José and Odile - News (random, episodic and invariably incomplete) of our doings ... in Paris and elsewhere. YOUR comments are appreciated. Visit my professional blog (Change, Innovation, Facilitation) too - see LINKS section!
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We spent a good part of this afternoon (in two sessions on either side of my 20K training run) "repatriating" boxes of (heavy) books from Virginie's basement to our apartment. About 40 boxes (thanks for the help Benj!) ... now Odile needs to unpack and arrange them (almost 99% her books).
After teaching all morning (a quite fast-paced EIS workshop with 17 B2B students of the Lyon IAE - all very participative) I am now posting from the Bibliothèque de la Part-Dieu (just across the street from the train station) - a modern, accessible facility where I have been able to work comfortably this afternoon - and also take in a fine expo, of photos by Raymond Depardon, entitled "Villes" (Cities - 12 worldwide, from Tokyo to Paris, from Dubaï to Addis Abbaba) . I'm taking the TGV at 7pm for "ma ville" - quiet dinner at home with Odile around 9:30pm. I'll be back for session 2 with these same students next Wednesday.
I'm off to Lyon from noon today until 9pm Thursday - teaching a class on Change Management at the IAE of the Université Lyon III (my fourth year). More news as things unfold. A prize to the first reader to add a comment correctly identifying the photo at left!
Dear Readers - Happy New Year 2009 (we're been away at Montigny, busy celebrating and handling the cold [that's a photo at left of the Lion at Denfert-Rocherau shivering in our Siberian weather of late] - so blogging less).
I'm back to training for a marathon (Rome on March 22) - more news about that later. I have some translation projects coming up and will also be teaching at Lyon this month and next - plus sandwiching in a week-long trip to Switzerland late this month. More about all that too in good time.
Hopefully I'll see more of those of you who are far-flung (at least flung far from me) - don't know how, don't know when ... but got the feeling 2009 will pick up in the visits to Paris category (hey, a good way to escape the crisis).
Happy bithday to Benj (we got him the book you see at left - shhhh, don't tell him as we don't go over to his place until later tonight - LOL). The book includes a fascinating account of the language (and culture) of the tribe of the Pirahã in Brazil. An overview article is here.
Also, one of our favorite local indie musicians, Pauline Paris, is asking folks to rate which one, of three songs, should be released as a single. You can hear the 3 tunes (which are : Corrida, Suzie d. and X.) by clicking here. Then just post your choice here and I'll summarize them and get them over to Ms. Paris. Thanks for interacting!
Francis & Iva, our dear friends (photographer, artist) from Uzès, are arriving in Paris tonight before flying out tomorrow for the holidays in the Czech Republic (Iva's family). They be bunking with us at Mouton - with their 3 children! That makes 7 under our little roof ...and we're busy cooking for all. We'll be leading with a slew of tortilla española (see recipe here). More news later.
Come on over, dear Reader, to hear our buddy, Alain (and his buddy, Eric), play tonight at la Commedia. Hurry over "on the double" ... music starts at 8:30pm.
UPDATE: It is now 4:04am ... and the beat goes on (well, at our apartment as la Commedia turned us out around 1am).
Actually it is more of a "DVD signing" as today marks the official release of this boxed-set of films by director Jacques Rozier. Odile's cousin, Bernard Menez, who has appeared in some of these films (including the cult "Maine-océan") will also be on hand to sign.
We'll be there (chez Potemkine, 30 rue Beaurepaire, 75010) from 7pm onwards. See you there, dear Reader? More details at: www.bernardmenez.net
The christmas season is getting into full swing - we went up to Denis' place (near the place du Tertre shown in the photo on the left) and enjoyed seeing all the decorations on the walk up to his apartment - especially near the Métro station Abbesses. We had a great dinner and got home around 7am!
The dance creation by Karine Saporta of "A ... like Alice” (based on Lewis Carrol's eponymous work, Alice in Wonderland) was presented tonight at Le Dansoir (an incredible space - well worth a visit). There are two versions - one for children and another for adults - we went to the adult version, natch.
The adult version is enriched by metaphysical comments on being and nothingness... between which Alice oscillates. Insights on the giddiness induced by the phantasm of her own disappearance.
