X :: aix-en-provence
i have a special spot in my heart for aix-en-provence... it was the beginning of everything, really, the "aha!" moment if you will. not the moment i decided to go for a phd in french (and we're just a few months away from that goal, people!!) but the moment i realized i didn't have to stay put. ever. and man, i haven't been "put" since i left georgetown, tx: montana, vietnam, montréal, dallas, berkeley, l.a., paris, now new orleans (or baby paris, as ndh noted). shoot, i wouldn't have moved to vietnam were it not for aix and for the quick trip to athens at the end of the semester where i met a young american dude on his way back home from two years in japan... it was an existential explosion of sorts.
but i digress (this is not unusual for me, but i have no doubt it's exacerbated by the dissertation, which i fear is one giant digression).
kp and i went back to aix in 2007, almost ten years later, and then i went back twice last summer. the first trip was a solo trip for research purposes, but when i wasn't up to my eyeballs in microfilm, i was out in the streets, checking out my old spots:
the view from my old apartment
the university building, where i was meant to learn french (!!)
where we did most of our drinking
i never get tired of peering down tiny, windy streets - can you tell?
"l'indochine" - an old colonial newspaper printed in saigon during the early 20s. love this image.
one of the adds in the back of the paper, medicine for "tired brains" - i'll take two, please.
happiness is a perfect espresso!
kp makes a&n look like munchkins here!
bonne nuit!