The Rhone Valley

We had a lovely, but very quiet Christmas, so we decided to go on a little trip and we headed north to the Rhone valley to Lyon for a few days. We have just spent today wandering around the old and new parts of the city of Lyon. This city, second only to Paris, is the undisputed centre of gastronomy in France and full of history. It was founded in 44 BC by Julius Caesar as the ancient Roman capital of Gaul so it goes back over two thousand years. It is at a very strategic position between the Rhone and the Saone rivers and is a lovely city to explore. There is a delightful old section of town with little cobblestone streets and alleyways built right next to two roman ampitheatres that are still used to house summer concerts. We had another glorious day, beautiful sunshine and mild temperatures (around 14 degrees).

Tonight we are celebrating the New Year very quietly in a little apartment just outside of the city. We have a television (a huge novelty!! - though we had trouble with Who wants to be a Millionaire in french as we couldn't figure out the questions, let alone the answers) and tomorrow we will explore some of the countryside north of here and will also treat ourselves to a little of the famous 'gastronomy' that we will tell you about later.

Our Christmas

Thank you all for your warm wishes to us on Christmas, we had a really lovely day!

Our celebration started Christmas Eve when we went to mass in the old church in the village. There was supposed to have been a candlelight parade through the village but it was so windy that the angels would not have needed their wings to fly and so the pre-mass celebration was moved to the village hall. Mass was a little strange, both the rituals and the language were hard to understand but it was nice to see the church packed with standing room only. The hardest part of Christmas was walking out of the church and passing homes full of lights and people as we made our way back up the hill to our little house, but once there we started our own "gros souper" and were too busy eating to be sad anymore. We had a modified version of the traditional meal but I still served the "thirteen desserts" for just the two of us!

On Christmas morning we got up a little earlier than usual and drove about an hour to a little town to start our hike. It was a beautiful drive through rolling green hills and farmland along a narrow tree-lined road. The sky was a glorious blue with hardly a cloud and it was warm, about 12 degrees. We hiked up a rocky path/stream until we came to a meadow at the top of the hill and there we had our lunch with an amazing view down to the valley below. The only person we passed on the way was a shepherd moving his flock of sheep and goats and as we sat down to lunch we could still hear the distant goat bells. After lunch we read through the Christmas story from Luke and could so easily imagine the shepherds sitting on a similar hill to ours, surrounded with a great light as we were with the glorious sunshine, then making their way down a similar rocky path to the little town below. It was a wonderful moment.

When we got home from our sunny outing we joined (through the wonder of skype) Gus and Claire in their living room for their present opening, joined Mum & Dad, Steve and family at Penny and Wayman's breakfast table, Allison and Jody and his family around the tree in Pennsylvania, Mom Taylor and family in Calgary and a couple of other calls with friends as well. Really we had the best Christmas ever because we got to be part of so many celebrations. We had a delicious Christmas dinner, that hadn't taken me all day to prepare and sat quietly in front of the fire. The day was so peaceful and really very special and while we were alone, we felt very loved. Thank you all!

Disappionting News

A couple of hours ago we received the news that Claire and Gus and their kids would not be able to join us for Christmas. While we have been preparing for this possibility for the past couple of days, the reality is a little hard to take. I can't quite believe that we will be on our own for Christmas. I know that we are in a beautiful part of the world and that we have each other but just for Christmas at least, we could use a little family. We really miss all our family and friends but never more than at this time. We are trying to come up with a list of wonderful reasons for being on our own right now but so far the list is yet to reach number one.

We are going to celebrate anyway, in a way that we never have before and never will again. I am not sure what it will entail but one thing is for sure, we will take the time to sit by the fire, to count our blessings, for all the goodness that God has poured out on us, and we will wait with expectant hearts for Immanuel, God with us, to join with us at our quiet Christmas celebration.

Le Gros Souper

As one would expect in this land that is totally concerned with all things gastronomic, there are two big feasts at Christmas. On Christmas Day the traditional turkey with chestnut stuffing is expected, as well as pate de foie, oysters and escargot, but the bigger event is 'Le gros souper' which is held on Christmas Eve.

The table is set with three white cloths, one over the other to symbolize the trinity and the corners are tied so that the evil spirits cannot climb up the draping cloth onto the table. These cloths are to be left on for the three days of feasting. There will be three white candles, again for the trinity, and there is always an extra place at the table for the absent family member, whether living or dead.

The evening starts with the oldest member and the youngest together putting a large log from a fruit tree on the unlit fire, and then starting it, while they recite some incantation. (The google translation of this was so absurd it sounded as if I had translated it myself, so I will leave it to your imagination.) The fire is then to be kept burning for the next seven days so that the family will have good luck in the following year.

The meal is traditionally meatless, but the table is laden with seven seafood and vegetable dishes, served with seven different wines. Before the guests start on the desserts, they stagger down to the local church to attend midnight mass and then return home for the rest. Now they are served an anchoiade, a anchovy dip served with raw vegetables and prepare themselves for 'the thirteen desserts'. The dishes vary somewhat from region to region but these are the ones consistently mentioned: dates, dried apricots, raisins, hazelnuts, almonds, candied fruits, black and white nougat, wafers, marzipan candies, oranges, grapes, and a christmas log cake. It is considered bad luck not to taste all the different sweets. The desserts have to be placed on the table all at the same time and they are not to be removed for three days but left out for other spirits (I guess the good ones that are allowed on the table) to partake of while the family is asleep......I am not making this stuff up... I have been doing my research! I am not sure when the table is left unattended because the party, also known as 'reveillon' from verb meaning to wake up, goes on all night.

At some point the participants collapse into bed only to get up late on Christmas morning in time to get ready to consume the Christmas dinner, all washed down with copious amounts of champagne. The feasting goes on for three days but I guess they eat leftovers, and the remainder of the 'thirteen desserts' because I did not find out anything about day three.

There are now only four days left to prepare for the next reveillon, called 'Saint-Sylvestre', on New Year's Eve.

I am determined to make a modified 'gros souper' but as I have a tiny kitchen and only a portable microwave/convection oven it will be a double challenge; for me to cook it, and for Gord to eat it. But we are up to the challenge!

Carols and the Bagpipes

It is still really cold here but we are encouraged that the locals all say that this is surprisingly cool weather, and the forecast is for highs in the mid teens next week. This afternoon the village was invited to a lovely festival of carols and readings in the old church, half of which was in English! We had six traditional English carols and three french ones. The latter had a much more enthusiastic response. The English readers all had very posh British accents and I understand that these participants were just here for their holidays. After the service we followed the congregants, almost entirely French speaking, to a large room in the village where we were treated to a concert with ten musicians who played traditional provencal music. Five of the musicians played a small wooden recorder with their left hand; they held the instrument between the third and fourth fingers and used their thumbs and first two fingers to make all the sounds. It was amazing the range of sound that they got from just three holes. As well as the recorder, they had a large drum that they had strapped over their left arm and they played it with their right hand. Also in the band were a contemporary drummer, a couple of guitarists, a man on keyboard and a fellow who played the bagpipes. Apparently the Scots got the bagpipes from the French! The bagpipe fellow was a real character and mesmerizing to watch. At various times they also used tambourines, a mouth organ and a pair of wooden spoons. We thoroughly enjoyed the concert.

