priscimon blog

Je n’ai pas grand chose à te dire

Et pas grand chose pour te faire rire

Car j’imagine toujours le pire

Et le meilleur me fait souffrir

—Indochine

I’m typing this in Bordeaux, after spending a few hours refurbishing laptops handed back to me by my sister-in-law before she leaves France. She and P are shopping on Rue Sainte-Catherine.

On my last trip to Bordeaux, I was ill—apparently from an unusual consumption of Bordeaux’s fine wines—and spent the last two days in bed. As this trip ends, it seems that I’m unfortunate once more: this time, I have a sprained ankle. Somehow, between climbing into bed, after returning from a meal at Alfama, and waking up, I injured myself. I can’t think how this is even possible. The ankle is not swollen but is very sensitive to touch and cannot bear weight. So I’m cleaning laptops indoors when the weather outside is so inviting.

I hope that I’m well enough to visit Jardin Public and Le Lac for photography tomorrow. But, it doesn’t look good, with the pain still felt this late in the day. Never mind the worry of lugging our suitcases on the tram to the airport, I just wish for the chance to enjoy our last day in Bordeaux.

The sky looked right for the pictures I had planned for Saint Georges cemetery. I was anxious about going there by myself, because the location is supposedly dangerous. But I have been around Cassis and have driven by the cemetery enough times to know that it’s mostly exaggeration.

Still I wanted to not hang around too long. I got out of the car, found the spots to match my visualisations, measured the light, retrieved the camera from the boot, set the camera exposure, set the camera on the tripod, focused, and pressed the trigger button. The pictures came out exactly as I expected.

I then drove to Les Salines to check out the evening atmosphere in the garden. The sky was even more dramatic, and I could not let the opportunity pass. The last picture, from there, was not planned, so… meh.