Photography exhibits and chess

Wednesday, October 27, 2010 Day 119

It was quite cool this morning - 7º – which is very nearly the limit for our walking. So we lazed about and cleaned the apartment this morning, then had lunch before heading off to the Peyrou. To our surprise, there were about a dozen cars parked in the Peyrou – something we have never seen before. There were also two or three suits walking around, also an unusual sight. The Peyrou is near the court house, but we seldom see lawyers in suits around it. Later we realized that there was a large funeral scheduled for today – a regional governmental head died Sunday of a heart attack at age 72. His was Georges Frêche, who served as President of the Languedoc-Roussillon Region (probably the equivalent of a governor of a state) from 2004 until his death: prior to that, he had been mayor of Montpellier for 27 years, and was also a former member (député) of the National Assembly; hence the suits and the extended parking in order to allow access to the cathedral, which is located near the Peyrou.

From the Peyrou, we walked to the Maison de Relations Internationales to see a photography exhibit by Daryl Mesa from Boston. The photos were interesting, but were displayed too high for me to see well (they were fine for Roger), and were displayed in large mats hung on hangers suspended from a picture rail above. This method of exhibition did not flatter the photos especially.

From there we went to another photography exhibit – this one MUCH better done. There were three sets of photos. The first, around the outside wall, were photos by Alex Harris taken in March, 2006, of the New Orleans area which showed some of the destruction of Katrina. They were large photos, displayed to great advantage. The second and third sets we did not visit today. First, I had forgotten my glasses, and these photos were smaller and black-and-white, and I was not able to appreciate them fully. Second, I was beginning to suffer museum legs again, and third, the chess games going on just outside the museum were calling Roger. We determined that we would return another day to enjoy the rest of the exhibits. When we got to the chess games, there was only one actually going on, and about six “rubberneckers” standing around watching one ongoing game. This is because only one guy has shown up with a chess set. The others have to wait either for their turns to come up or for another player or two to appear with a chess set.

On my way back to the apartment, I dropped into a game and toy shop on a whim, with half an eye toward finding Roger a chess set. The shop is deep and keeps winding back further and further. In one section there are chess sets, some in boxes that open up to form chess boards. There are small and large wooden chess boards. There are sets of chess men, ranging from very small to standard size. But the prices on the sets are more than I think Roger wants to pay, and he doesn’t want a really small one. I have made inquiries through the AWG looking for a used set, to no avail.