It was followed by the traditional Christmas feast of "Anchoiade and the thirteen desserts". I will tell you more about these later when I describe the Christmas Eve dinner but suffice to say it is bad luck not to try all 13 'desserts' and far be it from us to bring bad luck on this charming place! As the room eventually cleared out, and we were thinking about leaving, the group spontaneously started up again and lots of the local folk started dancing. We certainly could have joined in because there did not seem to be much pattern to it but we had more fun watching the musicians. It was a wonderful, cultural experience that left a big smile on our faces as we hurried up the icy hill to our little home.

Christmas in Goult

Well, despite being an extreme optimist, I have to tell you that I can't change the weather. So today we are sitting in front of this lovely fire in our living room, with a great cup of French coffee, listening to Handel's Messiah, and watching the snow fall outside! Yes, I never wanted to see it but it is snowing in our village. It is just hovering around the freezing mark and, as we are quite high up, I suspect that if we went down the hill we would find it was raining, but up here we have snow. We are going to get our boots on and go and take some pictures because I hope that we never again see the village looking like this, but you never know. Ah, well, it adds to the feeling of Christmas.

We have had fun getting ready for Claire, Gus and their kids who arrive (Air Canada willing) next Wednesday. We have been out in the woods gathering greens and berries to decorate the place inside and out and we have put up a little Christmas tree. We bought a few decorations and one string of lights in Italy and for the rest we have used red berries and a red pashmina for the tree skirt. We bought a little nativity scene, which sits on the window ledge surrounded by greens and we have ikea candles in little glass dishes everywhere. The place really looks quite festive, even on a shoestring budget.

The village is all dressed up too, there are lights everywhere. People don't seem to decorate their houses as much as in N. America, but the villages and towns more than make up for it. There are lights strung across the little roads, trees lit up and even a lovely shooting star effect on the archway up to our house. The company that does all the illumination for the Eiffel tower and the Champs Elysee in Paris is based in the town of Apt just 10 minutes away and that town is spectacular! The big cities are even more elaborate but we have lots to look at around here.

There are no boxes of Christmas cards here though. This year we finally have the leisure to write cards and there is hardly one to be found and certainly not one with anything spiritual on it. The French do not send cards at Christmas but rather in January they may send out cards with a New Year greeting. (So that is our excuse for not sending cards this year - next year we will have the resources and hopefully the time too... wherever we may be!)

We are getting ready to have a French Christmas feast on Christmas Eve and the shops and markets are filled with specialty items for 'le gros souper'. I will tell you more about that later because the sun has come out again and I need to go play in the snow before it disappears. That's life in Provence, if ever I get a little discouraged, the sun always seems to appear and the sky is royal blue again and I forget whatever it was that bothered me in the first place.

The view so far

It has been two and a half months since we got her so we thought that we would tell you some of the things that have surprised us. These are reactions from both of us, but I won't tell you whose is whose, you will probably be able to guess! So, in no particular order, we are surprised at...

• that there is so much to see and do in such close proximity to our home
• that the surrounding countryside and villages are so lovely
• that after all this time we are no closer to becoming fluent
• that I am encouraged by how much we understand of the language
• that we have not really got to know any people in the village
• that I don't miss my work one tiny bit
• that I still think about my work a lot
• that we have not found a church to go to
• that it is so cold here now
• that we haven't even noticed the dreaded "mistral" winds
• that I have been so restrained with all the delightful market shopping
• that I have not been bored even once
• that my spouse has not been bored even once
• that the food is so amazing even in the grocery store
• that the hiking around here is so wonderful
• that I am enjoying the exercise so much
• that we have read so little as the days have been so full
• that we have managed to live with so much less, but are so very grateful for what we have, especially the technical stuff, internet, telephone, ipod, great car etc
• that we have not even put on the television once
• that we haven't had an accident on the narrow, twisty roads
• that we have been side by side for 24 hours a day and are still loving every moment!

I don't "carrot" all what we eat......... by Gord

Yesterday Lydele asked if I would take a turn at writing the blog. Up until that moment I really have been having a great time here. But then I thought, "if she can make a blog about taking out the garbage interesting enough to get return comments then I could tell about seeing a carrot on the road".

Today we went for one of our walks along a country road not too far from where we are living. As we walked along the side of the road we began to notice the odd carrot at the side of the road. I eventually told Lydele that the only possible explanation was that a mom had found a great deal on carrots at the outdoor market and obviously her young son in the back seat, who hated carrots, was slowly dealing with what he foresaw as a culinary problem by sneaking the rear window down enough to start throwing carrots out. As we went farther and farther down the road I eventually realized that, not only had he opened both rear windows, but he also had a pretty good left arm because both sides now had carrots. Eventually the road straightened enough for us to see that both sides of the road ahead were becoming a mass of orange. I began to wonder how any mother could FAIL TO NOTICE that her son had now opened both rear doors and was pushing carrots out with both hands and feet when the penny dropped: it was not a mom and her son, he was with his dad!

Lydele's theory was that because this is an agricultural community, maybe a farmer had a wagon that was overloaded and was dropping carrots as he left his farm. Whatever the answer, I just smiled quietly to myself during dinner (which I prepared) when Lydele said ...."good carrots".

Hiking the Cinque Terre

Wow, what a great day! The Cinque Terre means five lands and the hike is between five little towns perched on the side of the sea. We started in Monterosso and went to Vernazza as that is the hardest section, and we wanted to get the toughest over with first. We left the town and quickly climbed (well the path was straight up anyway) to about 1500' and we had a panoramic view of the little town. The weather was gorgeous and we did not meet another person until we were an hour and a half into the hike! The views all along the way were wonderful but the hike was a challenge. Several times we thought that we were at the summit only to turn the corner and see another path straight up. At times the path was little more than 12" wide with a fair drop off to the side but most tricky places had guardrails that one was tempted to put more faith in than they probably merited. As the town of Vernazza was on the water we had a steep descent, knowing all along that we had to go up again! The town was charming and so worth the visit and this picture is taken from the far side as we began the ascent to the next town, Corniglia. This section was only listed as "hard" as opposed to the first one which was "tough". It was lovely too and again we climbed to almost 1500' but the views were not quite as stunning as the first. Corniglia sits about above the water so the descent was not so bad but once we left this town and were on our way to Manarola we went down 382 stairs to the water before we started to climb back up once again. This was the easiest section so far and we started to meet more and more people. On the final section to Riomaggiore, really just a pleasant stroll, it was almost crowded as many Italians were out for a weekend walk. By the time we reached the last town we had only covered 11 kilometres but they were not exactly level! We had ascended to 1500' on two occasions with many more ups and downs between. We had also explored all the towns with their little harbors and intriguing steep lanes. From Riomaggiore we took the train back along the water to our first town, Monterosso. We walked back to the car (Gord did offer a piggy-back but I still had a little dignity even if I could not feel my toes) as the sun started to set on the lovely Mediterannean. No sooner were we in the car than the skies opened unexpectedly and we had a heavy rainfall, the timing was perfect. Now we just had the 30 minute drive up to the Autostrada. It was on a very, very twisty road that was now slick with rain and it was either fun or terrifying depending on your point of view! Gord said "You know the curves are tight when you have to look out of your side window to see the road ahead." Gord loves these twisty Italian roads, the one to our little hotel here is like a slalom course. I guess he misses the thrill of flying so I just sit with my eyes closed and wait till its over. After hiking for 6 hours I was happy of any excuse to close my eyes, tired yes, but oh so satisfying!

