Evasions: An Outing

When we moved here, we didn't know anybody so we looked around on the internet and found some groups we might join. One was called Evasions. We emailed and got a response. Soon we we at the office right on what was the main square during medieval times, but now is the second biggest square (dominated by the very un-medieval Virgin Megastore). We had a nice chat over tea about the club and its activities and joined up.

Then yesterday, we had our first event. We got a bit of a late start and walked really fast to the meeting place which was at the parking lot of the Australian Cafe between the Lez River and the Antigone. We were just a little late, but they found us walking fast.

There were a total of seven of us. One other guy, and the rest women. We split up into 2 cars and headed toward Villeneuvette to see the Manufacture Royal which was a 17th Century cloth manufacturer. We were going to view the town and see the museum. However, as it isn't tourist season yet, the museum was closed. Oops. Oh well. The town was interesting anyway. There was one chimney that looks like it was built in the last century. But all other structures are really old. They made of stone and whatever it is that's used as mortar. The town has a fountain in a sort of amphitheater type thing with Apollo spit water out into a small tub, which drains into a bigger one, which drains into the main pool.

There are actually peopele living in the town. One guy watched us from his window. Then we headed to the next destination which was a town called Maureze with a church way up on the top of a hill. The town is the home so several very tall (like several stories high) standing rock structures. Perhaps volcanic plugs? We had pizza there We expected the pizzas to be a bit smaller than they were but about half the people managed to finish their pizzas. We were only in that town for lunch and a quick up and down on the "cirque" which runs by the church.

Then we went by Lake Salagou--a lake made by a dam. There is a small abandoned village down tight on the lake. Apparently, when they dammed the river, the inhabitants of the town either thought or were told that their town would be flooded so everyone left. But then when the lake was done, what actually happened was that the town had prime lakeside real estate. It's still abandoned for the most part, but apparently people are starting to move back. There is a lot of recreation on and around the lake, so Elena is excited because she loved outdoor recreation.

After that we went to Lodeve to see the Cardinal Fleury Museum. They had a permanent exhibit of several painters and scupltors. There was a Courbet and a Juan Gris painting. The second floor was an exhibit of the sculpture of Nathalie Decoster. She does figures with tiny heads and really long legs that represent humanity and puts them into scupltures representing our relationship with emotions, time, etc. It's interesting to see. The top floor has fossils, and evidence of early inhabitants--so a sweep through time of the area.

After that we came home. It was a very nice trip. The members of Evasions were kind. They put up with my really bad French. For some reason, my ability to speak was really bad. I guess it was the first time that I was in a situation where I had to speak French. And nothing came to me. I fought to find the words I needed to made a complete sentence but wasn't really successful at all. I'd try to say something and fail miserably. Then a minute later, in my head, I'd find the words and string them together like I should have been able to do just a minute before. I guess a new language is like that. Humiliations and failures at the beginning. I remember when I first started meting Japanese people while taking my Japanese class. I'd try to talk and nothing... Even stuff I learned in class didn't come to me. But each failure and one's reaction to it is a learning experience. Each time I figure out a way to say what I wished I would have said is a strong lesson in recalling the words I need when I need them. Like the simple word 'place' or 'endroit' just didn't come to me. I couldn't remember 'endroit'! It stopped me cold and ended my ability to finish a though I was trying to make. I'll remember it next time.

I just hope that I don't scare people away from the group--making them think that they have to deal with the 'new guy who can't speak French'.