Giant Marbles in Nice – Petanque
While in the south of France, particularly in the largers cities of Nice or Marseille, if you don’t happen to see a game or 10 of “Petanque,” a sort of marble game gone radioactive — you aren’t paying much attention to your surroundings. You WILL see it all over the south of France. BTW, that’s lulu showing incredible restraint (by not wreaking havoc and chasing all the boules (BALLS!)).
I’ve only seen little old men play it in public but this doesn’t preclude you from playing it yourself, even though you don’t fit the senior bill. Petanque is usually accompanied by a tasty alcoholic beverage. Any tasty alcoholic beverage will do of course, but many tend to prefer drinking “Pastis” the French version of ouzo, a yummy licorice-flavored melt in your mouth licqueur while playing petanque, also referred to as “Boules” (Balls!)
Oh! I find that petanque sets in france makes a fun gift to bring back to the U.S. of course it’s way HEAVY so be prepared for some body building while lugging around your purchase.
Where to find courts? parks and beaches in general. But when in Nice, there are some games going on near the basketball courts on the beach, not far from the Champion supermarket (off promenade des anglais).
PEEKABOOB
appropriately fun title, i thought. it’s no secret that there are a lot of bare boobed statues in france and it’s all fine. this one’s in nice, france.
can you imagine how u.s. attorney general john asscroft – heeheeoops i mean ashcroft, would react in france? i’d HOPE this would happen: he’d arrive in france and within 5 minutes or so he’d be exposed to at least 5 different bare breasted statues or monuments. (that actually sounds possible) the flood of UNDRAPED images would get him so perturbed, sweaty, shaky and disturbed, he’d have some sort of moral dilema explosion in his head, causing such a nervous breakdown, he’d just talk in tongues and drool uncontrollably. no one around will want to deal with such a babbling, slimey guy, so everyone runs away from him. at the peak of his maniacal frenzy and shattering of his own bizarre ideology, he has a moment of clarity. he thinks, ‘this is ok,’ then, accepts and embraces nudity in all its grandeur and glory.
then he becomes a hippy and joins a nudist colony.
doggie bags (NOT from the restaurant) 
needless to say, i’m an animal lover particularly of dogs (and horses) so oftentimes you’ll see posts about my lulu, dogs, dog poo or anything else dog or animal related.
i’ve mentioned this before and i’ll mention it again (and again if i have to!)…there’s a dog poo problem in france (which is a polite way of saying french people don’t pick up their *(&^%^& poo!)
some places (except in the south) in france are slowly trying to make progress. notice how i said they were ‘trying.’
i saw this toutounet thing in biot and thought HOW NICE: a dispenser with poop bags and INSTRUCTIONS on how to pick up poo. believe it or not, PEOPLE DO NEED LESSONS! that said, however, this dispenser was empty as are all i’ve seen so far – wait! except the one i saw in semur en auxois! yay cote d’or (burgundy) i heard later that the cities/towns trying out these dispensers found that the bags were disappearing faster than the poop on the sidewalk. further investigations’ findings revealed that people were stealing the bags and using them as freezer bags for food. ICK AND A HALF. these bags are not meant for food!! they’re meant for poo! if you know anyone that is using these bags for food, please tell them they’re most likely lined with insecticide (as are garbage bags) and this is highly NOT recommended. thank you.
Related: Second Poop Campaign, Dog Poop Bags, Thinking Beyond Number 2
Not Just a Prison, it’s a Family Destination! 
A quick 15 minute ferry ride from Cannes will take you to the Île St. Marguerite, one of the 2 Lerins Islands. (the other island is the Île St. Honorat) There, you’ll find yourself wandering around a beautiful island, and exploring the fort/prison whilst contemplating the identity of the Man in the Iron Mask (no, not Leo, the REAL Man in the Iron Mask) and his ill-fated incarceration.
Catch a ferry from the port of Cannes that will take you to Île St. Marguerite. (Follow the signs that say “Ferrage – Îles Lerins”). It’s 6 euros for a round trip and leaves every hour or so. (more frequently during vacation months) You can also hire a private boat for a more personal 15 minute ride to Île St. Marguerite. Dogs are allowed in the ferries for free.
