Back in Vence

After a lot of travel in a short amount of time, I felt the need to be in one place for a couple of weeks to sort out what I had seen, heard, and learned. So, I came back to Vence, stayed in the Airbnb without A/C for two nights, then moved to the one (owned by the same woman) with A/C. As I explained at one point, I had tried to reserve that one from the start, but it was booked. My new apartment was at the top of the building, so, now, instead of three flights of spiraling stairs to climb, I had four. But the views are magnificent, and the A/C works well, so a big upgrade from the last place. The photo at the top of the page was taken from the kitchen.

On one of my days in town, I decided to walk up to the Col de Vence. I got about halfway before deciding that 6 miles, one way, was too much to tackle. But, it gave me a taste of hiking in the area. 

The drought looms large in this part of France, where all the fountains in town flowed freely until a few months ago. Now there is only one where people fill up their water bottles; it’s quite sad to see the many others that dot the town with no H₂O in sight. One has to wonder where this will all lead in the coming years. When I moved into my new apartment, the owner, Sonia, apologized for not having a bottle of water in the fridge from the spring, Foux. She assured me, though, that the bottle of water there was also from a local spring, which she named. I thought, “Take that, you people of Portland, who merely know the name of the chicken on your plate!”

One of the reasons I wanted to make sure I was in France in September, and preferably somewhat settled, was the annual event that takes place all over France, the Forum of Associations. It is a big deal, as its dual purpose suggests:

1. It is supposed to help new people in the area become acquainted with their favorite activities, and thus become integrated into social life more quickly.
2. It is an opportunity for local organizations (the “Associations”) to get exposure, so that people can find them, ask questions, and register for their activities. If you want to know where to find a dance group, bridge club, language class, whatever, this is where you want to go.

Clearly, it was going to be important for me to find whatever activities interested me in the area where I would be living. If I went to a Forum in Brittany, and then decided to live in Nice, that would not be at all useful. But, as the weeks have rolled by, I have found myself coming back to this general area, truly drawn to it. I continue to like Vence a lot, but now know I want to be closer to water, as well as big-city activities. So, going to a Forum in southeastern France made sense.

This past Saturday, September 10, was a day of two Forums (Fora?), one in Vence and one in a community on the edge of Nice, La Trinité. The one in Vence was huge, with probably most of the town turning out. In fact there were metal detectors to pass through, which made sense, given the number of people attending. 

I walked up and down the aisles and found out how to sign up for a hiking group. At one point, I was passing by the firefighters’ booth, where a woman was standing in front of a dummy of the upper half of a man. She was trying to get people to stop and learn what to do if someone had a heart attack, and you were the only person nearby. I thought, “Sure, I can probably use some refreshing on that.” So, I stopped, as did a few others. She was talking in French (of course), and would occasionally call on someone to answer a question, such as, “OK, now you’ve telephoned 112 [which is their 911], what do you say?” I was praying that she would not call on me with my halting French. Until that happened, I could just be an attentive local.

When she got to the part about how fast one needed to do the decompressions, I was particularly interested in what she would say. I remember that years ago some brilliant person realized that the song, “Staying Alive,” happened to have the perfect tempo at which to perform these. I wondered if she was going to come up with some French song equivalent. Non! Amid her torrent of French, she suddenly started singing, “Staying Alive,” emphasizing that this was the right speed at which to pump. I had no idea whether everyone was familiar with the song, but it certainly amused me, especially when I was the next one whom she instructed to get down and pump! I really wanted to start singing it, feeling entitled to as an American, but I refrained. At this point, my cover was still intact, as I had not said a word. Alas, the next step was to teach us how to use a defibrillator, and she asked me to…do something with it. I could not understand her instruction, thus, so much for my “just another local” pose. Still, I was glad I stopped, as it was good to be reminded of the steps to take in the event that it’s you who has to come forward to save a life.

As for the other Forum, that was of interest, because I had learned there would be a Pickleball booth there, along with demonstrations of the sport. So, I went to the Vence Forum in the morning, then picked up my rental car, which I had arranged for previously, and drove the 40 minutes to La Trinité to attend theirs. I connected with a delightful group of people and did get to play a couple games of Pickleball in the afternoon (I had brought my paddle with me, just in case). Now I know when they play (several times a week) and where, so feel very good about that!

This morning I met a fellow American woman for coffee, who several people had recommended I talk to, as they thought we had a lot in common. Well, “they” were right! We had followed similar paths to get to France, even both of us living in Vence, initially. She decided, though, that she needed more life than was to be found in Vence and moved to Nice, which she loves. She was quite convincing in her reasons for why Nice is perfect for the likes of us.

While in Vence, I did go into Nice one evening to attend a cocktail hour, organized by the American Club on the Riviera, at a restaurant I had been wanting to see (Le Plongeoir) for its unique setting. It did not disappoint! After, three of us went to a Nice hotel and enjoyed a light meal on the rooftop restaurant there (Hotel Aston).

I feel like I’m homing in on where I want to be. I’ve heard from a couple people that they love Villefranche-sur-Mer, and a couple others who swear by Nice. I’m thinking that one of these two places might be my new home.

However, with my two weeks up, and my next two weeks in a different part of France (Annecy), any further exploration of these two cities is going to have to wait.