2010 it is and I live in San Francisco. After leaving Fayence for Houston, TX, coming back to Nice for high school and college and moving to California in 2001, I met the love of my life and live with him in this fine city. Needless to say all this moving around took a toll on my friendships. I was very close to my friends in Fayence and from high school, but pretty much lost contact over time.
And then came the very un-poetic Facebook. I slowly reconnected with my old French friends. Incredible! My friends! From France! From tiny villages of Provence! One of which was Magali Escapin. She was traveling in Australia for a long while trying to escape from certain aspects of the French mentality (just like me). Long story short, she loved Australia so much that she wanted to take her MBA in Melbourne. To do that, she had to get out of the country and take the GMAT. Turns out the most convenient pace to do that was where? In San Francisco. Well gosh darn it, what a coincidence!
And there she was, on my door step, 15 years after we saw each-other last. What a trip! She stayed in the city for about 2 months, so we had time to catch up, have a few lunches… and take some photos…
So, Magali… how is it being here in SF?
Yep, we got our groove back on.
And yep, we still like each-other.
Oh oh oh and the BEST part is… remember that old little ballet photo? She was there too! On the very left!
And guess what? Here we are, more than 20 years after that photo was taken…
… not too bad, no?
Today, I live in San Francisco. 20 years ago, I was living in a little French village called Fayence. It’s an adorable hilltop village less than an hour away from the beautiful coastal towns of Frejus, Cannes, Antibes and Nice. It’s the beginning of Provence with its olive trees, lavender fields and cicadas. My grandmother still lives there. I love going back to visit her.
Photo courtesy of www.ville-fayence.fr
20 years ago, I was a little ballerina. And there was an excellent (and very small) ballet school in Fayence. Our teacher, Jacqueline Lavielle, was a fine ballerina herself and was considered one of the finest teachers of the region. She taught us well. Gave us a strong foundation and a passion that most of our little group carried on as an adult (several of us became dance teachers, another danced in a company and others kept dancing for pleasure).
In 1987, I was 8 years old and we were photographed for the local news paper in honor of our success at the ballet exams of Monte-Carlo. Yep, in ballet, you take exams and dance in front of a jury to move up to the next level. Frightening! Jacqueline’s students pretty much always passed and had honorable mentions regularly (I did twice!).
I wish I had more photos of that time period, but I treasure this copy of the article. We were all so proud.
From left to right: Magali Escapin, Vanessa Moltenis, Alexandra Ducamp, Stephanie Soleil, Vanessa Cottone and Sadou Zeeghers.
Update: The photo doesn’t represent all of us in the group. Others not in the photo were Sarah Paiman, Magali Ghiglione, Severine Fromentin and Sandra Tiberi. If anyone out there remembers who else should be mentioned, please comment!
Finding a good pair of sandals is not as easy as I thought. I wanted to find sandals that I could walk in for a long time, that could go in the water, that didn’t hurt my feet or needed long breaking-in time, and that were somewhat fashionable. I know, it’s a lot to ask! But my feet knew they could find a match to their sensitive and temperamental moods. I think I tried all the sandals there are to find in all stores. Well, maybe not, but I did try the major sporty/casual brands out there.
I started with the Chacos ZX/2® in black thinking they are sturdy, waterproof and look fairly cute. Granted we (Justin got a similar pair) put them through a 7 mile flat hike the first day, the result wasn’t too positive. The toe loop wouldn’t stay loose, bits of gravel kept getting stuck and the shoe ribbing was sanding my precious little body carriers raw. Ouch. I did take advantage of REI’s awesome return policy.
At that point I had exhausted all of REI‘s sandal offerings as well as Sports Basement, who offered pretty much the same options. So, after the sports stores, what was next? DSW! They actually have a surprising number of “sports” and “comfortable” shoes. There again, I tried everything on. The only pair that had somewhat a potential were the Teva Tirra, which I had tried at REI already and didn’t quite win me over. The second try at DSW had more positive aspects, but I read that Tevas sometimes fall apart when they get wet, which makes me nervous… uh yeah, I think I want to go rafting again sometime! I left DSW empty “footed”… mwah-ha-ha.
Gosh, when DSW has nothing to offer where do you go? I went to Macy’s. I remembered they had brands that were targeted to hard core travelers, so I thought hard core traveler = comfort + style + function. They indeed had quite a bit of options. The pair that came really close to winning were the Privo® Seabreeze sandals. The only thing that kept me from buying them is the fact that they didn’t have brown (only crazy blue) and that they were super duper sporty looking. I thought, no problem, I’ll look them up online and order them or something. Couldn’t get myself to do it.
No sandals found yet. I think my intention was to go back to Macy’s on a weeknight when there would be less tourists and give it another round. Saturday morning we went to the Farmer’s Market at the Ferry Building to get a few fruits and veggies. On our way back, we walked a stretch of Market Street that we normally pass. At some point on Market between Pine and Bush, there was a little shoe repair shop with some shoes inside. The shoes looked exactly the type that would carry the sandals I’m looking for. After some browsing and getting advice from the shop owner (one of those guys who has been in the shoe repair business for a long time, carrying the pride of being a cobbler) I found this pair:
They are Clarks Unstructured sandals made out of waterproof leather and a breathable sole. Yep, my feet chose them almost immediately. They are comfortable, sturdy, ultra-light, pretty cute and colorful. Sold! I was super happy to finally find the pair of sandals I’ll probably hang onto for a while in a small local store who cared about what they sold. I mean, the guy sprayed an extra waterproofing layer for free just because I mentioned they may be used around water. Pretty sweet, don’t you think?