La Dolce Vita

One of the reasons that I keep adding pictures to our blog is because sometimes I can't really believe we are here and I guess the picture proves it. Most days Gord and I finish the end of the day by saying, "now THAT was a good day...." and then the next is just as wonderful! We are having such an amazing time over here and we feel so very fortunate to be able to spend the time this way.

This is a picture of the lovely town of Portofino on the Italian Riviera. We were enjoying our trip so much that we decided not to rush home right away and so we are spending a couple of days in the area, exploring this beautiful part of Italy. We are staying in a little hotel on the ridge of a mountain with spectacular views from all rooms of the Meditteranean on one side, with the little town of Sestri Levante perched on the edge, and the valleys below on the other side. It is a lovely spot, and while still a luxury, we are enjoying the off season rates! Tomorrow we are going to hike the five towns of the Cinque Terre so I need to get a good sleep. We will let you know how it goes.

Tuscany

We had a delightful day yesterday driving around the Tuscan countryside with its undulating green hills and little golden farmhouses tucked behind rows of spiky cedars. We visited San Gimignano, Siena, Montalcino, Pienza and Montepulciano, all wonderfully free of tourists! It was such a treat to be able to walk and park anywhere and not be fighting the tour buses and crowds of people. Although it was cool, there was a beautiful blue sky and, once again, we decided that there is a lot of merit in touring in the off season. As before, we found that we were drawn to the out of the way, smaller towns and we both felt that Pienza was our favourite spot. It was a charming small town with lots of interesting Renaissance architecture and stunning views of the valley below. (This picture is of some Italian women out for their afternoon stroll in Pienza.) This is the area of Italy that we had also considered renting in and not only is Italy chaotic as I described in the last blog, but also the towns in this area are so far apart and the driving is difficult on narrow twisty roads. We feel even more grateful to be in Provence as I think we would feel very isolated in this area if we were here for several months. Italy is fun to flirt with but I am glad to have a long term relationship with Provence!

The lovely city of Florence

Aaahhh Italy! This place is disorganized, untidy, and generally chaotic, but there is a certain charm to the country. We are having a wonderful visit here but we are so thankful to be renting in France, rather than Tuscany, as we had once been thinking of. I think that the chaos would have quickly driven me crazy, (okay, even more crazy then!) The driving for example is just nuts, and Gord constantly reminds me that it is a lot more orderly here than in Rome or further south. Even the GPS has a hard time keeping up as roads are suddenly diverted or traffic patterns changed. I am so thankful for Gord's excellent driving enabling me to be the navigator and second set of eyes for wild vespas which appear out of nowhere.

We have been blessed with cool but sunny days here and we had a wonderful day yesterday just walking around the beautiful city of Florence. There had been a public holiday in Italy for the previous four days and on Tuesday the city had been packed, but yesterday we had the place to ourselves, no line-ups and hungry market vendors which made shopping quite fun! We found a self-directed waking tour on line which was most interesting and took us to some out of the way places that we would not have found ourselves including a lovely trattoria for lunch and supposedly the best gelato shop in the city. (Sorry Allison, it was not "ours" but it was fantastic. Your dad even wanted to go right back when we had finished and get another but we restrained.) The art, both inside the buildings and outside is just amazing. I have never seen so many beautiful buildings in one small space, and there is a new treasure around each corner. It is quite magical!

*For those non-techie people, like myself, if you double click on any picture on the blog you can get it much larger.

A Treasure in Florence

Buon giorno! We are now in Italy. We decided last week that there was time to do a little traveling before our next guests arrived so we headed to Florence. We had two nights and a wonderful day walking the streets of old Nice on the way, then had a night in Lucca (Italy) where we rode bikes all around the city walls and generally made a nuisance of ourselves on the very crowded old town streets. Then today we drove through the Italian countryside and arrived in Florence in time for a wonderful afternoon walk through the streets and across the picturesque bridges. The real treat so far though was dinner tonight. We have just got back from a little restaurant that we walked into a few blocks from our hotel. It was very crowded and the man serving tried to tell us that they had no room (at least we think that is what he said) but a lady intervened and told us to wait a few minutes and they would try to help us. It quickly became clear that this was a totally family run restaurant. The old father made the pizza, Mama in her kerchief did the pasta and the brother and sister (late 30's perhaps) did the rest when they were not waiting tables. Everyone that came in was greeted by name and the busier it got the more the brother shouted, and the more the rest of the family all shouted back and waved their arms wildly. It was all so very entertaining. We finally were given a seat and we both sat on the same side of the table to watch the goings on in the kitchen. We asked them to bring us a selection to share so we got Mama's home made pasta, Papa's pizza, and a veal and potato dish. The food was so delicious and plentiful. Mama had no English at all but she kept smiling at us and chatting away in Italian anyway as we made a lot of sign language to show how much we appreciated the meal. The daughter offered us dessert which we declined but Mama told us we had to have it and brought it to us anyway, as a gift from her, and it was truly wonderful! By the time we left we had really made friends with them all. Mama and Papa came out of the kitchen to wave and say "ciao" and the originally unfriendly brother even came and held the door for us as he thanked us for coming. It was a wonderful gastronomic and cultural experience, and we are planning to go back again tomorrow!

Between a rock and a hard place

Okay, if I am honest, I do seem to have a bit of a problem here. As I have told you the hiking here is wonderful and we are getting lots of exercise on our daily sprees but the food here is even more amazing and quite honestly the pounds are just not falling off. Something has to change and as the food is too good to give up we decided to step it up a notch with the exercise. Now we have a book on hikes in the area, but of course, it is written in French. Even with my limited language skills I could still read that the hike we were about to undertake, a modest 2.5 hr, 6 km stroll, was rated medium difficulty. The hazards on the route were dizzying corniches, (a path hanging on to the mountain) overhanging rocks and, oh yes, a little surprise when we were descending.... and still we decided to go. We drove to the start of the hike in a neighboring village and we set off at a good pace, the air was cool and the sky was a beautiful blue. Before too long, as we started our ascent, we had stripped off jackets and were down to t-shirts. About a quarter of our way in, as we were starting to climb, we noticed that the rock formation was in very interesting ledges running diagonally up the side of the mountain... then we realized that the path that we were on actually ran up one of these ledges. (That little speck on the ledge is me!) As we walked in the cleft of the rock with hundreds of feet of overhanging rock I tried not to let my imagination run away with me. It was an amazing climb, or should I say scramble, for what I lack in finesse I make up for in enthusiasm. In places the path was so narrow and the drop off to the right so steep that I could not look down but just concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. The view just kept getting better and better and I needed to stop frequently to fully appreciate the view! We eventually made it to the summit and then we had the descent. Again the scramble mode was in place, with places where I went down on my rear as it was so steep. We ended up following a dry river canyon which was so cool and part way down we even had to take a ladder that was attached to the side of the canyon wall, that was the fun surprise. I really felt like a true hiker and wished that my brother-in-law Gary could have been with us. It was an exhilarating but exhausting hike, and now I am so hungry after all that work... oh, well!

Alone again...good or bad?

