New Year’s Eve, 2008. I had a dinner party at my house, and two Spanish friends of mine brought a couple from Madrid along. The husband, Rodrigo I think was his name, later told my friends that I was “super-majete.” I explain this term in the footnote to Toulouse: “Who ever lov’d who lov’d not at first sight?” and it’s part of the text of “Un Verano en Nueva York” . I remember thinking at that point: “I can die happy now. My life has meant something. A real Madrileno has called me ‘super-majete.'” It’s a compliment not granted lightly.
But now a Frenchman is kind enough to recognize that I’ve understood something important about France in my Toulouse post. So I may have to die happy and satisfied one more time.
From Phildange:
Wow, I didn’t think I could read such understanding words about any spirit of France from any Anglophone ! And you’re American ! But you’re a real traveler man, it can be easily noticed . The thing is me too had a love at first sight when I discovered Toulouse in 84 . And by this time there were dozens of bars with live gigs every night, even on mondays ! Better than NYC … If you have time, don’t miss 2 very old churches : la Daurade and l’église du Taur . La Daurade played a big role in the resistance against the Northern Barbarians sent by the Pope, and Notre-Dame du Taur is an old alchemistic sanctuary . The Cathars had discret connections with the Knights Templars, Toulouse was full of alchemists and the Kabbalah was elaborated in the South of France at this time, when the first writers started telling about the Graal . If you speak about romanesque love ( l’Amour courtois ) You should mention Clémence Isaure and her Jeux Floraux, a tournament of troubadours . There are many things to say another time, but I’m highly pleased by your article . Cheers and thank you .
( Don’t forget the girls, the most charming flowers of France …)
Thank you. And please do share any other thoughts and ideas. I’ll look up all the other things you mentioned.
Have you seen two previous recent posts of mine about France?:
* What I managed to put away in a day-and-a-half in Paris, and some thoughts on the “crise.”
and
* Krugman backs me up on France
Clémence Isaure and her Jeux Floraux, a tournament of troubadours (click)
(“According to legend Clémence Isaure was the foundress and president of Academie des Jeux Floraux (the Academy of Floral Games), a poetry and literature society dating from 1322. It is a perfectly real group and is the oldest recorded literary society in the world. This period of time was the nadir of the troubadours, or traveling musicians and poets who roamed around southern France and northern Spain, and who were responsible for a flourishing of culture in that area. The idea of having a literary society came out of their traditions, and this first one was founded in Toulouse, the center of the troubadour area. We know that seven troubadours/poets came together to found the society in 1322, and it was funded by the new bourgeoisie of Toulouse. However, in legend this lady, Dame Clemence Isaure, was an heiress of a wealthy family, and she never married. She left them all her wealth to start this literary society. She is seen as the ultimate patroness of the arts, and her reputation was as a beautiful, virtuous, and chaste woman who dedicated her life to culture.” — From: “To study in Paris is to be born in Paris.”)
Note: Phildange does make a point about southern France that I couldn’t find a way to fit into my original Toulouse post: that its cities were flourishing centers of Jewish life and scholarship and, yes, mysticism, Kabbalah — all of which was of course destroyed, the communities scattered, mostly to the Rhineland, then only a century or two later to Poland, to which they brought their esoteric learning along with the mediaeval High German that eventually became Yiddish.
Comment: nikobakos@gmail.com
Jadde: from Bosnia to Bengal 