Writhe and Shine

From Wrihte’s journal:

Avignon. I get into another packed railway station 30 minutes late and wander around until I find M and her friend A, who speaks almost perfect English. The three of us walk to M’s house and it’s very nice, small, neat and clean. I meet her mother and put my bags in their extra bedroom. They have three but the third is empty as her brother has moved away. We immediately eat dinner when her father gets home. First we have a salad of rice, apples, tomatoes and some other misc. stuff. Dinner is cold cooked chicken. They only have wine to drink. Next we have cheese and finally strawberries. her father is kind of weird, but in a very good way. He knows only about 20 English words and is very interested in showing me that not all French people hate Americans. He grabs my wrist and shows me that he is counting my fingers. “One, two, three, four, five.” He lets go of my hand and holds up his own. “One, two, three, four, five. SAME!” During the prolonged conversation I was trying to say that “yes, I understand” in French, but I had trouble with grammar and was actually telling him that I -didn’t- understand. A caught the problem and he told me how to say what I wanted to say. Embarrassing. It seems that everyone wants to visit New York if they ever make it to the States. He loves jazz as do so many other Europeans. After dinner, M’s mother went to work – the late shift at the hospital as a nurse. M, A, and I went walking around the old city. I was battered by a history of nearly everything and so many explanations of things. Nice views, cobblestone streets. We met their friends in a closed restaurant by a small river with waterwheels. they still had to eat so the three of us walked around some more and went to a bar for a drink. I drank some absinthe.
Slept. Woke up and had a very light breakfast of toast and tea. Drove to some supermarket where M’s father was selling whiskey and we walked around that town for about an hour. Drove back to her house and had lunch because my stomach was growling loudly. Tried many new things. The southern French eat very healthy. More wine. I’m not used to having a glass of alcohol in the middle of the day with a meal. Walked around shopping pedestrian area and both of us felt kinda dizzy. Went back and watched TV until dinner. Had lamb with rice and some red sauce stuff poured over it. More wine, strawberries and whipped cream for dessert – after the cheese of course. Showed M’s father my photos of my trip so far. He showed me his friend’s photo book who is a professional photographer. Very strange picture of their family – mostly nude – felt weird. Chatted with her father some more. Went with A, M and their friend C to a concert that was happening in another town. Drove around a bit to see the sights. came back and stopped in a bar where everyone had drinks and spoke in French. Came back very tired. Fall asleep now.