There are moments when we wonder what we are doing here and yesterday was one of those. We said goodbye to Steve and Christy after a wonderful, very full week together. It was a double luxury to have them both, for not only did we get them all to ourselves without any other distractions, but also we had all the time in the world for them as we were not trying to juggle work and other responsibilities. It was even more fun to have them both as soon as they were officially engaged so that we could join in all the excitement of wedding planning with them. The house feels a little quiet and empty now without them. It is a moments like these that we wonder what this grand adventure is all about. The dictionary defines adventure as a "bold, usually risky undertaking; a hazardous journey with uncertain outcome". We would tend to agree with this, we are not climbing Mt Everest but this year feels a bit like our Everest. In preparation for coming away we spent a lot of energy lightening our loads, we just brought the basic minimum of clothes, books and comforts. Now that we are here it sometimes feels like the load is a little too light, we miss our family, friends and the comforts of home (I really like comfort!) We are left with the bare necessities: our home is simple, yet we have all we need, we have each other and we have our faith. We are daily aware that we are foreigners in a strange land. It is hard for me not to be able to just pick up the phone and fix any problem but have to rely on the kindness of strangers for help and translation! I like feeling capable, and here I am definitely out of my depth. (My sister Penny says that it took getting me to a foreign country to get to this place, and it is good for me!) While I really miss family, especially at this time, our friends and all the familiarity of Vancouver, this is a very good place for us to be, for in all the rush of our lives back home I rarely took the time to just be. When all the familiar 'stuff', the people and even our professions are gone we look to see what is left. Gord and I have each other and we have never been happier together, we are so enjoying the luxury of the gift of time to be together, and we have the time to read and study. There is nothing in the word adventure that implies safety or familiarity and so it is with our time here. Having Steve and Christy felt normal and so with them gone we feel once again the strangeness in our surroundings. (Learning French is a lot of fun but every now and then I still turn the package around hoping to find the English written on the other side!) So we will continue on our great adventure and like any adventure we will spend our days exploring. Gord and I just love driving around the countryside to the endless supply of new little villages for us to visit, or walking a different path in the woods, following the yellow guidelines. We will also continue to explore what it means to "just be" in the quietness, when all the familiar is gone. We will continue to rejoice in the wonderful companionship of just being together. This time and place is such a gift, and we are so very grateful for it. We do not yet know the "uncertain outcome" and are in fact giving ourselves permission to not even think about what next year will look like yet, we are living in the moment, and mostly, the moment here is very good, it certainly is an adventure!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Well Provence may be settling in for the winter hibernation but everywhere people are getting ready for one final burst of enthusiasm before lying low for a couple of months. In every village, no matter how small, there are unlit Christmas lights strung up; most that make a picture or spell our words such as joyeux noel, or bon annee. The lights go across the street from one side to the other so that we will be walking or driving through archways of lights. In the towns they are even more impressive; there are hundreds of lights, Christmas balls and stars and in Monte Carlo even huge fake "diamonds". Even an area of garbage cans has a santa scene in lights all ready to go. It is tantalising though because none of these lights have yet been turned on and some have been up for a couple of weeks or more. I think that they are waiting for Dec. 4th which is St. Barbe's day and the official start of the season, but I shall let you know. (I haven't been able to find out what St. Barbe's Day is except that we are supposed to plant a plate of wheatgerm on that day and if it grows straight, then we will have a prosperous year.) One of the silliest sights we saw was in Nice where there are huge evergreens covered in fake snow on the walkways by the Mediterranean. They look quite incongruous with the flowers and the palm trees. So far I have seen no decorations on homes, though we received a letter from our town office to encourage us to decorate a window, doorway or balcony for the enjoyment of the village, but I presume that also will not be done before the 4th. Another fun aspect of the season are the Christmas markets that are springing up all over. These are held in town squares and consist of a number of log cabin like structures that house little shops selling gifts, gourmet foods of the season (I shall tell you more about these in another blog) and wonderful stalls that sell crepes, waffles or hot mulled wine.

Another tradition typical of this area is the setting up of village/nativity scenes. A local art is the making of 'santons' (little saints) which are made our of clay and then painted. These can be just lovely and families (as well as municipalities and churches on a larger scale) set these up in their homes. The scene is furnished with little old houses, usually a windmill, a stable scene but also little characters representative of all the village folk, the old couples, the baker, the washerwoman etc. We were is a village yesterday that has set up a life-size scene in an old quarry right in the heart of the village, it is delightful.

This year we finally have the time to write Christmas cards and there are none to be found! The French do not send Christmas cards, some send New Year cards that can be mailed anytime up until the end of January, but we cannot find a box of cards anywhere. We can get the odd single card in a shop, with a kitten or bowl of flowers, but it is impossible to find any meaningful card anywhere. So this year we will finally have a good excuse for not sending out our Christmas cards, we will have to think up another way to send warm wishes.

Friends, Romans and Countrymen

Well we haven't made any friends here yet, the countrymen are lovely but we really haven't got to know any of them yet either, but we are surrounded by the Romans, or at least evidence of them having been in existence here! There is so much history within just an hour of our home here. About 5 kms away is Pont Julien which was built around 100AD and until about 8 years ago was in continuous use. A new bridge has been recently added for cars but cyclists and walkers still use the original one regularly. With Steve and Christy we have been to Arles to see the amazing amphitheatre which is being restored but looks much as it did 2000 years ago and is used for concerts and bullfights in the summer. There is also another almost perfect amphitheatre in Nimes, both are in much better shape than the Coliseum in Rome. Yesterday in Orange we visited the Arc de Triomphe (photo on the top) with its beautiful relief carvings of Roman victories. It now just sits in the middle of a roundabout and has not seen a chariot through it for a long time! We also visited the theatre in Orange which is the best preserved in existence and the only one in Europe with its acoustic wall still standing. It is still used for opera and both Pavorotti and Il Divo have recorded here. From here we drove to the Pont du Gard (photo on bottom) which was an aqueduct that was also built during the first century and is an engineering marvel, and still one of the top attractions in the country. It is the second highest roman structure (just 6' short of the coliseum in Rome). The bridge is exceptional because it contains the largest arch the Romans ever built and the bridge was originally about 1100' feet long, although only 790'remain. It is possible to arrange to crawl through the top water tunnel but as I have no death wish, I think we will leave that for other brave(??) souls.

We are also about an hour from the early settlement of Glanum which is pre-roman as the earliest town dates from about 7BC. There is so much history here that you could clamber around ancient monuments for days, it makes us feel that we are living in a very modern house as it is only 300 years old.

