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bondir le nettoyage

2009-11-01T03:19:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the lack of updates lately--since we returned from Paris last week everything seems to have jumped into over-drive! I'll be doing some spring (or rather, fall) cleaning here and getting everything caught up since last week. I appreciate your patience!

day thirty-two

2009-10-18T01:25:00.000-07:00

Another market day! Today is my favourite day of the week--Sunday, the day for the Isle-sur-la-Sorgue antiques market. It was another bone-chilling morning, and all of the vendors were a little slow to put out their wares. To bide our time before we started shopping, Erica, Caitlin, Janelle, Lexi, Kara, and I went for a coffee inside a restaurant along the river. It was a nice time to keep warm and have some morning chit-chat, and the coffee wasn't bad. Once we were done, we went back out to the market.

I bought a lot of things I needed for class and Vernissage, including several old picture frames, velvet ribbon, and many antique doilies. After convening with Pam, she told us we could go on an additional little field trip with her to Fountiane Vaulcluse, the spring that is the source of the Sorgue river (the second largest spring in the world!). We, of course, jumped at the opportunity, and Erica, Caitlin, Lexi and I made our way with Pam.

Fountaine Vaulcuse is a little storybook village where the paper and textile industries began because of the spring's source of energy. There are waterwheels everywhere and ducks in the river that winds through.

Lunch!

First order of business was finding lunch, so the four of us went to a restaurant overlooking the river and had pizza and hot chocolate (or wine, for me). We then made our way around the village to check out the sights before heading home to work.

day thirty-one

2009-10-17T01:12:00.000-07:00

A new addition to the Apt market this morning!

I woke up early this morning for the usual Apt trip, but since my housemates went yesterday with Pam, I was all by my fibers lonesome. It's extremely cold here in the mornings before the sun comes up over the mountains, and today was no exception. I had some specific errands I needed to run in Apt, but the very first thing I did was buy a pair of gloves! They're very beautiful, gray leather with ladylike buttons on the wrist.

My second act of the morning was ducking into a café for a café creme. I chose an inconspicuous little restaurant that wasn't too busy, but still had some customers to show me they were open. I sat down in the corner and ordered my coffee, and then realized I had stumbled upon a scene very familiar to me in my American life: much like Sparta Hardee's at 7:30, this particular café appeared to be the hotspot for the over sixty crowd. I get a kick out of French old people. They are just like their American counterparts, only they kiss each other on the cheek and drink their coffee out of tiny espresso cups instead of styrofoam. While I was sitting there, one couple got up to leave and the man held the door for his wife. She got distracted telling a female friend good-bye, so he was stuck there holding the door open. He looked at me and said something in French with a wry smile. I didn't understand his words, but I understood what he was saying perfectly: "women!"

I found a mirror on my way out and took a little picture of myself for you guys at home. I'm a little leaner and my hair's a little more ragged, but it just makes me fit in with the rest of Europe.

day thirty

2009-10-16T01:00:00.000-07:00

Today was a very uneventful day, but I got some things accomplished for Vernissage. Vernissage is the French word for , and it's held the last weekend we're here in Lacoste. It's an opportunity for us to show all the work we've done while we're here, and if we want to, we can price and sell pieces at zero commission. The town gets turned inside out with all of our work displayed in studios, caves, nooks, and crannies.

It's officially fall in France.

Pam took a van of girls to Apt for a shopping run this afternoon. I would like to have gone, but all the spaces were filled. With no one to distract me, I figured it was a good time to get some work done. I was blessed with an entirely empty studio for three whole hours--an unprecedented record, I think. I was able to spread out, play my music, and just get into the sewing groove.

Getting my craft on.

I'm working on a line of pillows and home goods inspired by the French textiles I've seen and collected. They're made from linen and printed cotton that I bought from markets, and embellished with velvet ribbon, trims, and doilies (all antiques). Here are a few examples:

Pillow and pin cushion. The pillow will have a pink velvet ribbon on the linen when finished.

Pillow in progress.

day twenty-eight

2009-10-14T11:51:00.000-07:00

Super-soft, camel hair blankets.

It was a very cold, blustery Wednesday--we are exactly half-way through the quarter here in Lacoste. I can't believe how fast the time has gone. Today we had another Fibers field trip. This time it was to near-by Isle-sur-la-Sorgue (the town I go to for the Sunday antiques market). We went to the Brun Textile factory, the company whose open house we went to before. We only had access to the showroom, but it was more than enough for me. Brun Textile manufactures high-end luxury goods out of the world's finest natural fibers--some of them extremely rare.

The Brun Textile show room.

