Steve McCurry: Retrospective

This iconic image was taken by Philadelphia born, Steve McCurry… He became famous when he introduced his haunting images of the conflict in Afghanistan.  

  This particular photo of an unknown Pakistani girl made its way around the world in 1984.  The girl with the green eyes aroused such curiosity that a National Geographic team was sent to try to locate her.   In 2002 they found the girl's identity and the photo taken 17 years later is displayed in this exhibition as well.

Each of the 27 images that make up the exhibition is carefully chosen and tended to achieve maximum impact.   And each is a masterpiece of composition, light and color.  

 I found that McCurry's sensitivity to the beauty found in the rugged faces of the struggling peoples he sought to photograph  to be remarkable.   The portraiture is stunning.

This free exhibition ( until September 21)…. is housed in the  gallery called Theatre de la Photopraphie et de L'image ….. 27 Blvd de la Dubuchage , Nice.  

  If you haven't already…..Go!

Walk into Town. Yes!

August 13

I buy three lined notebooks as if I have something of great import to say or maybe I am going to write " the great American novel". 
   
 But today is a marker of a day….. even if I don't write about it.  

It's the first day since May 28  that I have walked down the street to the bus on both legs…. "sans" crutches,  sans boots or straps.  

My intention was to take the bus to the center of town and then walk up to FNAC where there is always the best selection of lined notebooks in town,( not quadrilled… as the French prefer) , then proceed back down.  

  Now, after an hour or so of standing and browsing in Fnac I have made my way down to Starbucks in Nice Etoile.   I need an excuse to sit down and Starbucks is the only place where I can order half real coffee and half decaf in the same cup. 

Its 11am in Starbucks and everyone is having a sweet: a muffin , a piece of carrot cake with his coffee.  Still, no one in the bar is "as big as a house" as you find now in America.    But I am afraid I have seen the tendency of corpulence even here.  We now see husky teenagers and children in France that we didn't see 20 years ago.  All these snack bars along Jean Medecin are not helping.  It's too easy now to stroll and "grignoter" ( to nibble).  But a snack at 11H00 is a simple pleasure and it seems harmless enough once in a while. 

The 3 months of a useless ankle have left me rudderless in more than one way.  Not being able to walk properly felt final, as if it were the edge of not being able to do other important things….like create, or think, or go out on one's own again.   

A strange dullness took over during my convalescence and all I wanted to do was sit in the garden and pull the weeds. ( Maybe this is a metaphor. ha!)  But today I feel hopeful.  

 My ultimate destination for today is to see Steve McCurry's photography exhibition at Le Theatre de la Photographie at 27 Blvd Dubuchage. 

 I am guessing that walking and gazing at his work will inspire me and get some oxygen to my brain.   

 Maybe I will fill the notebooks after all.   Ankles crossed. 

Samantha and Christophe

My nephew and his new bride are visiting for a week as an extension to their Parisian honeymoon.  We are all having a peachy and amusing time swapping stories, feasting on summer fare ( team effort) and visiting just a few select attractions.   It's quite hot now in August for sightseeing and we are glad the couple wants to just "be" here with us.   

  The pair will be heading soon to live in the town of Annandale on Hudson in New York.   For his graduate studies Christopher has a full scholarship from Bard College in operatic voice and choral directing.    Sam will be working towards a museum curator's  degree or finding work in the town.  

 While here, Samanitha and I have been having a "gay old time" playing dress-up with my vintage clothes collection.  I am pleased that she wants to take some of the pieces with her.     Its time to pass on these clothes to a young and beautiful woman who will really wear them.  My niece Sarah and her mother have modeled them for me in years past with great style and panache.  Now Samantha is the only other person I have met who can actually fit into them.  

Like Sarah and Martha,  Samantha wears these outfits I enjoyed and collected with grace and charm.   In fact they look like they were made just for her. 

Barney's New York….. modern fox fur hat with modern coat

 60's Bill Blass sequined jacket with 30's straw hat

Straw and velveteen cloche from the 20's

Silk crepe silver studded 20's long gown cut on the bias

Leopard print deerskin hat from 50's

Beaded bonnet from the 20's

"Irene" designed suit probably from 40's or 50's

This is a hat I made from a nondescript felt hat and fur pieces found at the thrift store.   I wore it as part of my costume for Masha in THe Three Sisters in my theatre days in S.F.    This is my red scarf and thrift store coat I found in Nice.

This is a rare scarf that Monsieur gave me that is woven with gold and silver threads. It also has interesting tassels and is a 20's piece.  The necklace I bought in Hong Kong 30 years ago.  

Samantha models a cut velvet coat from the 30's

This dress is part of a collection of bespoke dresses Monsieur bought from the niece of the Reynolds Linoleum heiress in America

It is a fox fur trimmed velvet dress designed by Don Loper who also designed for Marilyn Monroe

A brass studded gown from the 30's

A 40's cheongsam with a myriad" hooks and eyes". That's what makes it fit like a glove. 

Christopher models a men's japanese kimono from the 30's.  Too bad I can't convince him that he will use it.



It was wonderful to have the newlyweds here and we hope that they will put us on their agenda for a future visit.  After all, Samantha hasn't yet visited her roots in Sicily.  And that would be as good an excuse as any for the couple to come back our way.  But knowing how "way leads on to way" I may have to visit them first.  

Now a Tribez and Castlez addict

To get through this last month and a half , I have had to sort of hypnotize myself into doing very little. 