Preparing for Winter

Provence is settling down into a period of hibernation for the next few months, as all around the country is going to sleep. (What are we in for?!?) Three out of the four restaurants in our village have closed until the beginning of March and the bakery and one of the butchers have taken their annual vacation. There is construction work on several of the houses in the village, taking advantage of the quiet season to get some needed repairs done. The house across our little road is having some major work done on it, it is gutted at the moment to the point where even the roof is gone and all that is left are a couple of ceiling beams. Yesterday we got two 'steirs' of wood delivered, one steir is a square meter. We had Christy and Steve help us stack it under the house in the old ovens so that we will be able to keep our little home cosy for the winter. My neighbour, Marie-Johanna told me that the winter is lovely because "we get rid of all the summer tourists and we just have the real people left" whatever that means! Although we are told that the wild mistral winds are a factor here, apart from one day, we have not had any experience of this yet. (Just writing this I can almost hear my neighbour saying 'just you wait!') While I am surprised and a little disappointed that so much is closing, I am loving going to places and not having crowds to contend with. I will happily take the quiet for the lack of the summer mobs! We can drive down village main streets that are generally closed to traffic and where I can imagine hardly finding the space to walk, much less drive, we can visit castles and old roman bridges and have the place to ourselves. We were in a medieval village the other day with S & C and Steve pointed out that you could really imagine yourself there in the middle ages; the buildings have not changed and because there were no tourists to contend with we could pretend that we were seeing it as it was. The days are still beautiful, sunny and blue skies, if a little cooler. We are having to make do with temperatures in the mid to high teens instead of low twenties, so for the end of November it is not too bad so far. I think that we will be ready to take what comes.

Monte Carlo

Gord and I have enjoyed all the little villages in our area so much more than the cities that we are wondering if we truly are country people at heart. However, all that changes when we go to Monaco because we love Monte Carlo and you can not get much more constrast than Goult and MC! The whole principality is only 1.9 sq kms, smaller than Central Park in New York but despite its dense population, it is a little jewel, perched on the edge of the Mediterranean. Its residents have the highest per capita income in the world as it is somewhat of a tax haven. I love all the beautiful hotels and apartments buildings with gorgeous wrought iron balconies and railings and colourful gardens. Gord is definitely most intrigued by the cars! On our recent visit we saw Bentleys, Rolls Royces, several Ferrarris, three Lotus in a row, Mazeratis, Porsches and more, and they all look brand new! Stephen kindly pointed out that even if his parents had been wearing their finest clothes they would still never fit in here. I don't think that I want to "fit in" but it is fun to visit. We had plenty of time to walk around the palace area and then down to visit the casino (outside only!) and the gardens. The whole place is impeccably clean and I have never seen so many city workers. They even had a couple of trucks that went around broadcasting a horrible squawking sound to discourage birds from defiling the area. There were also beautifully dressed palace guards everywhere controlling traffic and discouraging the riff-raff (us!) from parking next to the Rolls Royces. We walked past all the beautiful people at the outside cafes and I wished that I knew some of their stories. We were not really tempted to eat there, one restaurant advertised that the lunch menu started at about $120 a head! Our timing was such that we walked until the lights came on on all of the buildings and it was magnificent to see them highlighted, a perfect ending to a lovely visit!

They are engaged!

Steve and Christy arrived to visit us last Saturday evening. They had come from Vancouver and had had all day in Paris. Steve proposed to Christy in Paris on a bridge by the Eiffel Tower. Christy said yes! So Steve gave her a lovely diamond engagement ring. This picture was taken as they arrived in Marseille airport after having had about 4 hours sleep in the last 48 hours, very tired but very excited! They are planning to get married next summer sometime, the date and all other relevant details have yet to be decided but Gord and I are just thrilled at the prospect of having Christy in our family and I think that Allison, like a true big sister, thinks that this is by far the smartest, if not the only, really great decision that Steve has made! It has been fun to be part of the excitement as Christy and Steve have been phoning family to tell them the news. Gord and I have so enjoyed being with them as we will miss so much of the planning in the next few months. We are delighted to have them here to show them around and to introduce them to a part of the world that we are loving more each day.

Follow the yellow stone road

I have told you before about the wonderful walking/hiking trails that we are surrounded by. They are maintained by the local authorities and they are marked with yellow signposts at intersections of the trails and then all along the trail at various intervals we look for a yellow stripe. If there is a question as to where the trail goes then you may see a yellow X which tells you not to take that route. It really is like having a whole countryside specially prepared like a giant scavenger hunt (Allison's father in law Charlie would just love this!) After spending a few days in the car we were really ready to have a long walk today, though it turned out to be quite a bit longer than we planned. We set off down our hill as usual, through the woods with white oak trees, along a very rocky path that is now thick with oak leaves and lovely crunchy acorns. At the bottom of the hill we took a new route. We decided to go along the track to a little village that was 3.9 kms away and then we would come back by the road. We started down the new path and we quickly thought that we had come to a dead end because the path led to a fast moving stream. We noticed yellow lines on either side of the stream so we realized that we had to cross it! First we collected rocks to throw in the stream to make stepping stones, then with the help of a big stick we gingerly ventured across it. We thought that was the hard part but we were wrong. Once over the stream we found that the path led straight up the steep hill on the other side. We slogged our way to the top (it is going to make climbing the Grouse Grind when we get home a piece of cake!) and continued on. We found a couple more signposts early on to encourage us that we were on the right path. Eventually, when we had been walking for almost two hours we found another signpost to the village and this one informed us that we still had 3kms to go!! We obviously had missed a significant turn somewhere. We decided to take another route home but we still had 4.5kms to go before we got back to our village and of course living at the top of a hill, the last bit is always a steep incline. We made it home (via the bakery for sustenance!) tired and never having reached the village that we set out for but then it didn't really matter, after all we can always try again tomorrow, well maybe the day after!

Medieval villages and more.

After we left Bordeaux we drove through the southwest through Aquitaine through some of the loveliest country that we have yet seen, I quite ran out of adjectives! The drive started to get interesting when we drove along the Dordogne river from Bergerac to the lovely medieval town of Sarlat. Along the way we passed villages more wonderful than the previous that were too numerous to be listed in our guide books. We came to the village of Begnac, where this picture is taken, and it was just like being in a fairy tale! It was a near perfect collection of medieval stone houses with cobblestone streets perched on the side of the hill with the river running in the valley below. We were quite enchanted with the whole area and were having such a good time that we decided to take an extra day on our drive home (oh, what a luxury to be able to just decide to do that!) We drove south from Sarlat to Rocamadour, another medieval village hanging off the side of the cliff and followed the river to Cahors. If I had managed to get Gord to stop every time I wanted to take a picture we would never have got home. We had left the wine country for now and besides the lovely villages this is farming country and the specialty for this region is the perigord geese from which they make the famous fois gras. We decided that we definitely want to spend more time in this region in the future. When we got to Cahors, it was starting to get dark and we tried to find a suitable place to stay but nothing was inspiring us so we pulled into the back of a so-so hotel and 'borrowed' their internet and found a very interesting looking inn about 30 kms away in the country so we booked on line and set off for it. By the time we left the city it was now quite dark and we followed along (thanks again for the GPS, we would never have found it without that indispensible little tool) a very, very , dark and winding road until we came to a darkened village. We turned off on a gravel road and drove for another 3kms and I was sure that we were on a wild goose chase, this being the region for geese after all. Eventually we went down a long drive and came to a really lovely country inn. We had booked the cheapest room but they gave us a wonderful one with a balcony that overlooked the infinity pool, the terraces and the gardens and the whole valley! Then they offered us dinner which we gratefully accepted. We sat in an old stone dining room next to a big fire and they proceeded to serve us an amazing four course meal that was absolutely exquisite! We noticed that it was very quiet and were told that actually we were the only guests checked in for the night. It was such a wonderful and unexpected end to a near perfect day! It was a bit of a stretch for us as they spoke no english and our french still just does the very basic facts but I think we managed to convey our delight in the first class service. The next day, after an equally lavish breakfast we set off for home, again taking our time along the way to enjoy the countryside and finally made it back for a late dinner, tired but having had a wonderful few days away.