The show room contained samples of their goods, and we were given free reign to wander through and touch them all. Our host for the day was Jean-Louis Brun, the youngest generation of the 200-year-old founding family. He is a sourcing agent for the company and is extremely passionate about his work, the fibers world, and historical processing techniques. He is also a vegetarian.

The excruciatingly charming and handsome Jean-Louis handles a 1,000 euro scarf.

Jean-Louis played a short documentary film for us that showed the process of making a shawl from fine merino wool, from shearing to finishing. He also told us about some of their most precious materials, including Siberian Goat that has to be hunted for its hair, not sheared. He assured us that native Siberians hunt the goat for its meat, bones, and other bits, and the hair is a by-product that is sold to Brun Textile. Once refined, it makes the softest, lightest, and warmest fiber in the world. The scarf he let us feel cost 1,000 euros.

Rolled carpets.

After our enlightening visit with Jean-Louis, we headed to Tissus Gregoire, a fabrics warehouse that is very difficult to find. Gregoire is one of the typical French that I have encountered before--a man with fluent knowledge of English, but who will refuse to speak it to you once he discovers you're American. And then makes fun of the French he forces you to speak.

Kara pets a sheep in the Brun Textile showroom (this one's for Aunt B!).

I made only a few small purchases--four small spools of DMC cotton sewing thread, and a 1 kilo bag of kapok to use for stuffing pillows. Afterwards we went to a meager supper and went back to the warm room before bed.

day twenty-six

2009-10-13T00:46:00.001-07:00

Wow. It's almost been a week since I last updated. I'm sorry! Things are swinging into busy mode very quickly here in Lacoste. I spent most of my weekend working hard on my assignments. They were due yesterday in both classes, which meant I spent about 6.5 hours in critique! Yikes!

Last Friday we had an all-campus trip to Nîmes and le Pont du Gard. We left bright and early (I conveniently forgot to grab my bag lunch this time) and took the big bus for our two hour drive. We were all so sleepy and out of it on the way there. I fell asleep with my face against the window and each time we hit a switch-back I would lean away and then hit my face again! I'm sure it was eerily quiet with all 49 of us sleeping.

Inside l'Arene

We got to Nîmes and immediately went to l'Arene, a Roman colloseum that is still in standing, working order. It is smaller than the famous one in Rome, but is more complete. It is now used for bull fighting. From l'Arene we set out for la Museé Carrée, a contemporary art museum in the city center. I was disappointed in this museum, as I don't much care for contemporary art, and there were some very unpalatable installations (one included a taxidermied cat in a Ku Klux Klan hood). We sped through the rooms and then went across the street to la Maison Carrée. This is the best preserved temple found anywhere in the former Roman Empire. We sat outside to look at its portico, but the Art History professor scared us into running inside to see a movie being played. It was called "Heroes of Nîmes" and was shown in astounding 3-D. Not so astounding, really. Our 3D glasses were a bit like sunglasses and made it so dark that I couldn't read the English subtitles. I gathered that Nîmes is old and that only men can be heroes.

In the trim shop window.

Pam had instructed the Fibers majors to visit a small trim and notions shop, and we headed there after the movie only to find that it was 12:06 and the trim shop closed at noon. Most businesses take a "French lunch" that lasts from 12-2, so we had a long time to wait. Tired, hungry, and cranky, Janelle, Caitlin and I went to a little street cafe for lunch. We each had a pizza. They were thin crust with homemade tomato sauce, fresh mozarella, and black olives, and were approximately one foot in diameter. We each finished one, and I had a glass of really good white wine with mine.

We felt immensely better after eating and lounging for two hours, so we walked back to the trim shop and encountered the cutest patisserie I've ever seen! They had gorgeously coloured macarons in the windows and lots of artisanal bread. We dropped in to gawk and ended up getting ice cream. I had "caramel beurre salé" which is salted caramel butter. It was the BEST ice cream I've ever had!

Caitlin got chocolate.

We sped down to the trim shop and I bought two small spools of cotton thread and a metre of pretty, champagne-coloured lace. We had to go straight to the bus after that and drove another 30 minutes to the famous Pont du Gard outside Avignon.

The Pont du Gard is an amazing Roman aqueduct-turned-bridge that people still drive and walk across. The river below is a favourite swimming location for tourists, and some from our group took the plunge. The water looked far too cold for me! Caitlin and I sat on the rocks and I knitted and nursed a headache.

Finally back home, we had supper and went straight to bed.

day twenty

2009-10-07T12:28:00.000-07:00

Today I had the pleasure of touring OKHRA, an old ochre processing mill in Rousillon. The hills around Rousillon are home to one of the biggest ochre deposits in the world and gives the cliffs yellow, red, and brown striations.

