7/15 Last day and favorite photos

Friday was our last full day in the house in Lourmarin. We posed with our empty bottles, cleaned out the fridge, and packed our acquisitions. Or just relaxed ourselves.

OK, not all of these were taken on 7/15. I'm putting some of my favorite house photos in this post for a final homage to our lovely home-for-two-weeks.

My favorite moments happened when meals were effortless. The table set itself, and magically filled up with tomatoes, peaches, 5 - 6 cheeses, olive bread, maybe leftover chicken. Boys poured wine.

Two weeks were necessary for us to settle into the house, to find our favorite spots, to learn when to swim and when to open all the doors and let the breezes through.

Au revoir, et à votre santée, la belle maison! 

7/14 A Perfect Day in Aix-en-Provence

On Thursday, Bastille Day, we're off to Aix-en-Provence,  sans Mindy or Mary Ellen, who stayed home to rest. The famous Cours Mirabeau was deserted. We found, and consumed, Bechard's.

After the requisite latté to go with our sugar buzz, we started exploring and peeking into windows. The old section is perfect for walking, with narrow streets, a cathedral, and of course cafés everywhere.

This may have been our most beautiful day in France; clear, sunny, both warm and cool. And this flower market, with serenading musicians, was the most beautiful moment of that perfect day.

Fountains: Aix must have hundreds of them. They're everywhere, all gorgeous and provide irresistible photo opps. I was heartbroken to leave Aix that day, already dreading the end of our trip. And oddly, we didn't see any Bastille day celebrations.

7/13 Consoled by the Boys' Dinner

July 13th was a day we all dreaded . . . taking Mindy to the Marseille airport.  Without her, there would be no more singing, much less energy, and bad manners would prevail. The magic would be gone. We envisioned a joyous last lunch, like our lunch in Fontaine de Vaucluse on Mary Ellen's birthday.

Or a farewell photo in front of a view overlooking the Luberon Valley, like the one we took in Ansouis. That would have been fitting. But the day dawned stormy, and after the GPS took us through every village on the way to the interstate, we ran out of time. In a torrential rainstorm, we got Mindy to the airport in time, but without lunch, and without a last photo, like this one.

Back in Lourmarin, the clouds cleared and temperature had dropped 15 degrees. After a glass of wine in a café, we grabbed a baguette. We returned home to find the house opened up and a mighty mistral blowing through.



Best of all, Matthew and Ethan put dinner on the table for us.  They made a fire, grilled lamb kebobs with onions, made rice, and green beans. We were all mightily impressed and temporarily cheered up.

7/12 Cassis, or Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This

 Our day trip to the oceanside town of Cassis had been highly anticipated by members of our party. Even my brother, who was not on the trip, had been regularly accosted at the gym by a man who insisted that we visit Les Calanques (the cliffs). So we set out early in hopes of finding parking, which was brutal--worse than Wrightsville beach on a summer day.

We wanted to see the calanques by kayak, so we headed out to on foot to Calanque de Porte Miou, about a half-hour's walk. We'd been warned that the water was rough, but by the time we arrived, the kayak rentals had closed. We were disappointed, but looking at the water, I was relieved not to be in a kayak in those waves.

As we sat by the water, we watched a couple jump off the rocks nearby. I feared they'd need rescuing when they tried to climb out, but they got out OK, and then they jumped again. Ah, youth! We, however, were not so brave, so we trudged back down to Cassis, past the fancy houses, hotels, and private beach clubs. This one on the right was called "Same Same Beach."

At lunch, we applauded Ethan for trying steak tartare, and he did a credible job with it. We sat right by the harbor and gazed at the boats. It was very picturesque, but we were a little downtrodden from our futile trek to Porte Miou, and our feet hurt, and we weren't sure what else to do with our time in Cassis. Maybe we had expected too much? By the way, if you ever want to kayak in Porte Miou, there's plenty of parking.

