A Castle Made of Sand

So we didn't see the actual castle. But we were near it.

After dawn broke over the wedding, we took a taxi back to Casablanca, from where we took a Moroccan bus to Essaouira. This was a five hour bus ride, but the bus ride was a mess. It was an old bus, but functional, and open windows made it pleasant to ride in. However, it was smelly, and it was very sketchy. We stopped very often, picking up passengers on the side of the road, and it looked like the driver was stopping to run his errands all the way there. A mess. And we were so exhausted that it made the process kind of stressful, but really it wasn't as bad as our flight experience, in proper perspective.

Essaouira is a beautiful city on the Atlantic Ocean, where Jimi Hendrix, Cat Stevens, and Bob Dylan have all lived or vacationed. Most of the buildings are white, against a blue sky and a blue sea, with palm trees and a gorgeous white sand beach...a person couldn't ask for much more. And while the latitude we were on should have meant it was VERY hot, the position of Essa makes it a wonderfully sunny but 75 degrees cool. It was perfect. Unfortunately, we were so exhausted we didn't see anything that first day. N had arranged for an apt there (rather than a hotel...it was wonderful and super cheap!), and once we arrived, we laid down for a nap at 6pm at woke up at 830am. Whew.

We woke in the morning and headed out for breakfast, which we ate on the open Plaza Moulay Hassan near the marina. We had lovely Moroccan mint tea and omelettes and crepes and squeezed orange juice and the like. Afterward, we walked around the medina and shopped...mostly looking rather than buying...to see what was out there. Terracotta wares, rugs, clothing, silver, art, beauty products, leather, thuya woodworking, lanterns, stoneware...you name it and it can be found there. And for cheaper than in Marrakech, the location of a more famous medina.

We walked around the medina and port for a little while, with Darick taking hundreds of photos for painting references, and then we had lunch at the fish grills around the square. These little shops buy fish fresh caught that day from the port, line the seafood in a row, and then you point to the very fish you want to eat. They grill it up and you eat it. The freshness of the seafood was really wonderful. And we had so much fish!! It was quite a delicious (and messy) adventure. Note the photos of our lunch before and after.

To walk off our big lunch, we walked along the beach for a few hours. Darick went into the water and reported it was much too cold for swimming, though that never stops the 14 and under crowd. We, however, laid ont he beach for a while. The unique geographical position, mentioned earlier, keeps the city cool, but the beach very windy, which makes it ideal for windsurfers but not for loungers. So we walked instead of bathing.If you walk far enough, you come upon men with camels and horses who would love to take your money to let you ride their animals along the beach. This sounds romantic, but not for us, so we walked back toward the center of town and had a drink overlooking a makeshift soccer pitch on the beach.

After a rest in the apt, we went to a bar, Taros Cafe, which is a rooftop bar overlooking the square, the medina, the ocean, everything. From there, we watched the sunset and drank expensive drinks in order to stay for the show, which is why we had come in the first place. Essa is known for Gnaoua music, which is a Moroccan style of music involving cymbals, a stringed instrument, and wild jumping and dancing. Our photos of this didn't turn out, but N's were great. It was really a fantastic concert. The bar is expensive, but worth it. We finished the night with kebabs for dinner, and who can beat that? Love me some shawarma.

Markets and Music

On Friday morning, in the tradition of my family, I went to the flea market, the Marche d'Aligre. Really, the market is mostly food, and food of all shapes, sizes and colors. Beautiful purple (!) tomatoes and fruits I've never seen or heard of before. It's really quite remarkable a market, and very very cheap. If only I had a proper kitchen here....the market also has a flea market, with old books, magazines, clothing, dishes, and the various trinkets one would normally find at a flea market anywhere, except in French. It was fun, though I didn't bring anything home with me. I might try a more reknowned market before I leave...we'll see.

Friday afternoon we had a meeting at the French Senat, which would have probably been cool, but they didn't have enough headsets. Being unimportant that I understand, I let the students take headsets before me, so I relied only on my French skills to listen, so the lecture and the tour were less than compelling to me. I'm glad we did it last year too, so I had an idea what the tour was about.

After the visit, we ate dinner on the Rue de Mouffetard, which also has a fun market and is filled with people. It's a great place to eat and go out, since it's cheap! Post-dinner, most of us went to a bar near our apts, Wide Open Spaces, to watch the Turkey-Croatia game (what a great game!!) and then a few of us went bar-hopping at St-Michel. Being broke, I walked back a little earlier than the others. Ah well.

Saturday was the Fete de la Musique! Paris suspends its noise laws and runs the metros all night, and there's music on every corner, bar, restaurant, square, monument, bridge, etc. It's really quite remarkable. People also get extremely drunk. It's a fantastic time to be in Paris. We saw a jazz band on guitars and saw a guy tap dance! I love this city. It just comes alive, all the time.

Sunday a student and I went to the Opera Bastille to see Don Carlo, by Verdi. The building was so beautiful! I was quite impressed even before it began, but the opera was magnificent. The conductor was so vivid and expressive and specific in his gestures, the artists were so talented, the staging was so inventive and minimalist...it was wonderful. Ah, the arts.

