Monday, January 30, 2006

touring Nantes

Hello All, today I had my first good look at downtown Nantes. I followed a path that the office du tourisme set out. Nantes' most important "contributions" to history seem the result of its geographic position at the mouth of the Loire river. Nantes was the the busiest slavery port in France. 500,000 Africans were transported to America in the triangular trade ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangular_trade ) by ships from Nantes. Other Africans were brought directly back to Nantes for sale. The municipal newsletter is announcing that the esplanade along the Loire is going to become a monument in memory of Nantes' regrettable place in the slave trade. The theme of the article is "confronting the city's past in order to build a better future." Jacques Chirac will soon be announcing the exact date of the day of commemoration of the slave trade.

On a lighter note, Nantes is also the home of LU cookies.

Nantes' architecture differs from from that of Montpellier, as far as it jumps out at me, in the smokestacks and the roofing, looks like a climate issue. Nantes is the capital of Brittany and much of its early history surrounds Brittany's clashes with Normandy to the north. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nantes love you all, chris

Sunday, January 29, 2006

bonjour Nantes

well after a second full day of monet, Gauguin, and courbet, roasted chestnuts, and a great film (www.bricedenice.com) in Paris I am now in Nantes. Yesterday (saturday) i was invited by my nantaise friend Luca to attend a cooking class for the public in which she is the assistant to the chef. The cooking class took place at Luca's culinary school where she attends full time. it was fast and furious but i think i may have picked up a few french culinary moves that i'll have to share later, during the class it began to snow and before we knew it all was white and bon hommes de neige were popping up everywhere. nantes, according to Antoine, is the favorite city of the French, and i must concur though i will be doing my indepth research tomorrow. for the moment i am at a laundromat where they have internet machines built in the walls. well hope all is well with you all, love, cwt

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

oh Paris


oh Paris
Originally uploaded by parisdelhi.
oh Paris, after a smooth air canada flight Paris has engulfed me.

Antoine a French friend from Humboldt State is hosting me. Today we

stopped by the Institut du Monde Arabe (Institute of the Arab World).

This evening Antoine and his girlfriend Cécile made a delectable

dinner, reminding me of all those French tastes that I have missed

since my year in Montpellier. It has been a great pleasure spending

time with them both. Antoine is a graduate in Computer Science and

Cécile is working to become an English professor.

Tomorrow the canal st. martin is on taps. This is where Amélie liked

to go to skip stones on the water (ricochets).



I must mention at least one of the folks that I talked with on the

plane. Sami from Lebanon and the Québécois steward, both had great

stories to share. Sami about doing business with Chinese furniture

factories and life lessons and le Québécois Steward about his life of

2 days in Paris 4 days in Montreal per week.

à très bientôt,

chris

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Pre-Trip Meeting with Narinder

I have had the fortune to meet an Indian man by the name of Narinder here in Portland. He will be visiting friends and family in India during part of my sojourn in his mother country. His kindness has been overwhelming, Narinder will be picking me up in Delhi and taking me to his home state of Haryana and Punjab. There were a couple things that he mentioned during our conversations that I wanted to share. He believes that the biggest obstacle for India is corruption, and that time will replace the old guard with a more meritocratic new generation. He described how many are required to pay as much as 10,000 rps for a marriage licence that is supposed to be free. 6 days 'til take off...Here is my Itinerary: Jan 25-27 in Paris Jan 27- Feb 12 in Nantes, France Feb 12 - Feb 14 in Paris Feb 14 - March 14 in India (details forthcoming) March 15 - 20 in Montpellier, France March 20 - 22 in Paris March 22 Portland, USA cwt

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