A few months ago we arrived in Minneapolis on the day Prince died and it was a somber city for the few days we were there though I learned more about Prince than I ever had before.  We arrived in France the day after the British people voted to leave the European Union.  It seemed a somber atmosphere at the airport, not many smiling or laughing people but they may also have been jet lagged as we were.  We have not had much opportunity to speak with people and our French is not good enough for French TV.  We have arrived at our pied-à-terre for the week and most of the conversation has been with our fellow American friends staying here.

What I can say, and what the newspapers are saying, is that people have voted with their emotions instead of their brains.  Does this sound like something we should pay attention to?

If you are in my class right now a few of you have remarked about “old” buildings and of course I’m here in the land of old buildings.  We are staying in a 400 year old farm house lovingly restored and now shared with others.

We spent the afternoon in Avignon, famous for the song written in the 16th century about the bridge that goes to a dance (which was performed under the bridge).  I learned it as a child and never knew what it was all about.  Now I do.  Avignon is a Medieval walled city that became the papal home and center of power from 1307-1377 with 7 popes residing there before their return to Rome.  For a time there were two popes (one in Rome and the other in Avignon) known as the Great Schism.  More about this in the next post.