My first visit to Sète

Le casino de Nice. Raoul Dufy (1877-1953).
Originally uploaded by Only Tradition

Thursday, September 16, 2010 Day 78
What a day! The American Women’s Group (AWG) had a trip planned to Sète, a town less than an hour from here, for a visit to a museum. I arranged to go with Peggy, who lives within easy walking distance of our apartment, so I walked over. I met her dog, Egan, who is a frolicky, frisky dog, an Irish setter. Peggy said that when they went to pick out the dog, there were two left in the litter, one of which was darker than the other. The owner indicated that he thought the darker one was smarter. Peggy’s kids said “Oh, Mom, get the dumb blonde!”

Sète is a delightful island town on the Mediterranean Sea with a huge amount of history, indeed, more history than town! It is a town apart, with a strong cultural identity, and with its traditions, its cuisine, its own jargon. It is less than 10 square miles in size, and it is built upon and around Mont St Clair. On the side opposite the Mediterranean Sea is the Bassin de Thau, an enclosed salt water lake used primarily for oyster and mussel fields. Not surprisingly, it is known for its seafood, among other things, most particularly the Sète Tial, which is a tart made of calamari, octopus or cuttlefish finely chopped and mixed with a spicy tomato sauce. The dough is usually bread dough. It may include sardines , eggs and spinach etc. Sète has been the home of many French artists, including Paul Valery, Geroges Brassens (whose namesake park we lived near in Paris), Manitas de Plata, Jean Vilar, the Di Rosa brothers, to name a few. The town was the departure point for the ship which became known as the Exodus 1947, and also the Ship that Launched a Nation (of Israel). It has a marine cemetery which overlooks the sea and the harbor.

We were in Sète to visit an art exhibit of works by an artist named Raoul Dufy, who painted in the early 20th century. His works were initially impressionistic, in the style of Monet and Cezanne, but as his art evolved, so did his style. Here are some examples of his work. The exhibit was of his Mediterranean paintings and was truly captivating. There were seven of us who went as a group to the museum, and we were joined by an eighth lady for lunch on the patio of the museum restaurant. An amusing incident arose when we ordered wine. The AWG puts out a newsletter called the Flamingo Forum. When we decided to order a bottle of rosé to share among us, the waiter brought out a bottle of Pink Flamingo wine in one of those clear vinyl ice bags, also with the Pink Flamingo logo. Several of the ladies exclaimed about the appropriateness of the wine. Another amusing incident arose toward the end of the meal. We killed the bottle of wine, but left is sitting in its bag, where the ice was turning to water. At one point, the bottle shifted and tipped the bag over, spilling its cold water on me! As a result, I got to take the bag, bottle and cork home! I plan to give the bag and cork to the group at some point – I haven’t worked out when or where yet.

After we left the museum, five of us walked across the street and entered the marine cemetery and enjoyed the view of the Mediterranean and the harbor which the sailors buried there can enjoy for eternity. Then we went down to the sea to a beach which has been restored after much erosion and encroachment by the sea. We were lucky enough to arrive during a kite surfing race. There must have been more than 50 kite surfers participating in a race, with the announcer on a loudspeaker cheering on the second-place guy, suggesting that he should beat the first-place guy because the latter was from the north and we wouldn’t want him to win! So much for non-partisanship!

We walked up the beach a bit to some housing which one of the women wanted to see. In the meantime, another woman and I decided that we needed to use the toilet, so we approached a public toilet booth. The other woman entered and I waited outside. As I waited, I read the instructions, which said, among other things, that the toilet is cleaned and sanitized between uses. “Yeah, right!” I thought. The other woman exited and I entered. The floor sloped down slightly and was wet. I went over to the stool, pulled down my pants and started to sit. However, as I did, there was a spray of water and THE TOILET BEGAN TO MOVE INTO THE WALL!!!! Okay, I wouldn’t believe it either if I hadn’t experienced it. I hopped up quickly and stood back, then watched the entire toilet stool disappear into the wall. It was sprayed with water, then it moved back out, but only partially, then moved in again. Fortunately this time I wasn’t sitting on it! It moved back and forth several times, then came back out and seemed to be at a standstill. In the meantime, a thin sheet of water washed across the floor as well. WOW! I guess it IS cleaned and sanitized between uses! I finally dared to sit down and do my business, then got up and scrambled out of there. In the meantime the other woman is calling out to me and wondering what is happening. I finally exited and we marveled and laughed over the moving toilet. We tried to convince the other ladies of the group about what happened, but I’m not sure they ever believed us!

Peggy and I parted company from the other three ladies and headed back home. We drove a different route this time – the scenic one, and it was really beautiful. As we drove through one small town, Peggy said there was a candy store there that she had always wanted to stop at, and was I game? Candy? Am I game?! I am never not game for candy, especially if it promises to be good stuff. So we stopped and went in. They had lots of caramels and a lot of cookies they call biscuits. I bought a bundle of the latter (some of the former, too). A clerk told us that if we bought 900 grams or more of the biscuits, we would get a free biscuit tin. I managed to buy about 600 or 700 grams, and Peggy combined hers with mine and we got the “free” tin. They came in all sorts of flavors and were pretty good. I also bought some chocolate olives – small chocolates the size of olives, coated in green candy coating, some with a nut inside. Quite delicious! In all I spent 60€, or about $78 there!

The other day while walking on the street we saw a poster about the Berlin Festival Orchestra. We decided to go, and invited a woman, Patricia, to join us. We met her at the AWG party on Saturday. She invited us to her apartment for wine and cheese at 6:30, and I didn’t get home from Sète until 5:40, so I had to scramble to get ready. We made it to her apartment (also in the city center) and had a glass of wine and some lovely cheese with crackers. Then we set out for dinner at a restaurant near the concert site, which was to be the Notre Dame des Tables, the same church at which we saw Les Drôlle de Dames a couple of weeks ago. We passed the church on our way to eat, and dropped in to purchase our tickets. We selected a restaurant and had a really good meal, although we had to rush at the end. Waiters in French restaurants do not know the meaning of rush. Patricia speaks excellent French, and she really had to press him to get him to bring the check at the same time as the dessert. We tossed some money on the table and scooted up the street to the church. We entered just as the conductor was being applauded, took our seats and enjoyed a wonderful concert of Vivaldi and Pergolesi. I was not familiar with the latter, but he was an 18th century Italian composer who had the misfortune to die of tuberculosis at the age of 26. Before he died, however, he wrote a sacred work called Stabat Mater, or Grieving Mother (the mother here being Mary, mother of Jesus), for soprano, alto and orchestra, and that was performed along with Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. Excellent concert! We finally made it home before 11:00, and I fell into bed, exhausted. Super day!