Avignon in July

3 July 2012

I just had the most amazing run, after getting back from my Provencal language class around 3:30 I put on my running clothes, my sneakers, and some SPF 20 bronzing spray to protect my gorgeous Provencal tan and hopped down the stairs to the running/bike path alongside the ancient walls of Avignon.  Previously I had been getting up at 6am or 6:30am but it was just too early and this morning it was a little chilly so I decided that I would go running in the afternoon.  I began my usual route heading towards the Rhône, but when I got to the entrance I usually take to run down through the center city, I kept running and ran around the entire exterior of the walls.  The run was pleasant, except that the path is directly up against the traffic, but nonetheless I got to see the entire outside of the city and the elderly French men playing petanque, a French game equivalent to what many of us know as bocce which is actually just the Italian version of basically the same game.  I also passed the University of Avignon, which I have yet to explore and use their library.  It wasn’t too hot this afternoon and the Mistral, the wind that comes off the Rhône was quite pleasant as I ran along.  The only downside I can see to running in the afternoons as opposed to the early mornings is that no bread trucks with fresh baguette pass me in the afternoon so I can whiff the deliciously fresh baked bread, but maybe in the end, it is for the best. 

4 July 2012

Today was the first day of the soldes which is three weeks, mandated by the government that things go on sale in France!  You’d think it would be wonderful, for those of us who love to shop, however the first day is mere torture.  You cannot walk into a store and expect to: breathe, move, see, or touch anything.  Too many people! Too many racks!  Not enough space in the world (store).  Times like these when I miss empty space in Colorado or fields in Vermont.  I enjoy breathing and shopping, well, that can wait as long as I don’t faint from the overwhelming presence of tourists and locals.  It probably doesn’t help that I’m wearing my backpack and so I end up hitting people as a whirl around the run out of the store after five minutes of sheer exhaustion.  But with that backpack I can hop on my bike and zip away from the tourists, the locals, and the soldes.  I ended up at the opposite end of the main street from where my classes are where I noticed an outdoor book market.  I tied up my bike to a pole and went to look around.  There were old books, new books, leather books, and glossy books, books on yoga, books on Provence, comic books, and cds, and vinyls and posters.  It was quite the array.  I wandered around and found myself looking at a book about the Congo by André Gide.  It was a very old edition, kept safe in plastic and I was thinking of buying it since it said 1,55 on the inside cover and I thought to myself “that sounds like a good deal, I hope it isn’t a first edition because then I’m ripping them off.”  Much to my dismay however, the woman whose stand it was came over and told me (in French) that the book came as a duo, with another book by the same offer.  I said cool and then asked her how much it was.  “cent cinquante-cinq euros pour les deux” she said.  I smiled and thanked her.  I waited until she and found another customer to talk to and I carefully put the books back where I found them and walked away, thanking her again on the way out.  There was no way I was going to pay 155 Euros for two books.  But they probably were first editions.