The One I Promised

Earlier today, or yesterday now, I promised to write about my friend Dan, who was stopping by. 

Daniel.  Daniel is American, is married to a Frenchwoman, has two bi-cultural children, and used to live near where I used to live.  We met about seven years ago at a going-away party for someone whose name neither of us can remember.  At the time, we did that thing that all Americans abroad do:

Hey, you're American!  Where are you from?

Within three minutes we'd established that I'd gone to high school with his cousins.  I suppose that cemented our friendship.  Daniel and I have felt a bond since, even though our contact has been sporadic.  A couple three years later, Daniel and his family moved back to the United States.  By then we all had internet, so we kept in (sporadic) contact via e-mail. 

I see Daniel, Christine, and their kids about once a year, when they come back to France.  You see, Dan is an artist, and has been arranging art workshops in France for the past few years.  Each year he and Christine host a gathering for their friends and the workshop students. 

Dan sent me an e-mail last week, to say that they were in France, and to see if we could get together.  This year is different; there are no students.  Instead, Dan got a grant, and will spend about two weeks painting in the same town he's held his workshops.  He also will be documenting the work of an English artist who's lived there for 30 years.  And...Daniel wanted to pick my brain about blogging.  He's considering using the blog as an additional medium in his documentation of the English artist. 

A few weeks ago, Dan started his own blog.  Today we discussed ways he could use a blog, perhaps his, perhaps a new blog, for the work he intends to do. 

It was good to catch up, good to talk about blogging and life and other things.  And I got treated to dinner!  Click to see some photos I took at the café up the street.  (Oh, and that's where I took the photo in my last post). 

My friend has a nice camera.

He had pastis for the apéritif.  I had a glass of rosé. 

Then we went upstairs to the restaurant and each had a typical bistro meal of steak-frites.  We shared a half-carafe of rosé, and had coffee for dessert. 

On Thursday I'm going to visit Daniel.  I hope to help him with the blogging of his "workshop."  And I really want to play with the digital camcorder he just bought. 

Comments

[Allan]

It sounds like you had a lovely afternoon and evening.

You deserved one.

[Amber]

I devoured that post and Dan's site with the workshops. I would looooove to do something like that. If only money and natural talent (or lack thereof) didn't stand in my way!

[Margaret]

Pastis--I never acquired the taste for it. I love black licorice though. I saw Yves Montand playing boules(petanque) in Eze a long time ago.

[Denise]

OK, now I'm curious---who are Daniel's cousins?