FRENCH WORD-A-DAY

"I smell a pear!" Meet "Pear" (here, with Braise) --our painting on auction-- in today's edition!

Check out the current bid for "Pear" at the end of the story column, below. It is not too late to place your bid, through Monday October 6th...

enchère (ohn-sher) noun, feminine
    : bid

enchères (noun) = auctions
faire une enchère = to make a bid
faire monter les enchères = the raise the bidding
mettre quelque chose aux enchères = to put something up for bid



Mom and I are very excited to announce our first auction here at the farm. "Vineyard!" she corrects, "sounds better than farm!" As for sounds, you won't hear any slamming of the gavel--for this is a virtual auction! My goal is to raise money for Mom's return ticket, that is: her next return to France.

We have been lucky to have "Jules" with us almost every year, beginning in 1994, in Marseilles, when she proudly walked me down the aisle--wearing a tough black tuxedo, tears streaming down her face.

When our first child was born, Jules stood out in the cold maternity parking lot at night, when hospital regulations prohibited more than one visitor in the salle d'accouchement.* Mom made do, returning her gaze to the lit fourth floor window as she stole roses for the newborn, intent on offering her grandchild his first fragrance on earth.

Over the years, whether she arrived with a broken hip--or departed breast-less from an unexpected visit to the cancer clinic in Marseilles--I noticed how France regained its color the moment my muse-of-a-mom stepped off the airplane. If Jules has one talent, besides painting, it is communication. Don't get me wrong, she can't speak French--or Spanish, for that matter, never mind that she has lived in Mexico for 15 years--no, Jules communicates from the heart, her wide-open arms paint the words as she travels her path. I can meet more French people in two weeks, when Mom is here, than in an entire year, when she isn't here. Though not all of the encounters are welcome by me...

Once, in a bar in St. Maximin, after one of the customers ran out, brandishing a bloodied knife, Mom asked the bartender for a shot of tequila... which she poured over a young man's fresh wounds!

"Mom! you can't get involved. He was probably in a gang. That was dangerous! You can't do that!" Jules's answer was simply "Why not?"

I am learning, thanks to Jules, to say the same "Why not?"... Which brings us back to today's auction, a longtime goal that I have had for Mom. Why not auction off one of her paintings? One of my favorites? It will be a way to set her back on her path to Mexico--where I hope she will continue to paint--and to France, where I hope she will return before long!

The truth is, we really have no idea what we are doing (hence, the informal auction format), but boy are we excited! When I say "we", I mean Mom, "Pear", and me--and boy if she isn't the ticket (Pear, that is, just wait and see!).

Introducing Pear, our "auctionee": see an entire tongue-in-cheek gallery of photos, here.

The starting bid is set at $100. And now.... LET THE BIDDING BEGIN!


**Note: while informal, this is a serious auction. All bids, we trust, are authentic. Please email your bid. Many thanks! Check back to this website, where I will list the current bid.


"Pear," created with a palette knife, is an oil painting (2007) roughly 7x7 inches, by Jules Greer
Cost of shipping (estimated at $30) to be paid for by buyer.
Frame included!
Shipped from France to anywhere in the world
Check, Money Order, Paypal accepted

The auction will last 5 days, ending on Monday October 6th, 2008 12pm Paris time.