French wine!

In order to do a proper job reporting to you all back home Gord and I have been doing our research! No, nothing has changed and Gord is not joining me yet in actually drinking the wine, but he is not stopping me from enjoying it myself and even spent a morning in wine school with me in Bordeaux. We have learnt a lot but will continue to enjoy educating ourselves as the year progresses! The first thing that we learned is that french wine does not go by the grape, ie there is not a merlot or savignon blanc as all french wine is blended so that there could be an 80% merlot and then another grape for the remaining 20%. The wine is known by the region that has a specific characteristic, and, according to the Bordelaise, there is no finer wine than a Bordeaux Superior! There are three important ingredients to make a fine wine: the climatic conditions and the soil contribute to the "terroir" that makes the wine unique., the skill of the "vigneron" (the guy who tends the vines and oversees all of the production process) and the exact process of the blending of the different grapes. It is a very exacting process that is passed on from generation to generation. Around Bordeaux there are about five thousand "chateau", which really means a vineyard with a country house, from humble to very grand, and an ability to produce wine on site. Gord says that you don't want to know all the details, just that the process is complicated and takes quite a while and obviously the competition for the best wines is very fierce. So after all the work in tending the vines, harvesting the grapes and making the best wines with the perfect blend, what are you going to pay for this lovely bottle of 2005 from the Chateau Les Vergnes? Oh, about $6.00!

I had expected that the wines would be wonderful, varied and inexpensive, but what I had not expected were the amazing array of aperitif wines that are also available and these I am really enjoying. I had a glass of something the other day that was just delicious called pineau, it tasted a little like a sherry but I later learned that it was a blend of grape juice and cognac. Apparently though it is very regional and I just found out that it is difficult to get beyond the Bordeaux region. This is another thing that we are surprised at, the big differences in cuisine from one region to another, very unlike what we have in Canada where you can basically get the same food right across the country. It just makes traveling around that much more interesting so we will keep on going!

Our visit to Bordeaux

France is shaped somewhat like a hexagon and it is bordered by six countries. We spent the best part of Friday traveling across the bottom right side of the hexagon and are now on the left side of the country, facing the Atlantic. We travelled to Bordeaux on the well maintained auto routes of France, (they should be well maintained as we paid over $75.00 for six hours of driving!) Bordeaux sits on a bend in the river Garonne and is about 50 miles inland but is a major sea port because of its location on the river. It is also the absolute centre of the premier wine production in the country. (We will tell you more about the wine in another blog.) It is a beautiful city and we have quite fallen in love with it. As Gord says it is the first city in this country that we have not been desperate to get out of. There are beautiful buildings and wonderful open public spaces, magnificent fountains and quite the loveliest public garden that I have ever seen. We spent all day Saturday walking the city, I think that we did about 10 miles, but just loved our day. On Sunday we travelled north through some of the chateau country. We visited a lovely little village just hanging on the banks of the river. Actually, most of it is still there, but half of the nave of the church fell into the river in the 15th century so the village is well fortified with good strong walls since that time. We also saw several towns that have been through the wars and have not fared well, given their strategic position on the coast. (We are glad to be obviously Canadian in these towns!) In one they still have the huge chain that they used to row across the river and attach to a fort on the other side to keep the English out! We went to the lovely town of Royan which has beautiful sandy beaches and absolutely gorgeous beachfront homes, really little chateaux. We were really happy to not have the summer crowds but we weren't even tempted to dip a toe in the Atlantic. We ended back up in Bordeaux at our hotel, the Victoria Garden Suite Hotel. I have not met Victoria, there is no garden unless you count the dandelion in the parking lot next to the car and as for suite, well there is a tiny sink and fridge and the facility for making a cup of coffee, which is unusual for a french hotel, but there is no place to sit but on the bed. The hotel part is accurate but here we are learning that in France you don't usually get what you pay for as most things are so much more expensive than at home. The food in Bordeaux is another story, we have had some fabulous meals and a lot more reasonable than in Provence. We have enjoyed the local seafood and a delicious pastry that we do not get called 'chouettes' which look a little like timbits but taste a thousand times better. Tomorrow I will tell you about the wine!

Joining up

While we were home several people told me that they were enjoying the blog but wanted to make comments and were having difficulty. In order to do that you must first click on "follow" and then follow the prompts. You have to join google or something but it is free and as far as I can see it does nothing more than give you access to the blog. Once you are a follower then you can click on "sign in" and you will be free to make a comment. I get very excited when I see that I have a new follower! It is nice to know that someone other than Mum is reading this but Mum if it were just for you then it would all be worthwhile. So, join up, I can take the comments, both the good ones and the ones that I get from my brother correcting my spelling and other faux pas that I make, after all he is my big brother and he was here first!!

We are back!

For those of you who did not know, Gord and I have been in Vancouver for a whirlwind few days celebrating the wedding of our niece Amanda. We were delighted to meet up with family and a few friends, but the time went by so quickly and the days were very full so we are sorry that we did not see more of you. The wedding was lovely and a truly first class affair and it was wonderful to meet up with family from across Canada, especially to see Allison and Jordan. We will not see them now until they come to visit in February. While it was strange to not be at our house, we were thoroughly spoilt staying with Penny and Wayman. Although we were delighted to be "home" and would have not missed the wedding for anything, we really felt that we were not yet ready to return to Vancouver and are very happy to be back in our little home here in France. We had a smooth trip back today, business all the way to Paris, and then a very tight connection to Marseille. The French efficiency was in full play when after having five phone calls made on our behalf, and telling us that we had a 50/50 chance of having bags when we arrived, we were delighted to find that they had indeed come with us. The only hitch was that, as Gord pointed out, apparently here in France you have to do some serious making out before you are allowed to take your bags off the carousel, at least that is what it certainly looked like! (I guess they are not worried about the H1N1 here.) We were picked up at the airport and taken to pick up our new leased car. It is a comfortable Peugeot, four doors to accommodate our visitors and the whole of the top of the car is glass which makes it nice and bright. It had only 27 kilometres on it so it has that lovely new car smell! It will be interesting to see how many miles we put on it before we return it next year.

It was very cool when we got into our little house and we are wishing that we could get the the fire going. Apparently the insurance is not valid here unless you have an annual chimney cleaning and we are having trouble getting the work done. When there are three hour lunch breaks and long stops to chat and kiss everyone, (every time they meet the Provencals kiss three times, both men and women) there does not leave much time in the day for actual work and getting any work done around here is difficult. Add to that the near impossibility of communicating our needs, especially when the said workmen don't wish to do the work, and you have a somewhat tricky situation. Today is Remembrance Day and we understand that absolutely everything is closed in France, so it will be another day before we can talk to a different chimney sweep and to order some wood. Ah well, the bed is cosy and warm and my husband has just delivered me my morning coffee, so I will make the best of it and stay warm right here... after all, it is just another day wide open with possibilities and free of responsibilities... ahhhhhhh, c'est la vie!

Squiggles on a map mean something!

