer: oysters and shrimp ... complete with heads !!

Two incredible men of Antibes ... Audouin and Robert

My friend Marylene ... dejeuner avec Audouin, Robert, Marylene and Moi !!

Thalazur (do not pronounce the 'h' ...) The outside dining room

The pools at Thalazur ... the one in the distance has water pumped in from the Mediterranean ... avec sal ... with salt.

The spa ... incredible ...

The open air lounge where three of my paintings are featured ... the French Horn, the Saxophone and the Trombone ... incroyable nes pas ???

A tribute to the fallen soldiers of France -

Ending the wonderful day with dinner. Friends from Schwaebisch Gmuend, Germany - the young and very talented and beautiful string musicians and delegation of Schwaebisch Gmuend - the sister city of Bethlehem, PA.

Ok ... what a day. Action packed as it were. It started off that I was still painting into the wee hours of the morning. And, after only 4 hours sleep, I was up and visiting the Thursday Market. I didn't pack a lot of clothing because I needed all of my art supplies ... and clothing was a distant second. I didn't find anything at the market that was 'me'. Plain, but nice. Everything is fashionable and glitzy ... and I thought for tonight's dinner with the delegation from Schwaebsich Gmuend, I'll wear my smart black pants (Jewish sale) and my Eddy Bauer thermal shirt (also Jewish sale) and beautiful black sandals (Marshalls). So .. that was that. I headed back to the Villa Fontaine and waited for my friend, Audouin, to pick me up for 'dejeuner' (lunch).

Audouin has a fantastic Jaguar. Well, it should be fantastic because from what I understand, he traded in his Rolls Royce for it. It's really a luxury for me to have a taste of the rich and famous. My car is 16 years old ... BUT ... has four new tires. Pretty impressive, eh??

We arrive at Thalazur, the spa that I stayed at in Antibes for three weeks last year ... and to my great joy I see three of my paintings from the Music Series hanging in their solarium. Fabulous !!!

Marylene and her husband Bob arrived and we were treated to a cocktail under an umbrella overlooking the pools.

Then lunch. Chilled Rose wine. Crusty bread. Oysters. Shrimp. Fish. Coffee.

Since I am very far from fluent in French, I just take it all in ... It's not possible for me to join in the conversation because naturally they are speaking quickly and it's had to understand because I labor to translate each word in my head. So ... I'm happy to just be included and savour each morsel of my meal.

After Audouin, Robert and Marylene left, I stayed at Thalazur for a swim. I had the pool to myself. It's an incredibly beautiful spa ... and my favorite pool has water piped in from the Mediterranean. I lie under palm trees and think how lucky am I to experience all of this beauty.

This evening I dined at the beautiful 'La Village' restaurant with the Schwaebish Gmuend delegation, guests of Antibes and musicians from the Schwaebisch Gmuend Musik Schule. The food was wonderful, the wine incroyable ... the friends ... parfait.

Tomorrow I paint !!!!

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