カーニュ・シュル・メールから列車に乗ってマントンに移動した。途中、モンテカルロで列車の乗り換えがあるのだが、駅がトンネル内のような所で、ホームで待つ間機関車の重油のにおいがきつくて困った。ホテルは海岸沿いで今日は風が強く海は荒れ模様だ。浜辺近くは水がエメラルド色で美しい。まだシーズンが始まっていないのは周囲の様子で明らかだ。散歩に出かけて遅い昼食をしている間に心配していた雨がかなり強く降り始め、店でポルトガルの初戦を見ながら雨が止むのを待った。インフォメーションで街の情報を色々見ていると、毎年8月には音楽祭もあってかなりの顔ぶれが揃うようだ。今年はマリア・ジョアン・ピリス、キリ・テ・カナワ、シンフォニア・ヴァルソヴィアなど。一番気になるのがクリストフ・ルセのチェンバロ演奏会だ。夏の混雑ぶりは想像できないが、食事も魚貝類が文句なしに美味しいし、買い物や散策にも居心地がよくて、ニースに腰を据えなくて大正解だと思った。
マントンは雨も振るし、海風が強く、手に持つ版画が折れ曲がりそうで、 帰国までのことを考えても、段ボールで保護しないとまずいと思った。ちょうど土産を買った大きな店に段ボールが少し積み上げてあったので、レジの女性に一枚貰えないかと尋ねたら、「今日は閉店後どこの店もそういうゴミを店先に出すので、9時くらいになったら好きなのを選べばいい」と言われた。そこで僕は夜のマントンでゴミ拾い屋となった。商店街の道を物色しながら歩いて行くと、一軒のファッション店の前に真新しい段ボールが2枚、手頃な大きさで、カートン箱などと一緒に出されていたので、それを一枚失敬して半分に折ってホテルに持ち帰る。絵と合わせて見ると、何とピッタリのサイズだった。
We moved to Menton by train from Cagnes-sur-Mer, and we had to change trains at Monte Carlo where the platforms were in a sort of tunnel and the smell of diesel gas was unbearable. Our hotel in Menton was by the beach, but the sea was very rough today because of strong winds. The water was emerald along the beach charmingly although it was obvious that the season has not started yet. We went out to town for a straw and while having late lunch it started raining rather hard, and we had to wait until it calmed down watching the first match of Portugal in the restaurant.
Gathering information at the tourism office, I noted that they had a music festival every August with some well-known artists: this year for example are Maria Joao Pires, Kiri Te Kanawa, and Sinfonia Varsovia. The one who attracted my attention the most was Christophe Rousset's clavecin concert. I have no idea how congested the summer would be here, but the fish was absolutely great and the walks and the shoppings are very comfortable, so I thought it was the correct judgment avoiding the city like Nice to stay.
It rained in Menton, and the wind blew hard from the sea, too. Del Re's original print in hand was at mercy, and I really felt the need for a hard paperboard to protect it. I noticed a stack of folded paper boxes in a store we bought some souvenirs, and I asked the lady in the cashier if I could take one. She said that all the stores in the area would put these things out on the street as garbage tonight after closing so I could pick whatever I wanted around 9 o'clock. That's how I became a trash man in Menton. I walked the busy shopping then deserted and quickly found a couple of very new carton boards in the preferred size among some used boxes in a fashion store front. I picked one and folded it in halves to bring back to the hotel. Matching it with the print, the size perfectly fit with it.
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