This morning, after a wonderful walk through the old town of Nice and the flower market, we set off in the car for Monte Carlo. We took the low road from Nice which was absolutely marvelous. The houses that are built into the mountainside are magnificent and the colours of the water, sun and flowers were wonderful. We arrived in Monte Carlo and went straight to the palace but Prince Rainier was busy at the time and we really did not have the time to wait for him so we went for a little walk ourselves. The photo shows Alison on a terrace near the palace, looking over the harbour and the city. Then it was into the car to slowly head home (we did not mean to be quite so slow but that is how it ended up.) We stopped in the wonderful little village of Eze which is a medieval village just clinging to the side of the mountain above Monaco. The village is really owned now by two incredible hotels and the guest rooms are all the little old homes that have been magnificently transformed. We would really like to stay here next time but it would take Gord's whole pension for one night. We settled instead for lunch and then set off home. Now this is where it gets interesting! While I had read the map, I hadn't actually accounted for the topography, and surely the shortest way between two places is the most direct, right? Well, not always, especially when you have the Maritime Alps in the way. We set off for Grasse, which is a city built on the side of the mountain, and then continued up. Remember now that I have not always driven a stick shift, well actually, I have been driving standard for about a week now! Anyway, I made it through the 37 roundabouts in the town, a couple of wrong turns, a dozen or so times starting up hill at traffic lights and I thought we were home free. We were really impressed by the mountain that looms behind Grasse, impressed that is until we found ourselves heading up it. We had about 100 kms to go before our next town but these 100 kms were right through the Alps. Every time we made it through one pass and thought that we were done, we had another pass to climb to right in front of us. For ages I was changing gear about every 30 seconds. We just loved the road and were grateful that we had been ignorant of the conditions for we never would have attempted it. We saw some wonderful villages, a little church sitting atop a mountain, (see photo, it is in a village called Castellane) a perfume stand in absolutely the middle of nowhere for all those smelly hikers I guess, but the most amazing sight was the cyclists that we saw up at some of the summits. It made our drive in the car seem awfully tame. Sometimes the road was so narrow that they suggested we honk before we attempted to go around the corner, it was interesting to say the least! We were not really afraid, except when we were up at 3500 feet in the clouds and thought that it might stay that way and decided that we would spend the night in one of the little villages if the visibility got bad. The colours of the trees that were changing were wonderful as they were highlighted in the sunlight with the brilliant blue sky behind them, and we both felt that it was a once in a lifetime experience. (When Gord reads this I certainly won't ever be allowed to do this again!) We were quite happy to get back on the level and eventually made it back to our little home after turning the three hour drive into a six hour marathon. It felt good to be back "home" to the welcome of this little house.

Keeping up with Aunt Ethel on the Cote d'Azur

On Thursday Morning Alison and I set off for the French Riviera. Nice, which was our destination, is about a three hour drive from here. We went down to the Mediterranean at Antibes, which is a delightful old town about 30 kms west of Nice. We managed to find a parking space, always a near miracle, and wandered around the old town and the ramparts, the city walls, that are right at the water's edge. All these little Mediterranean towns had terrible trouble with Saracen pirates and so they were all fortified (they seem to have got their own back by the terribly inflated prices, almost contemporary piracy). We stopped for a slice of Socca, a Nicoise (ie from Nice) tradition of a crepe style food made out of chick pea. It is really delicious and tastes a little like popcorn and pancakes together! Then we set off for Nice along the wonderful road that runs along the beach. We managed to find our way to my Aunt's place, not with any help of the non-existent road signs, and before we knew it we were in her charge and we were off. Charge was the correct word as Alison and I tried to keep up with my 85 year old aunt as she wove her way through the streets of Nice. We managed to follow her to the beachfront to catch a tourist bus that she planned for us. We had a marvelous hour and a half tour through the streets of Nice. We sat in the open top of a double decker bus and were constantly ducking the overhead palm trees and other vegetation as we sat in the warm sunshine. ( I know its hard to duck under the palm trees but there we are.) We got back from our lovely rest and we were off again, dashing madly through the streets of Nice which were now crowded with shoppers and workers returning home. Alison and I were carrying our overnight things but we could not believe the pace that our dear Ethel set. It was hilarious. she wove us expertly through the rabbit warren of old Nice until we arrived back at her little pied-a-terre, a little studio apartment that she has had for the past 25 years which she is now preparing to sell as she does not want to stay there alone anymore. She has given the keys to Gord and I to use freely over the next few months. It is in an amazing location just half a block from the old port. The vegetation in Nice is quite different to our home in Provence as the weather is much kinder and I think that we are going to be very grateful for a retreat away from the wild mistral winds of Provence once in a while. Actually, Alison and I could not get over the amazing array of flowers still blooming, the fragrance was wonderful. Nice is a very interesting old city that has had a radical transformation over the past few years and the area that Ethel's place is in is very trendy, quite an upswing from its former notorious days when she first bought in the area. We bought a little dinner to have in the flat and collapsed into bed at the end of a full day. Well, almost! The bed is what the French call a lit-armoire or what we would call a Murphy bed, in that it folds into the wall. It is supposed to unfold into a bed but this one had been put away for quite a while so that while part of it did unfold, the bottom part wanted to fold right back up again. Fortunately for us, it did stay open when we finally got over all the laughter and actually laid down on it for a well deserved rest!

The French Markets

One of the most fun activities to do is to go to the various markets that are held daily in one or another of the villages and in most of the local towns. Market day is extremely popular with both the tourists and the locals alike. The biggest difficulty is getting a place to park as the French do not adhere to strict parking rules at the best of times. Finding a ledge to put our car, anywhere near our house, is just one of the daily challenges we face, but on market days the towns are more than imposible. Take, for example, our experience on Monday. Alison and I have not yet (nor do we anticipate the time actually ever arriving) had enough of the local markets...( think of a homing pigeon or a lion going in for the kill) so we set off for Cavaillon. Now we made our first mistake by taking time for a leisurely breakfast before starting out so that by the time we arrived we were in the midst of a veritable sea of cars. I was quite pleased with myself as I managed to negotiate fairly close to one edge of the market until I realized that I had just worked myself into a dead end street that ended with a barricade right at the market, with hundreds of people in front of the barricade and wall to wall cars around me. A lovely local sensing my predicament helped me turn my car around (okay I know I made that sound easy but remember it is stick shift and a rental car which is at the moment is still bereft of the local identifier which is masses of scratch marks down either side). I was then faced with what to do as I was facing the wrong way on a one way street with no exits. The local then told me it was fine for me to drive the wrong way down this major street in the middle of the city, actually what he said was nothing, but shrugged his shoulders and pointed back the way I had come. I crawled back the two blocks, to the consternation of the passersby, and was almost ready to give up at this point, but.... there were bargains to be had so we pressed on and by the time we found a spot I was more than ready for my cafe-au-lait.!