Boat Operators include:
Estérel Chanteclair (tel:(04) 9339 1182)
Horizon 4 (tel:(04) 9298 7136)
Maritime Cannoise (tel:(04) 9338 6633)
Trans Côte D’Azur (tel:(04) 9298 7130)
The St. Marguerite Prison/Fort, is now more politely named Musée de la Mer (Museum of the Sea). It took the Man in the Iron Mask 11 years to leave but should only take you not more than an hour to explore. This museum also houses some archeological discoveries of shipwrecks off the coast of St. Marguerite, which is absolutely fascinating. Note: Photos are not allowed inside. Guided tours are available during the summers. 3 euros entrance. Dogs are allowed in for free but you have to carry them the whole time. So, if you have a large dog, start working out now.
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 10:30am-1:15pm and 2:15pm-4:15pm (Oct-Mar); Tues-Sun 10:30am-1:15pm and 2:15pm-5:45pm (Apr-Sep); Tues-Sun 10:30am-1:15pm and 2:15pm-6:30pm (Jul-Sep)
Open Air Urinals! 
need i say more to this open air urinal with NO WALLS??????? you heard me. no walls, no room, no ceiling, no door. nothing! as if they were open air phone booths. apparently, yes, i need to elaborate because it gets even better!
i was taking pretty pictures a few days ago, then i saw these. if anyone took a picture of my expression, it would be a crystal clearly focused photo with me looking grossed out but not surprised. then, i smiled because it’s so magnificently silly. france can shine with silly magnificence that way. noteworthy here: there’s a small playground for kids just NEXT to the urinals. the pic was taken from a small public alleyway that leads to a river (l’alene) and just next to the urinals is a house (they’re *lucky* enough to have a view of the backs of dudes peeing.) and people wonder why everyone makes fun of france!
just can’t be helped.
Cancer Causing Soda Cans 
i thought ALL soda cans were made out of aluminum (aluminium to our uk friends). yesterday i noticed this on a soda can: made with recyclable steel. it made me wonder if there’s something we’ve been missing all the years when they were made out of aluminum. they might even still be made with aluminum in the u.s., who knows? so as far as i know, they’re made with steel in france. i did a little looksee about the issue and this is what i found out: source: cancer tutor:
While aluminum is technically not a heavy metal, it is so toxic it is frequently listed as a heavy metal. Aluminum is known to pass through the placenta to the fetus. It is also known to be a major cause of Alzheimer’s.
* “In animal studies, aluminum blocks the action potential or electrical discharge of nerve cells, reducing nervous system activity. Aluminum also inhibits important enzymes in the brain (Na-K-ATPase and hexokinase). Aluminum may also inhibit uptake of important chemicals by nerve cells (dopamine, norepinephrine, and 5-hydroxytryptamine).”
http://www.naturallybalancedhealth.com/healthalert.ivnu
While it is true that fluroide and aluminum are independently bad for the brain of a developing fetus, it should also be known that the combination of aluminum and fluoride makes the damage of both items much, much greater!
* “Evidently Alzheimer’s Disease came along after people started using aluminum cookware. Isabel Jansen, R.N., wrote of a simple experiment regarding the use of aluminum pots, where it’s easily proven that the aluminum and the fluoride content in water, both increase dramatically.
“In January 1987, experiments performed at the Medical Research Endocrinology Dept., Newcastle upon Tyne, England, and the Physics Dept of the Univ. of Ruhana, Sri Lanka, showed that fluoridated water at 1 ppm, when used in cooking in aluminum cookware, concentrated the aluminum up to 600 ppm, whereas water without fluoride did not. (Science news 131:73)
They suggested that because of the known fact that aluminum is neuro-toxic and is in abnormally high concentrations in the brain of Alzheimers and other neurological disease victims, including AIDS, that these findings raise questions about adding fluoride to the water supply of communities to reduce tooth decay….
