Today [yesterday at this posting] – was a nice simple day. I don’t have much to say that is unique. I got the You Are #1 sign from #BadMrYummy again. Like a couple of times. In my video panorama of the #Cassis harbor, even some of the on-lookers give me the hate look.
We slept in. Work kept me up late Friday night and I needed to unwind a bit. It was cloudy and cool -great sleeping in weather until the neighborhood kids went outside to play and make a ton of noise laughing and running. How dare they! Little French bastards. Don’t they know how to play a video game or how to watch some TV. They ran and played and yelled all day. I bet they didn’t catch one Pokémon. Lazy, lazy French.
I’ve been embracing my scarf, outfits that are a bit “artistic,” carrying a man-bag and a pink hello-kitty selfie stick. Yeah, the flashing neon sign reads Homo! I get it.
However, we had what could be considered an anti-gay comment/experience. Hold up- while maybe I could be outraged or offended, here’s how I see it. This was a cultural exchange and a meeting place. We were getting to know one another in a passing glance. She said (in an outside voice, which she clearly through was an inside voice) “Les Ploufs!” – translation: “The fags!” to her husband / other who also had missing teeth and wore clashing, grease-stained clothing. I am sure that at about the same moment her big mouth said “The Fags!”, I MIGHT have had a facial expression that said to Chris – “Oh look honey, French-white-trailer-trash! How quaint, let’s take a selfie with them!” Again, we were acknowledging difference and seeking understanding.
It reminded me of the time my mother visited us in San Francisco. She was outside a major shopping center with Chris, I was just coming up from the train to meet them and a “little person” (wait for it…) was walking by. Lillian says (in the same inside voice she taught me), “Hey, Hey Chris (as she points with her cigarette laden double fingers) ITS A MIDGET!!! Do you see the MIDGET??” The woman was about 3 feet away from my 4 ft 6 mother, likely just an inch shorter. She shot a quick glance at my mother and realized she was just a country bumpkin and excused her “charm”. My point. Yeah, the world is full of a lot of difference and diversity. Sometimes it takes a few interactions to get the lingo down and understand one another. This does not mean “fag” now is less offensive, I’m just saying “les Ploufs” sounded more like we were being observed in a zoo or as a piece of art by someone who had not met “our kind” before. I was a piece of art to her, we were the unknown and she was trying to figure me out. Good luck!
For the rest of the morning, we wandered the shops and stress of Cassis until the sun broke through the clouds, then hopped on a tour boat of the famous Calanques – which are just stunning. http://www.ot-cassis.com/en/calanques.html We had a Pastis – a local favorite aperitif, came back for a nap, walked the street to hunt dinner and snap pictures. I spent quite a bit of time on the internet learning the population, industry, history, and politics of Cassis. I could live here.
If you have some time, click on the images below to expand them. The views have been amazing.
Our waitress corrected a wayward wine choice and we dined to the sound of the ocean, kids playing in the plaza and other diners enjoying the feast. Portions here are big and the prices match, so we will need to plan some budget eating in Paris, or more likely when we get back home. Yeah, right. Vacation. Budget. Foie that!
Day 14 – Tomorrow’s post – well, that happened today. I’m not sure what I will say, It was one of the best day of my life, one of the best vacation days ever. I am bursting with gratitude.
Bonsoir!
Uncle Randy
randy marcotte - uncle randy writes here 