Monday, June 3, 2024

France 2024 – Days 9 and 10 – Bergerac

Hercule Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac (1619 to 1655) was a writer, playwright, libertine, and duelist, who in Rostand’s time was believed to have been born in Bergerac (recently some evidence has been unearthed that he was born in Paris and came to Bergerac as a 3-year old infant).  The character who we know and love was put together by Edmund Rostand in 1897, loosely based on this historic character. In any case, Cyrano is the beloved son of Bergerac, and is celebrated with a life-size statue in the center of town and in just about every corner by store names, special delicacies, or simply graphic representations of his magnificent nose.

Today was the second day of the theater festival, and I attended the farce by Molière (1622-1673) La Jalouise de Barbouillé, a funny children’s theater about this rabbit who does not want to be called “Mon Petit Lapin” but rather by his grown up name Jean Carotte and in seeking independence gets into all sorts of trouble, and a clever piece about a “hospital” where the spirits of those who are in comma come to wait and see if they will recover and take the elevator down, or not recover and take the elevator up to whatever type of eternal life awaits them. Enjoyable, but three plays is as much as I could handle, so I spent the rest of Sunday walking for a long walk along La Dordogne.

Zzzz …

Monday morning and a lot to do today. First of all, I have to walk to the outskirts of town to Decathlon, A European sports store where I intend to buy a bicycle. I had seen one in their website, but once I got there I realized that they have refurbished bikes for sale, and I found a great deal for a slightly frumpy bike (with white splash guards and a rear rack), to which I added a panier, a basket, and a helmet, and got the whole thing for 200 euros! Score! So, my quality of life just went up a few notches, and now I am fully mobile in Bergerac.

Then I went to the transit authority, and after talking with the lady in charge got two books of coupons (20 tickets grand total) that will enable to take 10 trips throughout the Perigord region. Apparently I can take my bike along, so all of a sudden I have increased my reach ten-fold 😊

I spent the afternoon by going to the cinema, to see the new film Furiosa. My kind of movie!

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