Le Musee de Moyen-Ages

Yesterday I intended to take students to Chartres, a medieval town near Paris, on a day trip. The weather looked nasty, though, and we got a late start, so I talked them out of it and stayed in Paris. The weather, of course, never turned bad, but that's the way it goes sometimes. Instead, I went to the Middle Ages Museum, or the Hotel Cluny. The hotel was built in the middle ages as an abbey of sorts, over the ancient ruins of Roman baths. It houses a really large collection of art, sculpture, metalworks, and tapestries from the Middle Ages. The centerpiece of the collection is the famous set of six tapestries, The Lady and the Unicorn. The series of tapestries depicts the five senses, and then the lady refusing to give into the temptations these senses create. They really are quite cool. At the end of the tour were these choir stools in the photo. They certainly look horribly uncomfortable, as a choir member myself. I'm glad we've progressed to posture chairs.

After an afternoon of grocery shopping, baguette hunting, napping, and some academic work, I went out to my favorite gelati shoppe, Amorino. Mmm. Then I came back once more, only to go out for jazz at Le Caveau des Oubliettes, my favorite jazz club in Paris. I've talked about it before. It really is fabulous, and I read a review somewhere that described it as becoming known for the cutting edge of jazz. Last night we heard some quartet. I wish I could tell you who it was, because they were fantastic, but the website isn't helpful.

Today I woke up and attended the Gregorian chant mass at Notre Dame. I'm so glad I did, though it was hard to wake up. Even though it's difficult to understand the French mass, the symbolism is all understandable to me. The chant is just gorgeous, and I had a chance to practice a wild different way of doing shape notes. And of course Notre Dame doesn't hire just any slacker on the organ, so that was really incredible as well.

In the afternoon, we headed to Versailles, just like last year on the first weekend. On Sundays the fountains are on, and they just explode with the extravagance of the place. This year I walked around the town with David to find us a place to eat, so I missed out on the palace, but the grounds were as beautiful as ever.

And I'm pooped.

Den Haag

On July 2nd we left Paris for two weeks on the road to visit the European institutions we had studied during coursework. Our first stop: the Hague in the Netherlands.

I was shocked by how much I really liked the Hague. Beautiful Dutch architecture, tons of English from the Dutch, and great site visits. When we arrived, we checked into a very nice Ibis hotel and walked around the downtown area. There was tons of shopping, cool bars, and laid back people. While in Paris, you're bombarded with wanna-be supermodels--Parisians always dress nicely, and you never see tennis shoes. In the Hague, people wear jeans, T-shirts, shorts...normal people clothes. It was pretty refreshing. We also stopped at a bar located in the back of a church to eat the local bar specialty: bitter balls. They're meat, potatoes, and gravy--deep-fried. Awesome.

After dinner in the hotel, we went out as a group to a bar nearby. Alcohol is a million times cheaper in the Netherlands. It was a nice night out.

The next day was our first site visit. We were at the International Criminal Court while they heard postponement arguments from former dictator Charles Taylor. We had a briefing from people in the pre-trial and judicial assessment divisions. I found it fantastic, particularly since the briefing supported some of the research I've been doing lately. After lunch on the bus, we went to a briefing at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. It was extremely informative, and we had a chance to sit in on the trial of two alleged war criminals. The defense was attempting to discredit the report of Human Rights Watch. It was really nice.

We found out that typical Dutch food is bar food, and that the best food to eat in the Netherlands is Indonesian food. Drs. D and H went out for Indonesian food with D, C and I. It was so delicious! Afterward the students all went to the beach to a piano bar while I stayed in to grade papers. I thought at the time it was a smart idea, but afterward I regretted it.

The next day, we took a tour of the beautiful Peace Palace. This is where the International Court of Justice is housed. We weren't able to have a briefing or observe a trial, but the building sure was beautiful. After a lunch of even more bitterballen, some of us went to the Mauritshuis. This museum houses some of the most beautiful Dutch art in the world, including several Rembrandts and Van Rijns. The highlights, though, were three Vermeers. There only exist 35, and three of the most famous were there. I stood in the presence of the Girl with a Pearl Earring. Amazing.

Finally, that afternoon we paid a visit to the Dutch parliament for a meeting with a parliamentarian. She spoke to us about immigration issues in the Netherlands, as well as being a woman and a black person in politics. It was really marvelous!

We then headed to Brussells.

Jazz with the Forgotten, and Marie's Playground

June 9 and 10

On Saturday, I worked all day.

In all honesty, I did try. I chose not to leave my apartment in favor of sightseeing in Paris so I could actually get work done. Seriously. I did a mediocre job at this, but I got, well, some things done.

In the evening, I went out to hear some jazz in the Latin Quarter. Specifically, Kate, Judith and I went to Le Caveau des Oubliettes - the cave of the forgotten. Quite a few of the bars and clubs near Saint-Michel were once basements and even prisons. This one in particular was a prison where people were once left and then forgotten, only to be found again when their bones were pulled out. Now the cave is a jazz club, and a great one at that. It was very cheap, and the music we heard was fantastic. Seriously great. I was so glad we went.

On Sunday, we took a group trip to Versailles, the former home of King Louis IV, V, IV, and Marie Antoinette, before they met their fatal ends. It was even home to Mona Lisa, for a while. We toured the castle, seeing where they slept and the ridiculous wallpaper they chose. Of course, there was also the hall of mirrors, most famous (for me) for being the location of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, ending WWI.

Afterward, we spent the afternoon in the grounds. On Sundays in the summer, from 3 to 5, they turn on all the magnificent fountains in the gardens, which really is something. It must cost a fortune, explaining why they don't run them all the time. They also spout grand royal marches from speakers throughout the park, making quite a spectacle. It was really something. I think I would have been fine, had it been MY backyard.

Finally, we had a group dinner at a little pizza place nearby in Versailles. Pleasant evenings with pleasant people surely make life a happy existence, don't you think?