Grotto di Labante Blair Pessemier Acrylic/linen 20 x 14 50 x 35
Tree at la Vignola Laurie Fox Pessemier Ac;rylic/linen 14 x 14" 35 x 35 cm
Swimming at Nice Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic/linen 12 x 12 cm 30 x 30cm
"la Vignola" Blair Pessemier Acrylic/linen 8x 18" 20 x 45cm
Meditteranean at Matterlink Blair Pessemier Oil on linen 20 x 24" 50 x 61 cm
Gates at Rocca Malatina Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic/linen 9.5 x 13" 24 x 33 cm
Artnotes: Awfully Nice at the Sea
We went to Nice this week to return that ever-so-expensive
rental car we borrowed in Paris. Renting
the giant vehicle was a must, to get our last belongings out of Paris. It cost
more than 1000 euros, yikes!
We needed a way to unwind once we got to Nice, a 5-1/2 hour
drive from here. I drove the new September rental car (700 plus insurance –
Amex doesn’t cover Italy) and Blair drove the Paris car and we met at the
airport. I was thrilled to be driving,
in Italy no less, going just as fast as the underpowered Fiat would allow.
I remembered a place we painted two Februaries ago while
staying in Villefranche-sur-Mer. It was
in Nice, and I so wanted to jump in the water that foggy day. This 85 degree sunny day fit the bill.
I hardly ever feel strong desire for anything, but this I
did.
We got there and everything became finer than I could
imagine. There were bunches of people: young men all standing on a
green signal buoy out from shore, other young people trying to get on a
large, square “raft of the medusa” floatie. Fat men stretched out on
rocks, young girls afraid to swim. I put on my suit and went to the
water, Blair staying with Harika on an out of the way shady set of steps.
I climbed down the rugged metal ladder into the water. It was just a
little cool, but slippery in the way of sea water. I slid in, and floated
and bobbed, swam a little against waves stronger than I remembered, but feeling
great. I returned to find Blair with my skirt on, putting on his suit
underneath. He went in just like I did and we both came away with such a
wonderful feeling, like a well-preached sermon. “It was so “slappy””, he
told me. I felt just the same, and we both felt we had found a place, an
experience, where, had we stayed in the water any longer, we would have gone to
another place, a perfect place. It was like a transporter of our
life, with all ideal elements – moments later the sky went all wrong and the
magic fled.
We drove back to Rocca Malatina, and ate dinner at 11 at
night. If felt ever so ready for the
next day.