The markets range in size from a couple of dozen stalls to more than a couple of hundred. The goods are as varied as the sellers, from fresh produce to grandfather clocks, underwear to toys, lots of cheeses, smoked meats, rotisserie chicken and paella and loads of lovely linens. (I think that it is a physical impossibility for Alison and I to walk past a linen stall without taking a closer look.) The prices are usually good, but not always, and you do have to be wary. The price is generally as stated and there is little room for haggling, which is actually good because that gets very stale after a while. Generally the less english that you hear as you walk around, the better the prices will be because then you know that this is where the locals shop. There are often some colourful entertainers, a one-man band, complete with tambourine, drum, trumpet and who knows what else, or a couple of guys on guitars. Already some of the stalls and the sellers are beginning to look familiar as you see them in different towns on different days. You need to be there in good time because by noon some of the smaller stalls have sold out of their breads or farm produce and they are beginning to pack up. Every time we go to a market we see something new and I think that this is part of the reason for going, but also the hope that at this one you might get a real bargain. In the bigger towns, sometimes the regular market is combined with an antiques market. On Sunday we were at one such market in Isle sur la Sorgue which was fascinating. We saw very interesting furniture, old china and silver, stalls of antique linens and unusual things like vintage clogs, old toys and some marvelous books. These are all usually pretty pricey but such fun to look at if one has the time, and after all, we do! So if it takes all morning to buy a little bread, a roast chicken and some olives, c'est la vie... and I can't think of a better one right now!

A little taste of Provence

Okay, so I have been holding out on you all because I have been a little afraid that we would be swarmed with visitors if I let the secret out but I can't hold back any longer.... the food here is absolutely amazing! Breakfast starts with grapes picked fresh from the vine that morning, the brioche, croissants and pain au chocolat picked up at the bakery down the street earlier, and the nuts, honey and yogurt from the market, and of course, cafe au lait! Lunch is simple, just a fresh baguette, some wonderful soup, a choice of a couple of cheeses from an absolutely unlimited selection, for Gord, some smoked meat, maybe sanglier (wild boar) or rabbit (not my style!) and some olives or tapenades, washed down by a glass of wine (more my style). Don't even think about dinner before 7:30, the earliest the restaurants open for dinner. Then it is usually a fixed price, three course affair. If you are lucky you will be served an amuse bouche, a little sample of something delicious to wet the appetite and to accompany the aperitif du maison, which really means the drink speciality of the house. The first course (entree) can be a selection of appetizers, maybe three or more, then the main course (plat) and of course dessert or cheese, or both in the finer restaurants as the cheese course is supposed to help with the digestion. Dessert can often again be a little sample of three delicacies, perhaps a creme brulee and always a chocolate delicacy. (I know, I know, that is why we have 27 stairs to our bedroom and I have to run up and downstairs 74 times a day or we will have to pay for our "excess baggage" to fly home!) The French have a mandatory 35 hour work week and a self imposed 30 hour meal week. Apparently they are the country in the world that spends the most time eating and sleeping, sounds like a relaxing place to be doesn't it? Not only are the restaurants outstanding but the general emphasis everywhere is on freshness and quality. Even the vegetables at the supermarket are picture-worthy, the selection of breads, pastries, cheeses, pates, desserts and so on is quite endless. The supermarket is totally overwhelming with choices that we are never going to be able to sample in just 7 months, though we will give it a really good try. There is a different village market every day of the week where you can buy cheese, olives, tapenades, vegetables, fish, smoked meats and the most delicious rotisserie chickens and paella. While we have limited cooking resources (no conventional oven) we have not suffered so far. It really is an awful lot of fun to try the different things. Not having the best grasp of the language can be very entertaining too; I am still not quite sure what was in that last soup. Well, that is enough, we will valiantly struggle on in our adventure with food as we try to enjoy all the 'cultural' aspects of this place!

Fontaine-de-Vaucluse

The other day Gord and I went to Fontaine de Vaucluse which is the source of the river Sorgue. The water actually comes out of hidden springs deep in a cave in the rocks. This is one of the most visited sights in France and Rick Steves (the travel guide) says that unless the springs are running then it is highly overrated with a saturation of souvenir shops and crawling with tourists. With that warning we went to check and were delightfully surprised. For one thing, the tourists had all crawled back home and we are at the right time of the year to have the place to ourselves. We walked up a wonderful rocky path following the river, that was a most magnificent emerald green, to the cave where the springs come from. There were towering white cliffs, topped with a ruined castle, and hundreds of birds that looked like crows but definitely did not sound like them. The massive abundance of water was not in evidence (I guess it was waiting until I hit the autoroute - see last blog) but the cave was magnificent. The springs are so deep that they have as yet been unable to get an accurate reading of them. Notice where Gord is standing, right at the very edge of the bottomless springs and about 100 metres inside the barricade. I am sitting on the barricade preparing my French so that I can tell the gendarmarie that mon mari has found the bottom of the springs! There is supposed to be a very good paper museum on the way up but it was closed due to the obligatory two hour lunch break, (have I told you about the hours here? - everyone, and I mean everyone stops for at least 2 hours at lunch, my grocery store is closed for three hours and with lunch, the post office is only open for five hours a day!) so... we decided to go home and have lunch ourselves!

Sunny, no, Sloshy Provence

Okay, so now I get it. I understand why down the middle of all the little village streets there is a trough, or in the case of the Rue du Four, actually two troughs, one down each side. These are for the "sudden and heavy downpours." Let me explain.

Yesterday I said a temporary goodbye to Gord who was flying to Paris to head home to Canada to join his siblings in celebrating their Mom's 90th birthday aboard a cruise bound for Bermuda. Now I have been saying goodbye to Gord all my married life but I was uncharacteristically unhappy this time. Not only did I not want to be apart for the next two weeks but I really did not feel good about being left here in a country where I know no one, hardly speak the language and am not crazy about driving standard on these narrow roads but c'est la vie! (Fortunately my dear friend Alison will be here in a couple of days or I would have gotten on the plane with him.) After I had dropped Gord off at the airport, I stalled in Marseille for as long as I could as I was not anxious to go back to an empty house nor was I very excited about driving the motorway alone. Anyway I headed back around 3:00pm. It had been a gloomy and wet day, quite appropriate to match my mood, but about halfway through my driving the sky got very black indeed, I was surrounded by thunder and lightning and then the rain, rain like I have never seen in my life. The speed limit is 110kms and I was trying to keep up to the red tail lights of the truck in front of me but I quickly lost him. I was afraid to go too slowly but I could not see a thing, not even the side of the road to pull over. After what felt like an eternity, I did manage to see a rest stop and joined many other cars and trucks, but not before I had seen two accidents and then passed another one later on. When I safely stopped the car I am not sure if the flood was inside or out of the car at that moment but I decided that I might just wait there for the next two and a half days until Alison arrives because I was not in a hurry to go anywhere. After about 30 minutes the worst of the storm was past and I set out gingerly for home. While it was no longer frightening, it was interesting. One of the little villages that we pass through had turned into a river! I hadn't even noticed the slight incline to the road while driving before. I drove through intersections with the water coming to the bottom of the car doors. The water gushing down our steep street was incredible, both sides were pouring water (I had not realized that we had waterfront property until this moment.) The tiles on our roof are U shaped and they all point down to the road and we have no gutters so I was absolutely soaked just getting in the front door. It felt so good to be home but now I was very wet and I immediately headed up to our bedroom to get changed only to be met by a leak in the roof in our bedroom! The water was coming in at the windows too but closing the shutters fixed that problem and a couple of buckets temporarily fixed the other one.

Well, I guess I never was one to do things by halves and so the rain here is similar in personality. This morning I flung open the shutters to blue sky and sunshine again so I guess all is forgiven for now, but now I know why the troughs are in existence.