  I have even gotten addicted to a video game on my tablet.... of which I am quite ashamed .  It is one where you get to arrange your fields and houses and castle, explore new territories and defeat all manner of ghouls.     I think that my loss of control over my "real" life has led me to the dreaded "games".     In my little virtual kingdom, I reign supreme and can make the decisions to plant flowers or go to battle.   And going to battle is somewhat gratifying feeling as helpless as I do. 

Oh hum. ......  a few days ago I got rid of my boot on the surgeon's theory that if I use my ankle more I will build new bone at a faster rate.

   So now I have a velcro splint that holds both sides of my ankle in place but lets most of my foot touch the ground.  Unfortunately , I own only one pair of open sandals that will accommodate such a splint.  Now I just have to build up my stamina for walking and figure out how to carry things like wet laundry, for example.   

 Sunday I will give back my wheel chair and my walker to my friend, Victor, who loaned them and I will have just my forearm crutches to get around on.    And tomorrow is the last self administration of my blood thinner giving myself a shot.  My poor belly is a pincushion so I will be glad to have that behind me. 

I should be good to go by the end of September.  In the meantime, I will have some charming honeymooners visiting me for a week and keep me away from video games.  I think I am an addict though. I've almost cured one thing but gained a side affect.  Arrrgh.

Rodica

This is Rodica.

   She comes from Moldova right next to the Ukraine. 

To refresh your memory , Moldova is circled in this map. 

Rodica has been my helpmate during this month and a half of convalescence.  I will be so sorry to see her go back to Moldava but she must finish high school.  This next year will be the baccalaureate year where her future plans will be decided. 

 We will encourage her to work in landscape gardening because she loves it and is really gifted with both ideas and "hands on" garden work.  She and I have been putting in a new piece of my yard with flowers and she knows exactly what to do.  She comes from a village where she grew vegetables and flowers and had chickens, goats, and a cow or two .....so it's not surprising.  

Monsieur and I will really miss you Rodica.  Come back and see us.  

The private hospital

  I had never given it much thought but of course there is a network of private hospitals and clinics in France along side the public ones.   

My friend Diane came up with the name of a really good trauma surgeon at the Clinic du Parc Imperial.    I had just told her about the check up I had had at a public hospital in Nice, St Roch.  My friend Patrick was kind enough to stay with me throughout the first visit but at St Roch the young person that read my x-ray seemed a bit vague about what he was looking at.  He just told me to come back in three weeks to see the surgeon.  

But Dr Jean Marc Glasson at the Clinic du Parc Imperial was another story.  There are only three doctors working out of this clinic in Nice, each in a specialized field. It seems to be a fully operating hospital with its own x ray unit.  Dr. Glasson saw me right away and assigned new X-rays. 

After having a glance at my new set of prints ( three for the price of one: 42 euros), Monsieur and I consulted with him for about an hour.
 He immediately commented on what an excellent job my first surgeon had done.  He said that titanium screws of the type that had been used weren't even standard equipment in a public hospital and would have had to be ordered in advance by Dr Merola, my Menton surgeon.  He was very impressed with the modern techniques that had been used.

Secondly , he told me that he wanted the cast to come off that day and to begin the physical therapy.  He prescribed some calcium and gave me the names of the therapists in my neighborhood.  This visit with an orthopedic surgeon was around 65 euros!  The new boot to replace the cast cost about 125 euros.     It is pretty cool, it even has a pump that goes with it to make the leg more secure if I choose. 

Since then I have had two visits from my physical therapist, Nicholas Prost ( not the race car driver) who had called me the next day.  He is an affable 38 year old who loves to talk so we have some fun sessions together.   To begin, he is mostly making sure my ankle is supple in all directions. 

  Nicholas says that he wouldn't think of going to a public hospital or taking his family there. …too inefficient and too much wait for not much of a price difference.   And of course the care is much better in the private clinics he says.  

So once again I have " bien tombee" ( landed well)  in both senses of the phrase.   Thanks Diane, and also Patrick for helping with this new direction.    You have made my life so much easier. 

Check out , hmmmm.

Finally I was all set to check out and go back to Nice. 

The problem was that La Palmosa had closed the front desk a half  hour before I was to leave on a Friday and it would be closed for the entire weekend!  No one had mentioned that this was their policy so my credit cards and jewelry etc. were still in the safe. 

 I threw a fit but no amount of objection would bring back the secretary who had already gone home.  This "person" and this policy turned out to be the weakest link in the whole hospital experience.  Everything up until this time had run smoothly and efficiently. 
I had to leave without my things but I warned the secretary on the phone the next day that I would be sending someone to pick them up.   This desk "person" protested that it had to be my husband only but in the end I sent my secret weapon…..my friend Allison, who had just returned from a trip and was wanting to help out.

 Allison is great at getting anything done that she puts her mind to. She just got her apartment building sorted.  She had protested for weeks to the real estate agency that there was a bad smell emanating from one of the closed apartments.   It was when she threatened to bring garbage into the office, that she got results.  The next day the offending locked and abandoned apartment was cleaned up!  

So off she went , passport in hand , and with a letter of procurement…. to do Monsieur and I a huge favor.    Of course, the office "person" meekly capitulated and she returned with all of my loot and some gifts as well.  

All in all, I think the Palmosa hospital was outstanding for a public facility.  I can now say that I have visited St Roch Hospital in Nice and that this hospital is a lot older, sadder, and less efficient.   In fact it took me about three days to get through to the right secretaries and hospitals even to make an appointment.  Not every hospital does "ankles".  

 And the fee for the whole week in Menton was exceedingly reasonable, even without being part of the social system.     It is just a matter of how long France can sustain such care.  I was lucky to be injured when the system is still viable. 

Next, the discovery of the private hospital.