RE: [Leica] Provence

[Heikki Puustinen <heikki.puustinen@telemic.fi>]

Thanks Carl,
it sounds like I have to have a lot of 
film and a spare stomach for
all that eating. I look forward to 
taste some red wine too.
I'm not tied to trains, I guess there 
are busses going around and there
is also a possibility to rent a car.
Thanks again for those tips for my road 
through Provence.

As I now have "opened my mouth" to 
luggers i could as well tell who I am.
I'm 47, married, 2 children and living 
in a small vilage in the middle of 
Finland.
At the moment we have about -18 degrees 
and about 1 meter of snow.
I'm running a small company that 
produces electronics for 
telecomunications.
I had my 1st camera at 1966 (Yashica 
Minister II). After that there were 
Nikkormat's
and finally Canon EOS system.

I have dreamed of Leica for several 
years. I bought Minilux couple of years 
ago,
but it did not have the feeling. In 
december 97 I found my first (and so 
far only) M6
and Summilux 35mm. What a combination!! 
No wonder you manage to generate
60 to 100 mails / day of it. It really 
is worth of writing and specially worth 
of using.

You have collected plus points with 
dogs and what so ever, but what is my
score for three (3) sauna's I own.

Heikki P.
*******************************

My recommendations for Provence: Go to 
the local or regional markets.
They vary from town to town depending 
on which day of the week. Buy your
picnic lunch, make photos, enjoy the 
town and then head out to eat and
explore the countryside. If you're just 
travelling by train that will
limit you a little but the Roman ruins 
in and around Orange are
spectacular. As are those outside of 
St. Remy near the grounds of the
Sanatarium where Van Gogh had himself 
committed. The Market in Isle-sur-
la-Sorgue (I believe on Sundays) is 
incredible. Wonderful subject matter
ranging from people to food to the 
beauty of the town and a great
antique flea market as well. I tended 
to stay away from some of the
larger cities such as Aix-en-Provence 
or Avignon because they were too
touristy in the summer but you may be 
there early enough to miss that.
And travelling by train may limit you 
to going there. Try to get to some
of the small Medieval hilltop villages. 
They're picturesque. Eat lots of
good food. Check out the squares and 
parks in the villages where there
is usually an ongoing game of petanque 
or "boules". I'd like to do more
photography of this regional sport or 
passion. Lots of local turnout and
interest. Hope this helps. The area is 
meant for Leica photography (back
on topic). They're wonderful for their 
discreteness in the markets and
the quality of light there lends itself 
to Leica glass. Bon voyage.

Carl S.