Arafat Day

This is the first time for me to spend the eid or the feast outside Egypt. The day just before the feast is called "Arafat Day" or the Day of Arafa. Some people fast in it so they don't eat or drink anything from dawn to sunset. Mohamed Youssef and Karim Shaaban were fasting so we decided to eat all together in the villa. We preferred to cook something instead of eating in a restaurant to have the Egyptian mood of the day. Basically Mohamed did all the cooking and Karim and I just tried to help him. I'm really a very bad cook.. I don't even know the basics  :)

Mohamed Youssef's cooking

Karim tried to make some French fries but they really turned out so bad that we had to throw them at the end. I guess he should have put them in some salty water before cooking them.

Karim trying to make the French fries

Karim's French fries

Paysages Sensibles

I visited "Paysages Sensibles" exhibition in Saint-Jean citadel. I really liked the drawings of "Mathias Poisson" and the photography of "Mélanie Terrier".

© Mathias Poisson Drawing

© Mélanie Terrier Photography

The girls have left :/

By the end of the Instants Video Festival all the three girls in the floor packed their bags to be ready to travel back home in the early morning. There were lots of noise and the place was really live when they were around.

Me with the girls holding the Instant Video Festival brochure

Les Instants Video Festival - Day 4

"Ecritures en extension" is a video audio poetic performance by Giney Ayme with multimedia proposition by Philippe Boisnard. 

It is a very beautiful interactive performance and I was lucky enough to find some of it in vimeo when it took place in somewhere else last April. Of course attending the show is much better than watching some of it in vimeo but I think it's better than nothing :)

Egyptian Icons in Marseille

It's really nice to enter a random book shop in Marseille and then you find the picture of the Noble prize winner and the most famous Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz hung on the wall or to enter a DVD shop and then find the films of Youssef Chahine; the prestigious Egyptian filmmaker who was from Alexandria as well.

Youssef Chahine's films in a DVD shop in Marseille

Naguib Mahfouz's picture in a book shop in Marseille

Notre-Dame de la Garde Church

Finally I went to the Notre-Dame de la Garde church, the most famous place in Marseille as it can be seen almost from anywhere in the city. It's a very beautiful church which is full of tourists. From up above you can have a magical view of the whole city underneath.

Inside the Notre-Dame de la Garde church

Inside the Notre-Dame de la Garde church

A tourist taking a picture in the Notre-Dame de la Garde church

The view of Marseille from the Notre-Dame de la Garde church

Ex_pose

Ex_pose is a breathtaking dancing performance in an interactive video installation. It's made by Skalen who are Michèle Ricozzi for dancing, Jean-Marc Montera for music and Samuel Bester for video. It was shown in the 3rd day of the Instants Video Festivanl and I really liked it a lot.

There is also another video for the same team Skalen called "If I .." which is also very interesting.