Well, back home in the good ol' US of A. A few random memories now that I want to leave you with of this very special trip.
Didn't have time to jot them down while I was there, but I wanted to tell you about one of the concerts under the pines.

The evening started with a most elegant set by Lizz Wright, in a long, pure-white flowing dress. I knew I was hooked when she sang "Dreaming Wide Awake";
her amazing voice meshing with the night breeze over the sea, backed by a chorus of crickets harbored in the
umbrella pines overhead. A perfect golden moment in time.

Then she sang a song Nina Simone made famous years back: "I wish I knew how it would feel to be free." Hearing
Lizz sing it in this setting was the very meaning of freedom. She told us that she skipped ahead in her program in order to sing it because it was just pulling her so strongly.

Lizz was engaging and funny as well. She and Jamie Cullum had rented a little plastic float earlier in the day and had
gone out into the water on it. She thought they'd just go out there and have a nice chat on the water, but the floaty thing
upended, and they both fell off and and she screamed her lungs out! "So, if you see Jamie, tell him he owes me a sandwich."

The she launched into her haunting, cool, sultry version of "A Taste of Honey", sung dangerously slow. I thought of it as
her 'warm, swamp version' of the song. The crowd went "ooooooooohhhhh" all at the same time when they realised what song it was she was about to croon for them. "I will return................I will return..........I'll come back, for the honey.......and you...."

To top it off, her great version of the Neil Young song "Old Man" was a smash with the crowd. She had us eating out of her hand by now.
Her voice, deep and earthy and definitely funky, filled the night sky, echoing down the coast.

How to follow this superb set? Try Jamie Cullum. Within 15 minutes, he had that place torn off its hinges! He was a thunderbolt--a raging storm of energy and intuition, and he loved every single second of his spotlight. Backed by fantastic images on a big
screen behind him-- and a VERY tight band, Jamie flung himself into his set with raging abandon. At one point, an ambulence went by, its signature two notes blasting into Jamie's patter. Instead of being annoyed at the interruption, Jamie raced away from the standing mic to the piano and found the same two notes the ambulence was blaring. Turning into a human beat box, he made up a spontaneous jazz riff using those two notes and some scatting that his band picked up on. Within seconds, they were in a full-blown jam. It sounded so good, the audience ROARED!

Then he picked up his guitar and sang "London Skies", a song he'd written recently, and there was gorgeous footage of London's grey skies behind him.....very cool. The he jumped into the crowd and stood on a chair. Sang huskily into the night, without a microphone
and we could hear every nuance as he cupped his hands around his mouth.

Back again on stage, and he asked everyone to leave their seats and come up real close to the stage. He sang "These are the Days" and EVERYONE sang along...in English, French and a few other languages, but they were all singing. Jamie gave his all for two solid hours and left us wanting more.

And guess what? He was the first one back to the hotel to join in the jam session! Just sitting in at the piano, singing standards like "Bye Bye Blackbird" for about 30 people who happened by. PASSION!! That's what Jamie Cullum's all about. I urge you to see him next time he's in town.

That night I dreamt about the two painters, Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gaugin, who shared a yellow house in Arles, France, and painted long into the evenings. The land of Cezanne and Magritte brings wonderful dreams, and I slept like a baby....

Next day there was a little time for shopping, so I gave into the urge. It's always nice to just come home with a little somthing to remember your trip by. I was thinking about buying a summer dress. The word you want to see, Ladies, is "SOLDES!" That means SALE! and the sales were ON in abundance.

I stopped into a little shop on the Avenue Du Docteur Dautheville in Juan-Les-Pins and tried on a dress that turned out to be way too small. (French sizes are more 'true' than American sizes, so plan to wear at least one size larger than you do here). Seeing my dilemma, one of the nice French ladies working in the store helped me out of the dress with great finesse. She asked if she might suggest another, and of course, after being freed, I was so grateful, I agreed.

