deluxe.

ENTRY FOR 11 DECEMBER 2010




All about yesterday.

one antler, a nice touch

A very busy day in fact. My days here, on the weekend, don’t usually get going until after lunch. Mainly because it is THE meal of the day.

After lunch, I went for a brisk walk in the wonderful sun to downtown. The Christmas market was going on. En route, say Santa on his way, in a wagon pulled by some reindeer. I think they were goats with antlers on them. A nice touch.



The market had a bunch of goodies for sale. It was all the regular local handicrafts, meats, cheese, preserves, seasonal desserts, and of course, the whole table designated to selling macaroons. If you don’t know what a macaroon is here, it is a cookie like thing, kind of crumbly, with a icing paste in the middle. They’re kind of like a very rough looking Oreo that some in any flavour you wish. Yesterday was a Cappuccino Macaroon day.

Santa arrived in the square and the children swarmed. I have to say, French Santa looks an awful lot like Santa who would deliver our presents on Christmas Eve in Saskatoon..

Foret de mon Reve #4, 2010
Aline Ahond



I didn’t stay long, there wasn’t much to do, and I had other plans.

I headed off to Aix right away.

Pastel Cats
Tim Walker
(my fave)



I visited an art expo that I had been wanting to see for quite some time. It was called La foret de mon reve (Forest of my dreams). The concept was fairytales and stories from our childhood. The collection contained paintings, drawings, sculptures, wooden machines, photographs and some music for ambiance. Based on the idea of “down the rabbit hole” from Alice in Wonderland, I was at once enchanted by the fantastical pieces on display. Upon entering there was a floating table, obviously for tea time, but all of the place settings and food were all frozen in the air above it, as if everything had suddenly burst to life. I loved it so much. I very nearly missed something wonderful; in the corner of on room, there was a little side room, very small, where some fine china was on display, I saw a faint glowing at my feet and saw where there was a door (of normal human size) with a smaller door in it as well (more of the size for someone under a foot tall. I crouched down to look through this door, and I saw the scene (from Through the Looking Glass) where Alice is too big to fit through the miniscule door and is peering through, occasionally sticking her arm through too. A truly magical collection of art, I will definitely be returning.



When I exited the gallery, there was a huge crowd of people and some awesome music. A group, Deluxe, was playing some mixed genre (definitely Jazz in there) music in the streets. I tell you, these guys put anything I’ve seen in Saskatoon streets to shame. They had a guy on the drums, some guy hopping around (actually hopping and stomping his feet) on the bass guitar, a crrrrrazy saxophonist and my personal fave, the one with really long bangs, a tendency to head bang, playing some conga drums and a cymbal. These guys had energy and presence! And a really good sound. I should have bought their CD. Oh, did I mention they all had killer moustaches?

CatchingFairies, 1996
Mat Collishaw

The second stop I had planned was to see Dolls in the Kitchen. From my understanding, it is a mix of retro photographs, modern art and maybe some cooking aspect. I walked for a good 20 minutes trying to find the street that had the side street that Second Nature (the venue) was supposed to be on. I though I knew which street I was on, and then it turned out I was on the street I was looking for. A minute later I found the side street and Second Nature.





Drink Me (Wonderland) 2004
Polixeni Papapetrou
(I don't know if this is from a movie)



As I walked up, I was greeted by two hip looking twenty-somethings clad in black and out for a smoke accompanied by a glass of wine. They were oddly attentive so I asked if they were working here and where to find the Dolls in the Kitchen. Sure enough I was in the right place, and they said they would be in to help me right away, which I found to be an odd comment to say to someone who came to look at some art. When I entered, I found myself in what I think was a night club, but in the off hours. There were a couple peculiar looking people sitting at a table who looked at me like I was the peculiar looking person. The one piece of art I found was some kind of modern sculpture that was round. I was a tad disappointed. I left before the hipsters could tend to me.

Alice a la neige, 1971
Roland Topor

My next destination was a gallery full of toys and games, new and old, from “our childhood”. I was unable to find the gallery before 7pm, which was when it closed. I didn’t feel like I was missing out on too much.

I returned home, (40 minutes just to drive out of Aix) and made some crepes while Skyping a very good friend of mine for about an hour. My crepes were wonderful. Unfourtunately, while trying to show just how yellow the egg yolks here are, I spilt some egg white on my keyboard. My J key is never going to be the same.

The movie I went to go see after a bit after ten was Holiday, yet another French film. An old classy hotel is full for the weekend, full of interesting guests. A death (murder or suicide, nobody knows) occurs and everyone is interrogated. As we work through the events before and after the death, there is some comedy, not too much though, and not much of anything else. It was ok, but after midnight, I felt like I should have stayed home and watched When Harry Met Sally.

Paysage accidente, 2009
Cloe Poizat

Something interesting about Aix; there are more people out in the downtown area at midnight than there are at 9pm.

Also, I did not take any photos at the Gallery, these are all taken off of my program. And for the videos, the first one shows one of their high energy parts I walked into. Could you find my favourite member? haha My second video won't upload, oh well.