Our week in Provence: 4/24/2015

4/24/2015:   Oh dear, Blackberry charger broke.  Ridiculous that every single device should have its own unique charger.  So the bb will die in a couple days.

S got up early and went off to do laundry.  He tried to call, but my Estonian phone tells me it’s unable to connect, and the blackberry I don’t think calls non US numbers.

Fortunately, message not urgent.  S tried to demonstrate how to pick up messages on the Estonian phone, but it involved too many steps for me to remember.

It does take him longer to do things – locating the ancient clip-on sun shades and putting them over his glasses.  Putting on the boy scout backpack from 2001 that always carries is a production (it was meant for kids; the arm-loops end to high).  At mid-day, when he changes from jacket to vest-with-pockets, it’s a production to transfer everything from pockets of one to pockets of the other.  But, of course, I guess I’m slowing down, too.

The Van Gogh Foundation’s Van Gogh collection was travelling – There was one picture of a stack of French novels by Van Gogh, there were exhibits by Yan Pei-Ming and Bertrand Lavier, w/ lots of (I thought) pretentious verbiage in the brochure we were given.  

Then we went to see the famous portails of St. Trophime, but the chuch was closed 12-2 so we had lunch and went off to the Amphitheatre & Arena.  During the Middle Ages, building were built inside both, and stone was also taken for churches, then they were reconstructed during the 19th century.

After 2 PM we went back to the church and also saw the cloister—being restored—hard to know what was reconstruction and what was original.  By then we were both tired, and went back to the hotel & napped.  Aren’t we slow old people?

I keep texting L & A.  Alex got a job working for a trade economist at the Hoover Inst.  Genia bought a Prius—but insurance is expensive because she’s only had a license for a year.

My email is mostly Swarthmore Nextdoor.  Ginny Scott (A’s 9th grade English teacher, now retired) is v. active in the Swarthmore Horticultural Soc.  Whole parallel world of Women at Home.  I guess I’ll be joining it in a couple years, won’t I?  I guess I’ll volunteer somewhere in Chester & caregive, won’t I.  Who knows?  Maybe I’ll lie around & read mysteries.  Or I guess there’ll be time for both.