Author: postcardsfromsanantonio

Postcard from Avignon, France: A brief restaurant sampler

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A colorful illustration of a French baguette with a decorative ribbon and text saying 'La baguette de pain française'.

Above: Perfect for the indecisive, a sampler platter at L’Epicerie Restaurant.

We didn’t stay in Avignon many days, so the list of restaurants we experienced is shorter than normal. Don’t be confused by the inclusion of two unrelated epiceries. Both have pleasant outdoor seating, but the food experience is totally different.

L’Epicerie de Ginette is more a cafe than a restaurant, but its seating on the tree-shaded plaza across the street is ideal for people-watching. Caramelized goat cheese on toast atop a salad was substantial, while a croque monsieur was spartan, a slim slice of ham and a paucity of cheese. The luscious raspberry custard tarte represented redemption. Perhaps best to stick with dessert and people-watching.

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Postcard from France: Saint Phalle battled outside wrongs and monsters within

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A colorful 1992 French stamp featuring a stylized figure by Niki de Saint Phalle, surrounded by stars and a crescent moon.

Above: Detail of “Monster Crocodile,” a 1964 assemblage by Niki de Saint Phalle.

I wanted [the fountain] to have charm, with the colors of Niki…. I wanted sculptures like street performers, a little bit like a circus, which was at the heart of Stravinsky’s style itself when in 1914 he had his first encounter with jazz….”

Jean Tinguely (1925-1991)

With bright primary colors twirling around squirting water in all different directions, the 1983 “Stravinsky Fountain” by Niki de Saint Phalle and husband Jean Tinguely ignited a public space between the Pompidou Center, housing the National Museum of Modern Art, and the Gothic-style Church of Saint-Merri. Viewing the flamboyant fountain evokes a childlike joyful feeling in even the most jaded adults.

Above: “Stravinsky Fountain,” Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely, Paris, France, 1983.

That whimsical, playful exuberance bubbling up in the fountain and her jubilant plump “Nanas,” with figures resembling my own, meant I failed to take a serious look at her art. I must have been in a teenage trance to miss the media coverage when she exhibited a giant Nana “Hon” with an entryway for attendees between her widespread legs.

Underestimating Saint Phalle’s talents for decades was a mistake. An exhibition this spring at the Caumont Center for Art in Aix-en-Provence altered my misconceptions.

A quotation by Niki de Saint Phalle in French and English, expressing her love for monsters, displayed in a colorful and artistic font.
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Postcard from Queretaro, Mexico: Pondering contemporary art scene

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A postage stamp featuring a portrait of a female figure, depicting a nun with a religious emblem, surrounded by books, with the text 'ARTE Y CIENCIA DE MEXICO' and 'AEREO' printed on it.

Above: “Ensenan Mas las Obras…,” Miguel Angel Hernandez Vences, lost-wax bronze, 2025; and “Dibujos en la Piel,” Enrique Hernandez Rivera, oil on canvas, 2025. Among pieces selected for the “MAQRO’s First Biennial of the Human Figure.”

Baroque architecture of the former convent of San Agustin, featuring arched colonnades, intricate stone carvings, and a central fountain, under a blue sky.

Never would we visit Queretaro without ducking in to admire the exquisite Baroque courtyard for the former convent of San Agustin. But there’s more than early 18th-century colonial architecture to experience there.

The rooms surrounding the courtyard are refurbished as galleries of Museo de Arte de Queretaro. This summer those galleries were overflowing with exhibitions showing the vitality of the creative community of the city.

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