We left the house at 9:00 am in pouring rain, walked around Aix all day in the pouring rain, visited a museum, a couple of artists, a bridge, a garden, a spa built over old Roman baths, photographed Death at a wedding, and got food and coffee in the pouring rain. We went to a Mass with confirmation of adults by the Archbishop at the Aix Cathedral the evening, and finally got home at 11:00 pm, cold and wet. The photos are in order of the day, with the exception of the Tapestry Museum where I couldn’t take photos.
The tapestries were of scenes from Don Quijote, and they had a show of photographs by Roland Leboye, a French photographer who has taken Cartier Bresson’s “the decisive moment” to the extreme! Leboye’s street photography was wonderful and often very funny.
The giant insects are by a local artist from Aix.
The piles of paper and paper skull are part of a Paper Art installation we ran across by chance, and the arch Laurie is standing under is at the end of the courtyard were the Paper Art was.
We stayed in the tapestry museum until around noon, so by the time we got done looking at the insects and paper art, we got some food and hung out and ate and drank coffee until it was time to go to the art installation to meet the artist.
We got to the studio and installation of artwork by Nicole Catannéo about 2:15, met Nicole and Laurie discussed art and life with her and another older woman, in French, for over an hour. Nicole has quite a story as she had an illness when she was in her 40’s which left her partially paralyzed, and then her husband died when she was in her 50’s. She got herself together and went to art classes, and now creates wonderful paintings. She and Laurie really hit it off.
After the studio, we got another coffee for some warmth and energy, and headed toward the gardens at the northwestern edge of Aix. We walked through the modern shopping area on the western side of Aix, but when we got to the planted bridge, we were too far west and had to backtrack. We finally got to the gardens and found a bathroom on the grounds which had one of the “hole in the floor” fixtures. The garden was formal with mostly grass, but it had a nice rose garden behind the main garden. It also has a mansion with a museum, but they were closing when we got up to it. The mansion has a interesting entrance.
We stopped by a spa the is built over some old Roman baths to see what it cost to do the spa and get a message — about 100€ for both and 60€ for a 30 minute message.
On our way back to the center of Aix to find some food before we went to Mass, we walked by the cathedral and there was a VW and an Audi decorated for a wedding. Sophie told me that the Saturday before Pentecost was a big day for weddings in Aix, and we saw cars from 3 different weddings. While we waited for the bride and groom to come out, death walked by the VW.
After getting a bite to eat, we got to the cathedral at 7:30, an hour before the service to get good seats. We ended up siting more in the middle because the seats in front were occupied by the folks being confirmed, which looked to be well over 100 people plus their parents, bothers, sisters, husbands, wives; whoever was presenting them to the priest and Archbishop. The service was good, and the music was fantastic with the pipe organ and choral music. Laurie and I saw Matilda, the Brasilian who told us about it after the service, and we shook hands with the Archbishop on the way out. The boy in the last photo was cutting up during most of the service with a couple other boys. He looked quite shocked when the Archbishop stopped, put his hand on the boy’s shoulder, and blessed him at the end of the service.
Off Center & Not Even 
Beautiful set! Bravo! Really nice and with sharp eye! )
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Hahaha, that toilet!!! I really don’t like those toilets, but recognize them immediately!
They are pretty awkward.
Yes, they’re not that great! 😉
Was the girl with the umbrella real or art? Also the old lady in the chair, they look like wax figures. Amazing photos! I had to look at them to take it all in! You sure take amazing photos. I love that last photo of the little boy with the priest, was he blessing him?
All the people in the photos are real. If you are asking about Laurie under the arch with the umbrella, she is art, but real, also. I liked death following the guy as they walked by the white VW, and the look on the kid’s face when the Archbishop stopped to say a word to him.
OH yes! I didn’t know what to think about that dark hooded person but death following him is really a cool way of looking at it and maybe a little scary! Isn’t that amazing someone would dress like that and you captured it. I had a art teacher say about photography right place right time and it’s so true.
The look on that kids face was priceless Archbishop that is a big deal him speaking to that boy!
The “right place, right time” was famously summed up by Henri Cartier-Bresson as “The decisive moment!”
Oh wow and here I thought my friend was wise! 😀 You must have studied art!
Amazing talent you have!
I was 6 hours short of a double major in geography and art/photography. I couldn’t take the thought of another semester of undergrad work to get the double major, so I took the minor in art/photography.
That’s where all the knowledge comes from! It’s a good thing you are sharing it! 😀
I gotta say, that shot with the Archbishop and the young boy sent shivers up my spine!!!
That’s only because I did a movie for Showtime about Cardinal Law and the pedophile priests.
It was a mind blowing experience.
I can see that. Pedophilia among priests is troubling.
Thank you for understanding.
One thing I found interesting is for France being such a secular country, church attendance was quite high. We would make the rounds of churches on most Sunday mornings to listen the pipe organs. I was surprised how full the services were.
I can see that.
No one really knows anything about why we are here. Why the universe or infinity is.
God/religion is an option.
People need to hold answers in their minds and hearts. Otherwise life is a terrifying question.
I’m lost, admittedly, but not scared, not looking for answers.
I was raised Catholic. I had negative experiences in the church.
I know a lot people who were raised Catholics and had a lot of negative experiences. I’m protestant, and have had some very negative experiences as an adult.
How unfortunate!
Religion… especially the bible and koran has fought since the day they met.
I really wish religion could be an answer for me. An answer to this existence would be a satisfactory completion.
My grandmother, an ardent Catholic, seemed to get it in her folksy way. She blindly believed.
She had seen many pics of white Jesus, but wanted to know what god looked like.
My uncle gave her a calendar. The world was in the middle of the picture. God, an old white haired Jesus was on the left. Jesus was on the right of it.
She was so proud of that pic. None of her friends had a picture of god.
It meant a lot to her.
I love her blindly to this day.
My grandmother had blind faith as well. She had a painting of white Jesus with flowing locks. It’s funny to think back on that painting, because I looked a bit like that painting when I had really long hair in Spain. I got teased by the Spanish for looking like Jesus, and I was always carful around Semana Santa to not be kidnapped by the Penintentes and crucified.
My grandmother never mentioned wanting to know what God looks like. Probably a difference between Protestants and Catholics.
I read a book called “The Shack” several years ago where the author portrayed God as an Ant Jaimima character, Jesus as a dolt, and the Holy Spirit as an Asian woman. I don’t know why I finished the book, because his characterizations were so weird they drove me nuts. If you read the Bible, humans can’t see God or even survive being in the presence of God. I can picture God as bright light, not as an old man, and certainly not as Ant Jaimima.