8.09.2010

Last days in Provence

After that long drive to the riviera, we decided to put the visit to the Gorges du Verdun, the grand canyon of France, on hold for the next trip.  Honestly, I just can't sit in a car for that long for so many days in a row.  So we hung around Lourmarin sleeping late, exploring the countryside, cooking and dancing in the streets.  Yes...our last night, it's about 9:30 and we were just finishing up our dinner with our new favorite Banon cheese when we heard live blues coming from down the street.  We were at Cafe Gaby 10 minutes later watching a very good street band sing a mix of reggae, swing and french songs.  Before long, everyone was dancing in the street, old, young, even the dogs.  That was a grand finale!
We prepared to leave the next morning and received several visitors who came to say goodbye.  First, a bee flew into the window.  It insisted on following me around the house making it very difficult to pack.  Then a little bird came inside.  It had been making a nest in a nearby window and we thought it would be stuck inside but it too eventually flew out the window.  Good bye Lourmarin, we'll be back!

8.08.2010

Old Friends

I'm sure you've realized that we are a bit behind in our posting so I'll try to catch you up without leaving too much out.  After Marseille, we took a long drive to visit some friends near St. Tropez.  This time the narrow, winding roads beat out anything we encountered before.  Luckily, it was mid day and we didn't have to do it in the dark. In the picture with Raf and me is our friend and mother of 2, Alexia. I was her au pair in Paris when she was 10 years old.  I was fortunate to have landed with such a great family back then and we have kept in touch ever since. After a delicious lunch, we drove even further to Grasse, perfume capital of the world.  Unfortunately, many places were closing but we did see the town and got a bit of shopping in.  Some crazy, flamboyant Indian man sprayed Raf with the most horrible perfume because he wanted to "smell it on someone."  Raf was a good sport, the people who worked there were horrified, and when I told him I disliked the scent, he turned to Raf and said,"Guess you're not getting any tonight!" We took the 2 hour drive back to Lourmarin with the windows open.

Marseille

Okay...so if you read the last post you're saying.."What happened to Marseille?"  I didn't forget.  I took  a panoramic video clip of the old port, left the computer to upload the clip and went to sleep because it was taking forever.  Guess it didn't happen.  Don't know if it's the connection here or I just haven't figured it out yet.  Will try again when we get home.

8.05.2010

Cassis and Marseille


Took the long trek to Cassis because we wanted to visit somewhere on the coast.  Le Calanques, the Mediterranean fjords, looked beautiful when we did our research and we hoped worth the drive.  Also, Raf wanted to make a stop close by in Marseille since he claims Marseille will be his future futbol (socccer) team when we move here.  Upon arrival we could feel the difference between the country and the coast.  Lots more tourists here and all with great tans.  People really don't believe I live in Miami.  Had  a fantastic lunch, a beautiful salad and grilled sardines, then hopped on a boat to visit 8 of the calanques ( you can choose to visit 3, 5 or 8)  We headed out and the clouds rolled in. It rained for half of the 1.5 hr. boat ride but we still sat outside and the pics didn't come out too bad. Back to the port and of course out comes the sun.  

Apt, Saignon


We came across one of the highlights of our trip today.  After visiting the city of Apt (which I don’t have lots to write about because it was Monday and everything was closed), we stopped about 10 minutes away in a town called Saignon.  It looks down on the city of Apt and is one of the oldest villages in France.  It is extremely beautiful and we took a walk up to the top for a spectacular view.  

8.03.2010

Les Baux de Provence, Cathedrale d'Images, St. Remy

It took us about 40 minutes to Les Baux from Lourmarin. Upon entering the town we saw the sweet shops that would make any kids mouth water. Lolly pops, confit de fruit, tarts, and local baked treats.  Since I’m not big on sweets, I found a beautiful orange chapeau to shade me from the sun. We walked around and found that there is a fee to visit the top of the town where the castle used to be. Unfortunately, the castle is no longer there so we opted out of the long trek to the top.  We had heard that this town gets many tourists and wanted secure a yummy restaurant for lunch serving Aioli.  Jackie beware, it is a plate of many delights such as green beans, potatoes, fish, chick peas, and snails in a sauce of pure garlic.  We headed to the Cathedrale d’Images.  Raf found this place online and we are so glad we stopped.  It is located under the town, in an old limestone quarry that features a different show every year.  This year's theme is  Australia and the images were amazing especially in that setting.  It was a bit chilly down there but not uncomfortable.The show or cycle of films lasts for 30 minutes.  
On to St. Remy.  Today it was the town of weddings.  We were only here a few hours and saw 3 brides.  Did a bit of window shopping and saw where Nostradamus was born.  Another great day, ready to engage in some provincial cooking. 
Les Baux
Les Baux
Les Baux
Les Baux
Cathedrale d'Images
Cathedrale d'Images
Cathedrale d'Images
Cathedrale d'Images
St. Remy
St. Remy

8.01.2010

Friday is Market Day in Lourmarin

Lourmarin Market
Lourmarin Market
Lourmarin Market Day
Lourmarin Market Day
I love olives!
and berries!

Aix-en-Provence, Ansouis

Aix

Aix
Aix


Aix
Aix




Aix

We had heard a lot about Aix-en Provence.  It seems that every American that visits Provence ends up here and it is their favorite.  This is a beautiful, cosmopolitan city but I think we prefer the smaller towns. Raf says the big piazzas remind him of italy.  
We dined on couscous and tagine and it was delicious.(I keep forgetting to take pictures of the food, sorry Meenaa, I even had my camera out on the table, but by the time the food arrives, we are so excited by what is on the plate that we , and I say we, because I asked Raf to remind me to take pics, we both forget)   
Ansouis
We spent the next  day in Lourmarin where we are staying just chillin, it was amazing, and we realized that we could really get used to this kind of life.  Well, we really didn’t just do nothing.  We did laundry, there is no dryer so we had to hang all the clothes outside, read a lot and visited a nearby town called Ansouis for a few hours. We saw this little guy reading Star Wars under a tree, not an electronic device in sight.  Had to take a pic so everyone would believe it. 
At night,  Raf cooked his special salmon, we drank rose and I called everyone from home on skype. A word on rose, it’s REALLY good. I have never liked any I’ve tried at home but everyone in the cafe’s was drinking it here so we decided to try it.  Yum.