She brought another one, but this one turned out to be too big. Then she and her colleague put their heads together and said something like "May we make a suggestion?" (they spoke French, so I just got the gist of it.) Anyway, they went and picked out two of the cutest summer outfits I've ever seen. One was a pair of cuffed brown shorts and a really sweet frilly green and brown top. Both piece fit like a glove!!! I actually jumped up and down and started clapping.

The second outfit was a pair of calf-length blue denim pants with a white sailor stripe down the outside of the thigh. Topped with a smashing ribbed top with silver studs, it was dramatic! The final flourish--a silver sequinned belt worn low around the hips. Voila!
What a transformation! Both ladies were so happy, they kissed me on both cheeks! (I can't say that's EVER happened to me in the states).

My new motto is, "When in doubt, have a French woman dress you. Better yet--make it two!"

I actually wish I'd had one of those outfits the evening before, when we enjoyed cocktails and a light dinner at a beautiful boutique hotel called The Juana. We sat in the open-air La Terrace Club amidst a pretty garden setting with Cecile Eliman Godina and the General Manager of the
hotel, Mr. Eric LeDuc. Out came a parade of tiny, impeccable dishes. In France, they call these "amuse bouches"--amusements for your mouth. And mine was surely amused! I love dining that way-- a taste of this, and a taste of that--especially when it's all prepared lovingly by a French chef...who might call this a "degustation" as well. This was the hotel kitchen over which the venerable chef Alain Ducasse once presided, and in that fine tradition, it continues to impress mightily.

Two musicians sing softly into the evening, and even take requests in all different languages. I believe the main singer's name was Jim Garrett--he's a young Kevin Costner look-alike, and the ladies in the garden were riveted. :) Like the Belle Rives, this hotel is decorated in the Deco tradition and is refined in its appointments. You can only guess at the names on the guest register. Madame Marianne Estene-Chauvin (of Belles Rives fame) is also the proprietaire of this 4-star hotel. (Her grandfather would be doubly proud of her).

I wish we could linger over our Cosmos and mouth amusements, but the concert is due to start and we don't want to miss the evening of world artists. A quick peek at one of the rooms (delightful!) and we have to say goodbye.

The next day is pretty warm, and I'm thinking that I should go to the hotel gym and work off some of the "amusements", but find I'm
lacking in motivation. I wander down there and ask if there's a yoga class---preferably one where you spend half the class lying on
your back..? The gym attendant says I've missed the yoga class, but an aqua class is starting in 15 minutes. Just enough time to run to your room and change into your suit. What the heck? At least it's not hot in the pool. And how hard can a class be that uses styrofoam "weights"?

I was about to find out. Ever been dead wrong about something? I was, about aqua classes....thinking they were nice and easy and a way for older ladies to socialize. I walk by them all the time at my gym and it looks like they're just kinda doing not too much of anything in there. HA! These ladies are throwing down some pretty serious athletic moves, and I'm having trouble keeping up! Those lighter-than-air styrofoam weights turn into LEAD weights when you put them in water. Who knew??

Being a first-time was tough enough, but also the instructions were in French, so I was a bit out of my element. The women (and one men) were very helpful in getting me up to speed, and once in awhile the instructor would throw out an English phrase for encouragement. By the end of the 45 minutes, I was breathing heavily, but grinning from ear to ear like the rest of the class. Bravo! for Aqua Classes! And I apologize profusely for ever thinking they were for wusses.

As you can tell, I had a REALLY good time on the Cote D'Azur. I hope you have some plans to get away this summer, and I hope to be calling your name soon in our Trip A Day contest. The joys of travel are many and various, and no one can ever take those memories from you.

When I think back to my time on the Blue Coast, I'll remember the breeze ruffling the waves of the Mediterranean, and Lizz Wright's voice
floating like silk into the pines....

"I will return.....yes, I will return....
I'll come back for the honey.....
and you."