A small mountain of red ochre.

These are the old worker's shirts on display. Before stringent health codes were established, the workers suffered a similar fate as the men working in coal mines.

We were given a walk-through of the old processing areas in the warehouse, then we went on to do a workshop using natural dyes on silk. After my intense course of Images on Fabric, I feel like a pro at natural dying, so today was just sort of a fun day to mess around. Kind of like going back to crayons for a day.

Yellow ochre on Janelle's finger.

Pigments ready to be mixed.

After the workshop we went into the village center of Rousillon to walk about and get some ice cream. Everything there is coated in a thin layer of ochre dust, so the stray cats all have orange fur!

The pictures of Rousillon really speak for themselves.

day eighteen

2009-10-05T21:00:00.000-07:00

We were able to sleep in this morning since we had a Fibers field trip in the afternoon. Our bus left at noon, so we didn't have time to get food at the cafeteria and took packed lunches. They were tres disappointing. Yuck! I left with a little bag of chips and two apples in my belly.

We drove to Oppéde, which is a national-owned park and hiking site. It is very beautiful and terraced up the side of a mountain (as is everything else here!). The bottom area is a tended garden that gets a bit more wild and rugged as you climb up the trail. About half-way through you arrive in le vieux village, "the old village", where the small population lives. The village was built first during the Roman times, then added onto during the Medieval ages. Final additions were completed during the 17th and 18th centuries, and this is mostly what constitutes the old village.

I got a shot of this little lizardy guy in the underbrush.

The Roman and Medieval parts of the city are ruins and are an active archaeological site, but one is still allowed to roam freely throughout them. It's so amazing...forest has overtaken the insides of some of the buildings, turning them into live terraria. When you look in the windows, you can see trees and flowers and birds inside.

Croci bloom here most of the year.

The trail through the ruins is steep and dangerous, and there are many sheer drop-offs where you can fall and injure yourself if you aren't careful. I was sure to stay on the marked paths!

We came upon an ancient chapel with the most beautiful carvings on the doors.

The top-most part of the site is an old Catholic church that overlooks the entire valley. I sat up there to catch my breath and enjoy the breeze for a while and took a video to show you the amazing view. Altogether the hike was about 4 hours. Needless to say, I was very tired when we got home!

days fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, and seventeen

2009-10-05T00:30:00.000-07:00

Ouch! Four days swept under the carpet without so much as a blog post. Things have been pretty slow around these parts, and my camera hasn't seen much action. I'll try to recap the most interesting things:

The opening.

Pam and Angela examine some sculpture inside the store.

Friday: We went to a gallery opening in Isle-sur-la-Sorgue for a textile company. It felt like I was a "real" artist! I got dressed up and we milled about with the French elite sipping wine and eating sushi off of a tray. After the opening we went to a Vietnamese restaurant where I ate my fill of chicken and cashews in yellow curry sauce. Yum.

Pam took this picture of the full moon in the valley.

Saturday: Nothing much happened until the night, when Pam took us on a "full moon wander" through the valley to experience the sounds and smells of Lacoste in the full moonlight. I didn't take any photos, but some of the other girls did and they turned out beautifully. We smelled night jasmine and herbs and heard bats and a lonely owl.

Back at the market. Look at the colour-coordinated ribbons!

Sunday: We spent another morning in Isle-sur-la-Sorgue at the French antiques market. This time I was armed with cash, so I spent it on some real treasures! The splurge of the day was a gigantic vintage science poster showing the anatomical breakdown of the dog rose on one side and the pea plant on the other. Caitlin and I think it will look splendid behind our couch. I also bought a metre of pale blue antique velvet ribbon, 4.5 metres of antique white cotton rickrack, and two items of special value to me. The first is a rosary from Virginie. It has aqua glass and crystal beads and is from 1840. The second is the sweetest child's head wreath. I think it was for a first communion, and it is made of small white fabric roses and white cotton tulle.

Kara is fitted for an antique cotton bodice.

day thirteen

2009-09-30T21:00:00.000-07:00

Today was another full day of adventures here in the south of France. I started out the morning meeting at the Goat Gate to load two vans of Fibers students. We were heading off to St. Remy and Les Olivades. Caitlin and I sat in the front of the van with Pam so that we could be her navigators/translators--always a fun job.

We drove through tunnels of giant sycamore trees to get there. These feature heavily in Van Gogh's work, and they were no less beautiful in person.

An employee rolling 2,000 metres of fabric onto a big cylinder.

