Photos du Jour

I am far too exhausted to write, but I needed to post some pictures from the sunset I saw today.



After Tequila and I searched for a kennel but found none, I thought it only fair to give her a little play time on the beach. She's a big dog and loves to run around; what better place than an empty public beach at sunset?



It was beautiful. These photos hardly do it justice. And something about my white Tequila playing around with Bismark, the big black dog of L'Esquinade, was so beautiful. The colors in the sky caught in the waves of the sea, the sailboats sitting tranquil offshore, the dogs - and myself - running around whimsically without a care in the world. It was phenominal.



Of course, afterwards I had to go back to Le P'tit Club and thank everyone again. I did, practiced lots of French, and by the evening I thought it had mostly come back to me. They're so good to me down there. I am spoiled rotten.

I spent most of the evening speaking with Stephen again. Jean-Paul, a friend I met July 4th, also recognized me and kept me company, coaching my language skills. Jean-Paul is something like the gardner for the lighthouse here (yea, see, I don't speak French perfectly so sometimes it's difficult to understand exactly what people are saying) and knows all about this house and the Michel family and the crique. It's quite funny - this is a small town.

I actually got in an argument with one of Jean-Paul's friends tonight, too, because he couldn't figure out why in the world I loved Ramatuelle so much and what could ever possess me to want to stay for a long period of time. "This place is so small. There's so much more world, such better world." (He was trying with great difficulty to practice English.)

I became upset, though. The fact that Ramatuelle is such a small town is half of its allure - I grew up in a small town so it's familiar, comforting. And this is just one stop on my journey through life - I'm young and there are a lot of places I will see and live in before I die. I have a plane ticket home, you know. Someday.

But then I thought about it. If somebody from France sat with me in the local bar (if there were on, that is) in Mendon (my home town) and told me how much they loved it and how they wanted to live there if they could, etc etc... I'd probably say the same thing as this man said to me.

But the Blackstone River Valley can never even be compared to the Côte d'Azur. New England will never be like the French Riviera.

Eh, it was nice. I had so much fun with the boys who work at Le P'tit Club - my new roommates, haha; I had a wonderful time speaking with the natives. I feel quite proud of myself that I spoke so much French. I always leave there so happy.

Today was a good day.