Daudet

I spent a really nice day in Fontvieille (near Arles). The trip here from Paris was easy and went smoothly. My conference (on "Alphonse Daudet et les femmes" ) started this afternoon and has been very good so far. I give my paper tomorrow morning.

After the conference finished today I took a walk out to Daudet's mill. It wasn't an easy walk up to it in my conference shoes but was well worth it. There is beautiful view from up there. A plaque on the side of the mill reads: "Ce coin de roche qui m'était une patrie et dont on retrouve la trace - être ou endroits - dans presque tous mes livres." The mistral was blowing pretty hard up on the hill. The poor mill (build in 1813) is tied down now but when the wind blew it made a mournful creaking sound...