First stop was Les Olivades. Provence is famous for its printed fabrics, but Les Olivades is the last producer of true Provençal fabrics. All the rest is exported to places like Cambodia and Thailand for printing. This company is family owned and run by only about 50 employees, and they ship their limited run fabrics all around the world.

This is one of the very long tables where fabrics are printed.

The female employees still use these ancient Pfaff treadle machines to stitch sheets of fabric together!

All of the fabric production is done in-house at Les Olivades. First the imported cotton is scorched with flames in a special machine, then transferred to a big piece of machinery that will either bleach it white or dye it a solid colour. After that it is taken through an assembly line where it is washed, pressed, and dried on a large roll. The printing begins when an extremely long table is coated with a sticky glue and a long sheet of the fabric is placed all the way down the length of it. Any given pattern may require up to 11 different colours of ink (and therefore 11 different screens to print the pattern)!

This man is securing the squeegee onto the robotic printer. He's been working at Les Olivades for 20 years.

The screen printing process is semi-automatic: a little robot is affixed on a track that moves up and down the table, guided by a worker. The worker places the screen onto the robot, locks on a squeegee, and pours an amount of ink onto the screen. The robot is programmed to press the squeegee down the screen, then moves a certain length down the table and repeats. This happens for each colour until the pattern is completely finished. Certainly a tedious process!

This is the finished product!

Look at how huge these screens are! At least 8 feet tall. You can print an entire table cloth in one go with these.

The afternoon took us to St. Remy, the town where Vincent van Gogh was institutionalised in a sanitorium. It's there that he painted some of his most famous works, including The Starry Night. We didn't visit the actual asylum, but spent a nice leisurely two hours in the village center. We were on our own for lunch, so I went with Caitlin and Lexi to a Vietnamese restaurant where I had a plate of noodles with shrimp and fresh vegetables. Probably the healthiest I've eaten since I arrived! It was so yummy.

After our lunch we made our way to a gourmet chocolaterie that Pam insisted we check out. The chocolatier makes 26 varieties of little square truffles (a flavour for each letter of the alphabet!). I got a box of 16 for 10 euros--two each of the following flavours: vanilla, dark chocolate, caramel, lavender, violet, mint, tiramisu, and coffee. I can't wait to try them! I also got a scoop of lavender ice cream from a street vendor. Sadly a waste of money, as I felt like I was eating frozen potpurri. YUCK.

The evening brought a much-needed nap and some stitching before bed with the other girls.

special topic

2009-09-29T11:38:00.001-07:00

I heard that some of you at home are wanting to see more pictures of me on the other side of the camera lens! Here are some assorted photos of me during the first week at Lacoste:

And here's a special lesson on Provençal agriculture:

Unlike at home, where one farmer own hundreds of acres and farms, perhaps, 3 different crops, the farmers here in Vaucluse farm small fields that look to be about two acres. They farm many different things. So far I have seen vineyards, lavender fields, cherry orchards, apple orchards, olive groves, and a carrot field. I was told that most farmers participate in an agricultural cooperartive. For example, the vineyard owners will all take their grape harvest to one central location to be processed into wine, and they each receive a portion of the profit. I think this system makes sense! And I hope to see a field of carrots out at the farm very soon.

day twelve

2009-09-29T11:19:00.000-07:00

Today was yet another busy day here in Lacoste! I started out the morning with a Special Edition Stitch Diary class. It was simply so the Hong Kong people could get more shots of us. I taught one of the ladies to embroider. I have to say, of all the things I expected to be doing here, that was NOT one of them.

I had thirty minutes at noon to do my laundry exchange (yay fresh sheets!) and scarf down a little lunch before heading off on an adventure. The Advanced Travel Portfolio class was taking a trip to see Jean-Pierre, a mosaic artist, today. The Art History class went last week, so since I was one of the few students that hadn't gone, Pam graciously allowed me to tag along.

Jean-Pierre shows us how to make a mosaic.

Jean-Pierre is a "mosaïst", a handy-man for the campus, and the mayor of Cassaneuve, the little town in which he lives. He is also an amateur treasure hunter and scours the fields surrounding the area for Roman artifacts (and there are plenty!)

Using a traditional Roman tool to split marble pieces.

He gave us a tour of his studio and showed us how he makes his mosaics. They are made entirely from old pieces of marble or beach glass. Some of his mosaics are made only from pieces of Roman marble/pottery! Jean-Pierre has had many celebrity commissioners.

Jean-Pierre uses pieces of beach glass like these in his mosaics.