I wore them for the first time today to walk to work. I’ll be honest and say that I did feel a couple of tender spots after two miles, but nothing that can’t be overcome by wearing them a couple more times. I love them. I’ll stick with them.
My first attempt to making Crottin turned out quite delicious but not exactly how it’s supposed to be. It was much flatter and much creamier.
As a refresher, this is what I’m aiming for:
(photo courtesy of Wikipedia)
The width is supposed to be more or less the same as the height, the rind is bloomy but not thick, the paste is solid (but not hard) and it dries/hardens as it ages.
This time I achieved a much better shape. To get that, you just pack the molds with more curd. “Pack” is actually not the right word since you have to let the curds drain a bit before you add more curd. The draining happens solely thanks to holes in the molds and the natural weight of the curd.
You can tell that the bloom is fairly thick though. There’s lots of fuzz happening, which tends to get wrinkly after a while. That’s great in some cases, but it’s not what we’re going for here.
When you cut it, a nice fairly firm paste is discovered wrapped in a fairly thick rind, with.. with… with… ash! Yep, I played with ash. It’s that darker, grayer layer in between the paste and the white rind. It’s purely for aesthetic purposes and I have to say… I like it! I know, I know, I should only be tweaking one thing at a time to figure out what works and what doesn’t. But man, adding ash was fun!
Anyways, you can also notice that there’s a thin layer of cream forming right under the rind… quite nice, but again, not exactly it.
I criticize, I analyze, but to the taste, this cheese is de-li-cious. It’s light and slightly goaty, a little chalky to the texture (but good chalky) with a subtle sweet finish. No acidity, no bitterness.
So all in all, this second attempt is MUCH better than the first one. It still has some cosmetic tweaks to be made. I think I’m most guilty of inoculating the milk with way too much mold bacteria which makes the rind bloom too much and creates that cream layer… I think.
Guess what? I’ll try it again. I love this hobby!
Third and last installment of the I-would-like-to-give-away-my-paintings blog post series. After my large and my medium paintings… guess what? Yep, here are the small ones.
Like their big brothers, they are all acrylics on canvas… they all want a new home… want one?
#1 Warm abstract — *ADOPTED*
Dimensions: 14″x11″ (36cm x 28cm)
Date: 2005
Story: I think I made this one before the big warm colors abstract. I wanted to play with gradients, but not in a smooth way and with a bit of energy. I really like this painting.
#2 Blue Rose — *ADOPTED*
Dimensions: 10″x8″ (25cm x 20cm)
Date: Aug. 2005
Story: Warm colors, warm colors… gotta explore the other side too! And here we are in the blues, in the off centers.
#3 Crouched Man Holding Head
Dimensions: 12″x12″ (31cm x 31cm)
Date: 2005
Story: There’s a statue like that… I can’t remember what it’s called. You know, when you hold the guy in your hands it’s supposed to fit all of your fingers nicely along his spine, muscles and arms. Anyways, I like that body position and wanted to step away from my bright colors for a minute to see what happens.
#4 Nude laying and facing back — *ADOPTED*
Dimensions: 16″x8″ (40cm x 20cm)
Date: 2005
Story: Female attempt of the no-Stephanie-bright-colors series. I’m pretty sure this is an image I found in an art book or magazine.
#5 This and that and lots of chaos — *ADOPTED*
Dimensions: 10″x8″ (25cm x 20cm)
Date: 2005
Story: Back to colors! This is probably the quickest painting I’ve ever made. It took probably 45 seconds. Splash splash splash! It’s actually the color palette for another painting that I just flipped onto a canvas. Thought it would be cool and fun. Turned out messy, but still really fun.
Voila! You know everything of my past artistic life… on canvas.
Post number 2 of the I-would-like-to-give-away-my-paintings saga. After posting my large paintings of the past, here are my medium paintings begging for a new home.
They are all acrylics on canvas… want one?
#1 Upside down — *ADOPTED*
Dimensions: 12″x24″ (31cm x 62cm)
Date: July 2005
Story: I thought it would be cool to paint only a portion of a body position leaving the rest to the imagination. Some people think this person is diving. I thought of it as a hand stand. You can think whatever you wish.
#2 Ladders — *ADOPTED*
Dimensions: 12″x24″ (31cm x 62cm)
Date: 2005
Story: This one has a more philosophical meaning to me. I was in my spreading-my-wings phase, in the I-can-do-this-on-my-own phase. This is about the point where you can keep climbing the ladder (evolve, not the career ladder) without any support or guidance (the sides of the ladder) and not be scared to take risks and keep going. You are free.
#3 Abstract Rain — *ADOPTED*
Dimensions: 24″x18″ (61cm x 46cm)
Date: 2005
Story: I don’t know what kind of mood I was in that day, but apparently lots was going on. I just remember having fun making it. Splash!
#4 Fun with Tape — *ADOPTED*
Dimensions: 18″x14″ (46cmx36cm)
Date: Sept 2005
Story: Oh yes, this one was fun too. It was like a surprise. I would paint a bunch of vivid, warm colors and let dry. Then place some tape on the dry layer. Over the whole thing I then painted an opaque layer of dark blue. Let dry. And then came the best part… peeling off the tape. Surprise colors! Surprise contrast! Anyways, that was fun too.
#5 Fish in Coral — *ADOPTED*
Dimensions: 24″x18″ (61cm x 46cm)
Date: 2004
Story: Hmm yeah… don’t ask. That was probably right after seeing Finding Nemo or something. Not sure how this one came about but apparently I needed to get my candor out. Cutesy, cartoony wittle fishy.
