Blue Sky Living

La Gripe Porcine

We’ve been back in England for a few days, braving la gripe porcine and the sensationalist press stories, which nearly caused us to cancel the trip. Instead we armed ourselves with all sorts of medical wipes and sprays to ward off the flu. Not symptoms yet thankfully.

 

Our favourite holiday activity is cool bathing which consists of going outside in the rain and revelling in the sensation of being cold. 40 degree heat is fun for a holiday but its not fun to live in and so the slate grey skies of England have been a joy to behold every morning.

 

Only one more month to go in Provence until things return to normal. The heat and most of the tourists vanish and it’s possible to go to the market without spending half an hour looking for a parking space. Roll on September.

New house update....

Remember that terribly optimistic post I put up a few weeks ago about construction being about to start on our new house. After a year and a half of waiting we were nearly there, we had a mason, electricians and plumbers, the chantier (or construction site) was about to open and all I had to do was sign on the dotted line.

Oh and clear the last details with the bank. They too were ready. They even phoned the mason to tell him they were willing to make a downpayment. All they were waiting for was proof of insurance from my project manager, which given the history of this ill fated build of course he didn't have!

So it's back to square one. At least the good news is that our neighbour can use the site as a car park for his daughter's wedding.

Art in Provence

If  you are interested in art then Provence is the place for you this summer. There's a major Picasso and Cezanne exhibition in Aix and to celebrate Blue Sky Living published a feature article on the contemporary art scenc. Click on the 2009 magazine image to the right to read the article.

If you can't make the Aix exhibition, and want to dip into the contemporary art scene instead then the Daniel Adel gallery in Lacoste is hosting an exhibition of English artist David Welsh's paintings between the 23rd and 30th July.

David says: ‘France combines all that I am trying to say. It’s not what other artists saw or felt, it is how I perceive a beautiful country, rich in colour and tradition, a nation that enjoys a culture of poetic language. I want you to enjoy this France as much as I do painting it’

Vanessa Feltz

English readers of this blog will know Vanessa well, the ex-TV chat show hosts who turned to radio and now presents an award winning show in London.

What's she got to do with Provence? Today she was chatting about how authors react to criticism. Philosopher Alain de Botton sent an email to the NY Times telling them to F-off after a dreadful review and Vanessa interviewed him about his decision to vent his anger.

By contrast when my first book Extremely Pale Rose came out, it was hammered by the wine critic of the Sunday Times Joanna Simon who seemed to mistake it for a serious book about wine as opposed to a travel book. At the time I felt like sending her a filthy e-mail and as I explained to Vanessa today on her show I'm still furious whenever I think of the woman. So perhaps Alain was right to get it off his chest, then again as far as I am concerned the Sunday Times is a rag whereas the New York Times which called EPR great fun to read is the choice for more discerning people.