After the studio tour, we went to Jean-Pierre's house in the village and he gave us refreshments on his gorgeous terrace. He is so high on the mountaintop that on a clear day he can see the Mediterranean Sea sparkling from a distant valley.

Roman nails and chains.

The most spectacular part of the day was when Jean-Pierre showed us his favourite Roman artifacts--coins, rings, bracelets, nails, and a chest piece from a Roman legionnaire's uniform. The strangest, but most amazing, item was the top of a small, thin bottle made of blue glass that he found in Lacoste. He told us that in Roman days, one would hire women to come to a funeral to professionally cry for the deceased. The women would use the small bottle to catch their tears, then the corked bottle was buried with the dead in case the soul became thirsty on the way to the afterlife. This was one of those bottles! Even more incredible is the fact that I was allowed to hold each and every item.

This is what a typical Provençal kitchen looks like. Isn't it cute?

On the way home I was getting drowsy in the back of the van with cool mountain air hitting my face and I thought about what an amazingly charmed life I am living and how thankful I am to be here.

I did laundry when I got home and had a meager dinner, and tonight I am up for more stitching.

day eleven

2009-09-28T07:59:00.000-07:00

Oops. I can't believe how fast two days went by! I really meant to update my blog, but I somehow never got around to the lab to do it. I'll update you on what's been happening this past weekend.

Strawberry baskets at the market.

Saturday: I made the trip to Apt to the market again. This time it was sunny and cool out like a pretty fall morning, so there were twice as many stalls.

Caitlin picking out fabric from a stall.

This is how they do it in Apt!

Caitlin bought a metre of cotton-linen fabric from a vendor on the street. I bought a new bunch of lavender for the bathroom to make it smell a bit better. We went to Intermarche and I bought a purple mug, radishes, butter cookies to eat with coffee, a big bottle of Coke, a carton of apple juice, two little yogurts that come in terra cotta cups, and a pack of rice cakes. Now I'm well-stocked! That afternoon I worked on my homework--trying to keep on track!

Sunday: I slept in until 10:30! It felt great. I spent the whole day working on my stitching out on a pretty, shaded terrace owned by the school. Last night we had a surprise Fibers meeting to clean up the studio and hang work, because we found out a TV crew from Hong Kong was coming to film the school and the students.

Our studio

Today: I woke up and showered an shaved, all for those wacky Hong Kong people. They better appreciate it! We were instructed to look artsy-chic and cute, so I wore my black skirt from Anthropologie with my white J. Crew blouse and t-strap flats. We had a studio day while the crew filmed. They loved Janelle! She showed them how to free-motion embroidery on the Berninas and they interviewed her for television.

Lunch today was the best meal we've had since I got here! Roasted chicken drumsticks in a raspberry reduction; buttered noodles; steamed broccoli; sauteed wild mushrooms; bread; and a chocolate eclair for dessert. Yum Yum! I finally felt satisfied.

The private terrace off our studio.

I took some pictures of the things I've stitched so far (all of them are song lyrics except the last one):

day nine

2009-09-25T11:48:00.001-07:00

A square in Aix.

Sorry I didn't write a post about my day yesterday! It really wasn't all that exciting. I spent the morning making my bed and cleaning, stitched a little, and last night went to the Cafe de France with the girls.

Kara (left) and Pam (right) at the Tapestry Museum.

This morning we got up bright and early for a trip to Aix-en-Provence, the home of the post-impressionist painter, Cezanne. We went to see the closing of the Cezanne/Picasso show at their museum. It was nice, but I am not a big fan of either man. We also went to the Tapestry Museum with 17th and 18th century tapestries depicting scenes from Don Quixote...and interesting experience, to say the least. The tour guide spoke VERY little English, and his companion spoke just slightly more but still tried to translate. It was sort of like Abbott and Costello meets the Fiber Arts world.

La Victoire, a fabric store.

The Fibers girls went to the two different fabric stores in town where I stocked up on some goodies. We had the afternoon free, so we went to a little cafe for ice cream, then walked to a biscuiterie where some girls bought cookies.

Gorgeous marzipan cherries at the biscuiterie.

We found a very neat little children's book store on a street and Caitlin bought a very cool edition of Little Red Riding Hood in French. Janelle bought an amazing book that was an edition of only 300, with the covers hand printed on wood and the pages folded between accordion style. It's about a little shrimp named Babbeth.

We hit the art supply store to get a few needed items, then went to a different street cafe for coffee where we hung out and I worked on my sampler until it was time to meet the bus.

