Saturday, June 20

Ah, a free day. Most everyone has taken off, and the school is quiet. While I am free to stay in my room, use the kitchen and library, the workshops are locked. You can't just use them without an instructor present. But I needed to find an ATM in the next village, so I took off for some sightseeing. The nearest village is Les Salles sur Verdon. It is situated on the shore of Lake St Croix. A quaint little village with a lot of its 17th century charm. So I explored it a bit and walked the shoreline a bit, but not much else. So I headed to the next village - Moustiers Sainte Marie. That was an amazing place. It is literally built on the sides of a canyon on the side of the mountain. It's hard to describe, but at the very head of the valley is an ancient church, reached by a long, step, winding pathway, but wide and worn smooth by centuries of pilgrims climbing up there. Seems there was a monastery up there at one time, with the monks living in cave cells all through the cliffs. Anyway there is a record of some king or VIP, making apilgrimage there back in the fifth century. So it made a nice little pilgrimage between the turning  classes. I really liked it. I found a burger stand and ordered a bacon burger with fries, then began to feel guilty ordering American food instead of trying the local cuisine. However when it arrived it doesn't look anything like a burger, so all guilt left me, and I got to try the local cuisine anyway.
Took the lovely ride back down the mountain, around the lake, and back up the valley on the other side back to Aiguines. Jann, the instructor whose shop/gallery we visited yesterday was having a grand opening this evening and he invited me to come on down. I didn't know what that wound entail, but I thought it would include food! Indeed it did, a big open house for their friends, and a nice buffet. So I had my supper and headed back to the school.
A good day to you all, and a good night.