Because of these findings, a test was made of Antigo, Wisconsin water which has been fluoridated for 33 years. The water was examined by a certified Wisconsin laboratory, and showed that when it was used in cooking in aluminum cookware, it concentrated the aluminum by 833 times and increased the fluoride content by 100%.
The maximum allowed aluminum content of water is set by the World Health Organization at 200 micrograms per liter. This makes Antigo water, when cooked in aluminum, 75 times over the maximum. No test was made of distilled water, as the Antigo Water Dept. does not dispense distilled water.” http://www.whale.to/a/alz.html
There are also several other links at the bottom about fluoride and Down Syndrome. Fluoride can be found in many places other than your water.
In short, throw away all of your aluminum pots and pans, do not drink out of aluminum soda pop cans, etc. etc. Do not cook with aluminum foil. Also, do not drink tap water or cook with tap water. Use natural water, such as spring water or artesian well water. Just to show you how impossible it is to avoid aluminum, consider:
* “KNOWN SOURCES OF ALUMINUM TOXICITY:
beverages from aluminum cans (soda pop and beer)
food cooked in aluminum cookware
use of aluminum-containing antacids
use of anti-perspirants (read the label)
drinking water (aluminum is frequently added to municipal water)
baking powders (check labels)
drying agents in salt and other products
processed cheese
bleached flour
fluoridated water increases leaching of aluminum from aluminum pots and pans.
Born with elevated aluminum passed from mother to fetus through the placenta.”
http://karan.heskco.com/pages/aluminum.htm
Vaccines also contain aluminum and other toxic chemicals (other than mercury, mentioned above).
SEE PART II OF CANCER CAUSING SODA CANS
Unusually Positive Post! 
i SWEAR, i didn’t want to do a grumpy, negative, ranting blog like so many out there, but when you live in france, irritability is just inevitable. it’s also simply part of the culture. heeheehee. did you ever notice that a LOT (and i mean ia lot) of french movies end with someone jumping out the window, shooting themselves or performing a less creative form of suicide? maybe i should call this blog, “Why LIVE in France.”
back to this post. here’s something i like about france: they are dog friendly which might be related to the dog poo problem. i’ve been taking photos of dogs everywhere. unlike the u.s. you can take your dog to a lot of places, even in the bus in some cases (i’ll post a pic of that later). for now, here’s cuteness in the form of a white lab, store dog. (more to follow at random intervals)
Oblivious to the Obvious 
does anyone else find this OFFENSIVE? this old plaque is on the wall of one of the most famous cafes in paris called ‘le comptoir du relais’ in the…
st. germain des pres area (6th arrondissement at l’odean) you find stuff like this all over france and not just on walls. you’ll see cartoons of black people with bones through their noses on packaging like on…boxes of children’s cookies and candy. the sad thing is whenever i point this out to anyone, they just brush it off like it’s harmless, and I’M the offensive one. GEEZ.
Squish! Oh Poo! 
Click here to understand the true extreme nastiness of the problem.
france has not completely dealt with the problem of poo especially in the south of france (cannes, nice, antibes etc) where most people say it’s SO PRETTY THERE! there’s nothing grosser than stepping and sliding on a steaming mushy turd with high heels then slipping (a la monty python style) up into the air and landing in the offensive pile, brown splotching your freshly pressed WHITE silk skirt – on your way to a job interview – and you’re late.
or just stepping in it with your sneeks and getting dogjunk embedded and cemented into the treads, taking crap (and the smell of crap) with you where ever you go (like on a date. or in the CAR or cafe or meeting your (possible) future in-laws…) – until you can find something to clean it off with.
we shouldn’t be having this conversation. i know.
paris is really trying to get people to clean up their dogcrap act and for the most part, A FEW people do. (but this law has been clearly ignored in the south). these few people, too, are expatriots living in france who are used to being civilized.
if you talk about this to some french ppl, this is what i hear in general, ‘stepping in zee pooh is verry verry gud luck.’
anyway.
Related: Second Poop Campaign, Dog Poop Bags, Thinking Beyond Number 2