Tomorrow I am going to the Apt market again. My prerogative is to find one of the cute, 2 euro coffee mugs some of the other girls got!

day seven

2009-09-24T00:43:00.000-07:00

Je suis désolée! I have no pictures for today and it's a late post! I had a very full day yesterday. I woke up and had breakfast, then got my train case and went to Stitch Diary where I learned to use the industrial Bernina machines to do free-motion embroidery. VERY cool and I can't wait to try it out! I also did a little text sampler trying out different "fonts" with different embroidery stitches using lyrics from Iron & Wine (my fav. band). It came out very neat and I'll post pictures of all my stitches later.

Surprisingly I was not sore yesterday from my long trek to Bonnieux. I attribute that to the ibuprofen I took before bed. I'm already in way better shape. I could probably do the Iron Man. Well, maybe not...but I am good at being a little goat clambering up the stone hills!

After lunch we had Local Cloth, Local Color where Pam demoed the sewing machines again, so those of us who did it that morning were allowed to disperse and work on whatever we wanted. Caitlin and I sat on the private Fibers terrace overlooking the valley and stitched while sharing my earbuds and listening to music.

We had every intention of going to the French lessons after class, but when were home Lexi came back and was very sick. It was very sudden and there was a lot of violent sickness. Lucky for her, Fibers girls make very good surrogate mommies, so we took turns running to get things like my thermometer, more trashbags, and a wet washcloth. We also got Eleanor, who seemed to think it was a panic attack mixed with new food enzymes since Lexi didn't have a fever or other symptoms. By last night she was feeling much better. We've all been popping Vitamin C and echinacea just to be safe.

Yesterday was Janelle's 21st birthday, so we had planned to go out to Cafe de France but postponed it so Lexi could be with us. Pam and I talked to the chef in the cafeteria about making a little special dessert for Janelle, but he must have forgotten because he never brought anything out! So I went and talked to him and he said their wires were crossed, but he is such a sweet man and ran around like crazy to find a little goodie for her. He ended up with two little doughnuts with a mocha filling. He brought me an old Camel carton with candles in it and I picked out two, then asked "Avez-vous un feu?" and he lit them with his lighter (see? My french is now superb.) Kara then struck up a rousing round of Happy Birthday with everyone in the cafeteria while Janelle blew out the candles.

Today I am all by myself again while the girls are at class, so I have the whole morning before me! More later.

day six

2009-09-22T11:38:00.000-07:00

Today was my "easy" day. No class at all! I woke up briefly when Caitlin's alarm went off but rolled right over and went back to sleep (and then missed breakfast, oops). I got up at 9:30 and dressed, cleaned up my room and put together this little photo tour for you!

This is my "dorm" (I wouldn't call it that!), Maison Renard, which means "Fox House".

When you enter Renard, you come into a little communal foyer. This is the left side...

...and this is the right side. The fire place is purely decorational.

From the foyer you go through a french door and down a few stone steps to the ground floor where there are three rooms: To the left, Caitlin and Me; in the center, Lexi; and on the right Kara and Janelle.

Entering our room...

Our tiny little fox den that we call home.

Caitlin's bed and dresser.

My bed and nightstand.

My dresser, mirror, and lavender.

Our cute little closet cubby.

Our window. I still can't believe I wake up and look out to that every morning!

In the very middle of the bottom floor is this spiral staircase. It's made of wood and only has a railing for a portion of the stairs. VERY treacherous!

The stairs change their twist and become stone half-way up.

The bathroom, inconveniently situated at the very top floor.

This afternoon Caitlin and I transferred some of my money to her banking account via Paypal so that she could withdraw it from an ATM. The only ATM close by is in Bonnieux, so off we went! I should mention that Bonnieux is a 5 km walk one-way up steep hills and many switch-backs. We made it though, and I am finally financially secure, which I may have to spend on new feet after THAT excursion.

See the teensy village on top of the hill in the distance? That's Lacoste. And I walked from there to where I stood for the picture! Tres impressive, non?

day five

2009-09-21T11:24:00.000-07:00

The view of Lacoste from the valley below.

The day started with breakfast, followed immediately by Stitch Diary in our beautiful studio. There are only six students in the class, so we'll have lots of one-on-one time with Madame Pamela. We got our first assignment today. It's a long-term project where we make one embroidery every day for the next 21 days, based on something we have seen or experienced or felt that day. My embroidery for today was of the teasels from our hike (read below).

Pam climbed down into a deep ditch to get these teasels and give us a brief lecture on their use in weaving.

After a meager and unsatisfying lunch we went back to the studio for Local Cloth, Local Color. The class is based around field trips, photography, and collage. We take inspirational photos from our travels and extract information from them to inspire colour, texture, pattern, and mood. Sounds fun!