There are also some daring passages, evoking the turbid depths of incestuous desire, also the relational ambiguity between adults and children. Yes, all that, without diminishing the fairy-like dimension of the show. We left at the intermission (enough said).
One of the benefits of traveling is coming across new people, places and events. This includes friends sharing insights into their favorites - such as music. Here is a sample - thanks to Béatrice for introducing me to the Romanian singer Maria Tănase.
She also introduced us to the works of Alfons Alt (photographer/painter). You can visit his site here.
The highpoints of today are the Market at Uzès and our trip down to Marseille.
First thing this morning, however, we headed over to the château Bérard to help a neighbor move some (heavy) furniture.
Afterwards, noonish, we headed over to the marché (where a wicked and frigid wind was blowing) ... if you've never been to the Saturday market in Uzès you can see the video below.
We'll head down to Marseille, about 2 hour's drive, later this afternoon and I'll write an update from down there.
UPDATE: Happy birthday, Béatrice. The party for her XXth (well, you didn't expect I'd actually say!) was a great success! We all had a ball (and me a tad too much champagne perhaps). Béa had made enough to feed over a hundred people (we were only 80+) - a fantastic Cake au foie gras et figues, Vol-au-vent blanquette de veau avec sauce suprême, and more. Everything absolutely delicious!
Back to the train station tonight, but up one floor at Barbara's apartment, for tapas by Bébert.
UPDATE(02:06am): And the beat goes on! We've come down to ground level, the better to rise higher ... deep into sharing favorite music from all our diverse (and disparate) backgrounds - below listen to a wonderful song (thanks to Martin).
In less than 3 hours the TGV whisked us from Paris to Nîmes this morning. From the slate-grey skies of Lutetia to the sun-filled azure of (almost) Provence. We waited for Jean-Yves to meet us at our "regular" cafe near the train station then walked over to pick up Sylvia near the Nîmes amphitheatre - then we drove up to Uzès. Tonight out for some music by friends of Francis (that's him, here, playing guitar last summer).
UPDATE(6:18pm): Over to the old train station of Uzès - click on the postcard to the right to see it bigger (as you may remember it is now a private home - and pretty much has kept its original allure - and was bought years ago by our friend Nicolas). We're doing some prep for dinner here tonight with a dozen friends - after the concert at Café Muscade.
UPDATE(11:58pm): After an EXCELLENT dinner here at the "gare" (merci Anne-Marie for the filet mignon) we've ended up dancing to Paul Simon's "Born in Puerto Rico" (see video below and lyrics here). Dancing with Odile and surrounded by dear friends. Life can't get much better! And thanks to Iva for a wonderful introduction to the music of her country (Slovakia), you can start, as we did, with this video and then this other video. Enjoy ... we have!
I'm off to Lyon from noon today until 9pm Thursday - teaching a class on Change Management at the IAE of the Université Lyon III (my fourth year). More news as things unfold. A prize to the first reader to add a comment correctly identifying the photo at left!
Dear Readers - Happy New Year 2009 (we're been away at Montigny, busy celebrating and handling the cold [that's a photo at left of the Lion at Denfert-Rocherau shivering in our Siberian weather of late] - so blogging less).
The dance creation by Karine Saporta of "A ... like Alice” (based on Lewis Carrol's eponymous work, Alice in Wonderland) was presented tonight at Le Dansoir (an incredible space - well worth a visit). There are two versions - one for children and another for adults - we went to the adult version, natch.
Tonight dinner at the newly opened Columbian restaurant Bochica (formerly La Piragua) then "Lunch at Wittgenstein's" at the Akéton Théâtre.
We waited for Jean-Yves to meet us at our "regular" cafe near the train station then walked over to pick up Sylvia near the Nîmes amphitheatre - then we drove up to Uzès. Tonight out for some music by friends of Francis (that's him, here, playing guitar last summer).
UPDATE (6:18pm): Over to the old train station of Uzès - click on the postcard to the right to see it bigger (as you may remember it is now a private home - and pretty much has kept its original allure - and was bought years ago by our friend Nicolas). We're doing some prep for dinner here tonight with a dozen friends - after the concert at Café Muscade.