We had our bathing suits, so we decided we'd better spend some time on the beach. After all, we were already there. It seemed proper to find a small square, spread out our towels, and observe just how small and rocky the beach was, how many people crowded around us, and how rough the water was--truthfully, I spent a few moments remembering the NC beaches and feeling amazed and grateful at how beautiful they are in their own right.

Others in our party were lost in their own reveries; Keith went for a swim, Matthew was miserable and Mindy managed to stay cheerful through it all. She kept us all afloat that day!

After a suitable amount of time missing home, we went in search of the Route des Crêtes, a road that took us to the highest seaside cliffs in the Mediterranean. Somehow, we found the right way and drove way up to the high, windy and desolate cliffsides.  It was so windy that even driving freaked me out. But looking down, we saw Cassis with the harbor and everywhere we'd just been, which was a nice conclusion to the day.

7/11 Ansouis

On Saturday morning, we went for a hike to the end of our road, which turns into a dirt road and then a footpath that you could take across the entire country. But we around after an hour. Rotting melons were arranged at a clearing, which smelled to high heaven. Someone told us later that the melons were probably bait for wild boars.

That afternoon, we went to Ansouis, a small village about 10 miles from Lourmarin with a winery, Chateau St. Estève de Neri, recommended by the owners of our house. We wandered around Ansouis and poked our noses everywhere. It was a warm day, but there weren't many people out so we felt slightly less like tourists. Mindy took another of her signature "light in the darkness" shots.

What's this? An exhibition of paintings at the "Presbytere?" France isn't exactly full of Presbyterian churches, despite the Hugenots. We loved the paintings but never got the story on the Presbytere.

Next to the church were incredible views of the Luberon valley and we could see Lourmarin from there. I could have gazed at that landscape for hours.

Le Museé Extraordinaire took us back around 5,000 or so years ago when the Luberon was under the ocean. Although trés charmante, it  seemed like something we might see in Carrboro.

And by the time we got to the winery, we forgot to take more pictures . . . too thirsty. We'd hoped to meet the owners, but they were out, so we had a nice chat with the woman working there -- she spoke excellent English, so I didn't have to pretend I understood everything she said.

7/10: Water Wheels and a Special Dinner

We had a special day planned for Mary Ellen's birthday, starting with the market at L'Isle Sur La Sorgue. The town was too crowded, so we continued on to Fontaine-de-Vaucluse. Here's the birthday girl in town.

We visited the source of the Sorgue river; two people were diving and lots more were exploring the caves. We had a lovely lunch and on the way home, we stopped by the Abbaye de Senanque, a Cistercian abbey outside of Gordes.

Matthew looks a bit uncertain, but the rest of us were very excited about dinner at Auberge La Feniere, the best restaurant in Lourmarin. We ate outside the old barn in the bistro. It was the best combination of yummy and rustic ever. The official dinner photo looks like a pseudo-family but actually, none of them are related. Missing: Julia, due to an allergy attack and Matt, due to refusal to pose for photos.

Keith took some beautiful shots of the farm as we were leaving. Thanks, Mary Ellen, for celebrating your birthday at this amazing restaurant.

7/8: Forte de Buoux and Lourmarin Market

Forte de Buoux is a 12th-century Roman settlement high on a mountain not far from our house. We hiked up  to the "front gate," and looked over to the next hill, and there was the rest of the fort.

It seemed to go on forever, and the views were amazing. The fort had houses and all kinds of structures. We loved the remains of the church (left). At the far end of the forte, the "hidden staircase" led down to a secluded lookout point.

On Friday mornings, the Lourmarin market is packed. Everything is stunningly beautiful and it all seems to cost 3 euros.

These people got us hooked on their tapenade, pesto and pepper spreads. Thank goodness we didn't taste any of the cookies.

We succumbed to the nougat booth, and we weren't sorry.  And berries, of course, are so healthy.

The flowers were all too beautiful to choose, but we made good progress at the knicknack shop. One local vigneron told us, "Everyone in this town wants to have a shop in the village--no one wants to work."