For the last hour of class, Pam took us on a hike down the mountain and through the valley below. There are beautiful fields, orchards, vineyards, farmhouses, and forests. We took photos for the class.

Teeny tiny white snails cling to every stalk of grass in the fields.

Tonight I am thinking of going out to Cafe du France for a glass of wine with a few of the other girls.

day four

2009-09-20T12:37:00.000-07:00

Day four (the best day yet) is coming to an end. This Sunday began at 08:00 when the triple alarm sounded and I pulled back our curtain to let the bright morning sunshine flood into our room. Caitlin and I have one small window in our little room, so the only time we get much light is in the morning when the sun has risen in the east and faces our window head-on. A blessing, I think, because it makes it so much easier to get up and start the day!

Pamela Wiley, our beloved Fibers professor, invited the Fibers girls to come with her to the antiques market at Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, a village about 40 minutes from Lacoste by van. It was chilly and a little wet outside, but a sunny and non rainy day!

Caitlin, Kara, Janelle, Lexi, Erica, Angela, and I all went with Pam and explored the many stalls of amazing French antiques for an hour and a half.

We made a special trip to visit Virginie, a friend of Pam's who is a local French woman that runs a stall with her mother selling antique French textiles. She speaks very good (though broken) English and is so hospitable to all of the Fibers students.
Her adorable (and also antique) Poodle, Kappi, also helps man the stall from his cozy nest of blankets in the back.

Kappi

We came back for brunch in the cafeteria's courtyard, and I ate two baguettes with butter and strawberry jam, an apricot yogurt, an orange, and cafe au lait. I decided that French butter is somehow much better than American butter, but I'm not sure how they differ. One thing we have discovered is the little cubes of neufchatel flavoured with garlic and herbs--YUM.

Giant (about a foot long) spools of thread that Virginie rescued from a local textile mill that was recently closed.

At four o' clock the Fibers students met Pam in our studio to clean up the mess that SCAD never got around to fixing. We have the best studio in the village, perched at the top with our own terrace that presents you with the most beautiful panoramic view of the mountains surrounding Lacoste. You can see the weather move from one side to the other. Afterwards Pam took us on another little trip through the village to show us the more important sites that the staff somehow overlooked, i.e. the laundry facilities, student lounge, and the school offices.

Dinner tonight was a green salad with two baguettes, butter, and a slice of tart au pomme with milk, then mocha coffee.

Tomorrow is the first day of classes, and a full one! I have Stitch Diary from 9-11, lunch 12-1, and Local Cloth, Local Color from 1-4. A full day of Fibers with Caitlin and Pam. What could be better?

day three

2009-09-20T11:18:00.000-07:00

My third day in Lacoste began with a rousing chorus of alarm clocks--first Caitlin's, then mine, and then Lexi's (who we can see and hear through a little hole in our stone wall!). We all had clocks set a few minutes apart. We certainly won't be sleeping in by accident! It was so dark in our room at 7 am, and when I pulled back our little curtain I found that the sun was just rising over the mountain tops through the clouds.

I was FINALLY able to take a shower, and boy did it feel good! We ate breakfast at 8:00 and I had two little waffles that left some to be desired (they seemed like pre-frozen belgian waffles) with strawberry jam, an orange, and some cafe au lait. We took a bus to Apt, which is about 30 minutes away and has a HUGE market every Saturday. It's one of the longest-running markets in Europe and was established back in the Roman times. More trouble at the ATMs! Apparently my card has a $200 limit in 24 hours, and when I tried to withdraw more today in Apt it hadn't been 24 hours yet. Caitlin let me borrow 20€ from her so I could buy a few things at the market. Thank God for wonderful friends!

Lexi (left) and Caitlin (right) at the Apt Market

I got a little glass bottle for my dresser, and we bought two giant bunches of lavender to sprinkle around the room and put in the bottle. It keeps the scorpions and other critters out, and it just really smells good. We went to the Intermarché, which is a supermarket like Kroger with groceries and limited domestic goods, and I bought a razor (forgot mine), a bag of pretzels, a little glass jar of nutella, and soap for our sink.

There were so many booths at the market that twisted and turned along all of the little alleys of the city. Some had flowers, others had Provençal fabrics, some specialized in herbs or goat cheeses or garlic. I loved the vegetable booths that had rows of beautiful fresh produce labeled with chalkboard signs--just like in the movies!

My French is improving by leaps and bounds, and I expect to be very good by the time I come home. Caitlin and I spent the morning speaking to each other in French as much as possible.

Did you know the French never put your merchandise in bags at the check-out? Not even at the Supermarché. You have to bring your own bag. I love it!

