Wednesday, May 29th, 1991
6:15 AM… I’m the first one up. Vianeytte usually gets up around 7:00. Yollanda called last night and since I’m in Nice for such a short time she offered to come over tonight and prepare a “provencale” dinner. I plan on driving to Antibes today and spending my day wandering that city. It’s not too far away so | will be able to get back in plenty of time to shower and change for dinner. We will see if I run into Erin today .. .
Tomorrow I think I will spend the day quietly. I only spend about an hour in Antibes. There isn’t much to photograph here and the light is very flat this morning. I decided to drive up into the mountains to the village of Gourdon. Gourdon is high and thus cooler than down at sea level. The Sun is trying to break through the clouds unsuccessfully.
Once I arrive in Gourdon I walk around taking photos. There are some children playing that I shoot for awhile. Gourdon is a very small village and nothing was open yet. I was getting hungry so I decided to continue on up into the mountains to the next village, looking for somewhere to eat.
I find a small village and stop to eat. The restaurant is nothing special, but it is a challenge since the waitress doesn’t speak any English. She asks me if I want to eat (I recognized the French word for eat: manger) and after I say “Oui” I am seated.
Looking at the menu I play it safe and order things I recognized; Terrine, fillet, et frites. I have a small bottle of vin rose. Afterwards I have the fromage and then a tarte de pomme. The waitress’ son has come in for lunch. This is obviously a family run place with the wife waiting tables and the husband cooking.
I finish my meal and start to entertain the son with some card magic. The son’s name is Demetri. He doesn’t speak English either. It is always a challenge to get someone to “take a card, please” when they don’t speak English and I don’t speak their language.
After lunch I continued my drive through the mountains. Much of the terrain reminds me of the eastern side of the Cascades. The small pines with little if any undergrowth and lot of rocks. I decide to head back to Valbonne for a cafe au lait. I get back to Valbonne about 3:00.
Walking towards the center square I come across one of the cats that I had taken a photo of last year. He rubs up against my leg and I kneel to rub his head and back. He is an older cat, grey and white. He jumps up to the window ledge where I first saw him last year and curls into a circle to take a nap. I shoot a couple of photos for old times sake. I then head for the center of the village to the cafe.
At this time of year there are not so many tourists in the town. I sit down at a table outside, near some French men and women. My cafe au lait comes and I start to practice with my cards. I catch the attention of one of the men and the young lady next to him. I love the look of amazement that most women all over the world get when watching close up magic. I suspect that the difference in men versus women’s reactions has to do with the fragile male ego. Men seem more likely to act threatened to a magician doing magic than women. It is just one of those things I have noticed over the years.
The gentleman speaks very good English and we begin to chat. He owns a bar and restaurant in Valbonne. Soon he is calling his friends over to the table to watch what I am doing. I spend about an hour performing for ten to fifteen people. During my performing he buys my cafe and a patis. The young woman buys me a deck of French playing cards. This happens often when I am doing magic. People always want to know, “can you do that with any deck of cards?” I do some with the French deck and then go back to mine. French cards are different from American cards. They are a little thicker and are not quite the same size. Also, each of the corners of the card has a pip, instead of just two diagonal corners. What I like about French cards is the design of the face cards, which in France are called Roi (King), Dame (Queen) and Valet (Jack).
I leave around 4:00. I want to return to the house and get cleaned up for dinner. The owner of the restaurant invites me to visit his bar tomorrow, and offers to buy me a drink if 1 do.
While I have been waiting for Yollanda and Vianeytte I have been practicing my Tai Chi. [hear the sound of thunder in the distance and the air feels heavy. It is very peaceful here, even with the sounds of civilization in the background. There is a sense of tranquility. Maybe it is the sea air, or the birds singing. Whatever it is, it makes a nice place to practice Tai Chi. I can’t imagine what Corrine thinks about this strange American doing this funny dance in the front yard. Corrine is fascinating. She is a typical 15 year old, poised between adolescence and adult. I am impressed with how Michel, Vianeytte and Corrine act as a family. There is a lot of affection and good communication going on.
Yollanda has arrived bearing a ton of food. She is preparing a leg of lamb (gigot) with a basting of anchovies (believe it or not . . .) She says the anchovies gives the lamb a crisp coating but doesn’t give it any flavor.
The vegetable dish is tomato, potato and zucchini baked on a bed of fried onions. Dinner is nice, but the vegetables weren’t ready when the lamb was, so the lamb picked up more of the anchovies taste than it was supposed to. Yollanda apologized but I thought it all tasted great. The dinner was a nice gesture and I will have to send something to her for a thank you. After dinner Yollanda asked me to do some magic for her.