After the market we went to the Pont Julien, an ancient Roman bridge that is still in standing, working order despite being built in the 12th century BC. It was built to facilitate a trade route between Italy and Spain. Some people frequent the area to look for ancient artifacts like Roman coins and pottery. I was hoping to find one, but alas! I had fun exploring though--I even waded in the river that runs below it--very cool.

We had lunch in the cafeteria after that--I ate a mixed green salad with carrot shavings in a vinaigrette, two baguette pieces with butter, and a ripe yellow pear. We had a tour of the village with Finn, an Irish ex-pat who lives in the village and is our campus gardener, a published author, the poet laureat of Lacoste and "various other things which we will find out about later." He was engaging and extremely knowledgable and reminded me of Henry Dean. After that an hour of downtime to relax in the house, spent getting to know the other girls better over hazelnut coffee and British chocolate. Then we had orientation (yawn) and a few hours of downtime before the Bienvenue Dinner, where our chef Fabrice made a delicious Spanish-themed meal. We were encouraged to dress up (I wore my little black dress, a green and white scarf, my t-strap shoes, and a feather clip) and were served by the wait staff! We ate a four-course meal: 1. Prosciutto with melon; 2: Paella (veggie for me!); 3: Cheese course of Brie or Bleu; 4: Mini chocolate soufflé! We even had virgin sangria to drink.

The view from the door of my house!

The Fibers girls rounded out the evening with a trip to the librarie to hang out and chat. A good day!

day two

2009-09-18T05:03:00.000-07:00

Day two was oddly short and seemed to blend together with my first day for one long, continuous 48 hours of travelling. My plane departed from Paris to Marseille with no major hang-ups and I tried to no avail to catch a few winks on the flight. We got to Marseille and I made a joyful reunion with Caitlin, as well as Kara, Lexi, Janelle, and Erica. I had a bit of trouble withdrawing money from the ATM. My debit card was rejected nearly every time I tried, but it eventually let me take out first 70€and then 40. 100 of that was to go to the campus for a housing deposit, which left me with 10€ to spend on a cheese and tomato sandwich and a bottle of coke. My first all-French transaction!

We borded the bus to Lacoste as ominous clouds built in the distance and it started to rain just as we drove away. Caitlin and I caught up and chatted non-stop on the bus, and the Fibers girls all demanded to see my engagement ring and cooed over it. The rain kept getting heavier and made it very difficult to see the beautiful landscape outside!

When we got to Lacoste, the rain was at its heaviest and it even began to hail! We dreaded the slick walk up the steep, stone hill. We were so fortunate that the staff labeled our luggage with our dorm names at the airport, so when we got to the village the men of the maintenance crew delivered it for us. In the mean time, we huddled under our umbrellas to the Café des Artistes (our cafeteria)to get our keys, make deposits, and pick up our information packets and a tee-shirt.

A little downtime to explore our dormitories and unpack--a photo tour of my house will come soon! The rain stopped and we were treated to a beautiful rainbow outside our windows. Later we had dinner. The food has been very good so far!

More soon!

day one

2009-09-17T21:39:00.000-07:00

Bonjour! I am writing from an Illy bar in Charles de Gaulle airport right outside my gate. It is currently 06:40 and I have 3,5 hours until I make my connecting flight to Marseilles--the end of the planes!

I left St. Louis about noon yesterday and had a little trouble with my luggage. I was so sure that I would over-estimate the weight of my bag, but boy did I ever UNDERestimate! The thing weighed a whopping (are you ready?) 76 pounds. 26 pounds over the limit, and it would cost $100 each leg of my trip ($300 total). Mom, Dad and I scurried to shift the extra weight into an empty, collapsed duffle I brought just in case. In the end we made it with only a $50 fee for an extra checked bag. The flight was uneventful and I landed safely at my destination.

In JFK I was very confused. I had to go to "Terminal 1" to reach the international points, so I asked every staff member I saw where it was, and eventually I made it there. I had to actually leave the airport and walk outside down a decrepit-looking ramp to another building where nothing was in English. I found that I had to go through security again to get to my gate, which took quite a long time. I got to my gate to find I was one of the last to board, and they told me my carry-on bag was 0,5" too big so they would have to check it and give it back to me in Marseilles. I extracated my quilt and laptop and sent it off.

I slept on-and-off through about half of the flight. In the end, as we began our final descent into CDG in the dark, the clouds suddenly broke and I could see all the lights of Paris spread out beneath my window. I met up with my friend Paige, another Fibers girl who was sitting in the row in front of me, and we found our way through customs to our gate to wait for our next flight.

And here we are.