More pics of Paris.

Some extra shots I took in Paris.

Dreaming of France.

I've always been in love with anything French - from the music, their pastries, to their furniture.  So, as a 1st wedding anniversary gift to ourselves, my husband and I headed for the land of Pastis and pastries.


Planning the trip became my favourite obsession and I spent every moment when not at work, researching, comparing and booking our route.  


The plan was to walk Paris flat for 3 days, before making our way to Provence, where we'd rented a little cottage, from whence to explore and experience their gorgeous wines, chateaus and truffles firsthand.


The hardest thing for me to do, was that of leaving my little Yorkie, Molly, behind. She fits snugly in her little bag that goes everywhere with me and has grown up with French music constantly playing in my home - so she would have fitted in perfectly amongst the other Parisian ladies and their pooches.  


In the end, after a frantic half day at the office, I left Molly with very willing 'puppy-sitters' (aka my parents), and we boarded our flight to Paris.  


Vive le France!

Bonjour Paris!

We flew via Amsterdam to Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport, and with the Left bank serving as our home base, we spent three crazy days walking the city flat, covering the necessary museums, landmarks and obligatory trip down the Seine - ensuring ample time to hit those high summer sales and to wander around the little back streets, mesmerised by the beautiful buildings.  























Only glitch in the system was, that typical for Paris, it rained 90 % of the time - so all the pretty frocks that I'd planned so meticulously to wear as I strutted my stuff down the arrondisements, were left hanging, very sadly, in the hotel room's wardrobe.  I discovered the true art of layering those 3 days - and 'glamorous' did not factor in my vocabulary or my look.

One of our trip's highlights was when we headed north to Montmarte for an evening of chanson at a little establishment, called Au Lapin Agille http://www.au-lapin-agile.com/accueil.htm .  This little house set high on the hills of Montmarte, has been the location for local artists to perform chanson, poetry, music and humour to intimate audiences since the 1800's.  

We didn't know what they were singing and laughing about, but somehow, it didn't matter.  We understood anyway.   

Our bellies full with the best quiche from the little bistro around the corner, cherry-infused red wine from the theatre, and our hearts and minds full of gorgeous song, we caught the last metro back to our hotel.    

The next morning, my suitcase bulging with all my purchases and my handbag stuffed with Nutella, we made our way to the train station, ready to catch our train down to Provence.

'Allo 'Allo!

After sipping the tiniest, most delicious cafe cremas, we boarded the super fast and efficient TGV train and headed south to Avignon.

From the minute we stepped off the platform in Avignon, we were swept up in the merriment and energy of the French version of South Africa's Grahamstown festival - the Avignon Festival.

The Avignon Festival was in full swing and the little medieval town was bulging out of its seams. It was at the height of summer and the evenings were gloriously endless - which was a blessing, as we got horribly lost within the myriad of little alleways - and we loved every minute of it. The more we had to walk, the more excuses we had to pause at all the cafes lining the streets. What's a girl to do? 


The next morning, after breakfast consisting of  enough pastries to fill a local patisserie, we collected our little Peugot from the rental agency and 
headed (well.....crawled and bumped is more like it, as we found ourselves driving on the right side of the road - which gave us some close encounters with surrounding objects both moving and stagnant), further south into the heart of Provence to the town of Menerbes, a little hilltop village (perche villages) , where our little stone cottage was waiting patiently for us and which would be our private haven for the week to come.  We couldn't wait.



Provence continued.

First Provence challenge:  Getting into your road with your vehicle, no matter how small the vehicle....

When we first arrived at the entrance to the town of Menerbes, we thought we were heading up a pedestrian path, as it was so narrow it seemed inconceivable to be for a vehicle. There was also a large barricade saying 'Aucune Entrée: No Entry. After much gesticulating, and us frantically pointing to our map to a nosy old biddy, we convinced her that we indeed needed to pass through, as it was our route to our cottage and the barricade was removed.

Posted below are some of my favourite shots taken, that for me, is Provence.

These are the town's little winding 'streets'...

Us trying to manouver our way down our little 'street'.

It turned out to be Market day on our arrival - so the road leading to the church square (which was the one we were trying to get to), was closed off for vehicles.


 
We eventually managed pass the barricade and make our way up the little road, simply to encounter the sharpest hairpin bend, that lead into what looked like a mere footpath! We had finally found the little street our cottage was located on - but were very unsure as to how we were going to get the car through the archway and up the road. Thank heavens for little Peugots!


By flattening our car's wing mirrors, we managed to just squeeze through and down the lane to our little house.

Each morning we woke up to the most gorgeous views of terracotta rooptops,  a valley  and the sound of the little church bell as it struck each hour on the hour.  The sun sat high in the sky till late in the evening and we welcomed the twilight that marked the day drawing to a gentle close and the break in the heat that it would bring.  Evenings were spent savouring bottles of wine from the local vineyards whilst watching the little swallows chasing each other in sheer delight in the twilight sky, with the cicadas chirping endlessly all around us. Heaven.                               


                              Views from our bedroom

 

View from our terrace 

Scenes around our little town

The perfect place to cool off with a chilled glass of wine - heaven.

Needless to say - bellies were permanently fully loaded with all the fresh produce the local shops had to offer - and we filled ourselves with as much cheeses, pastries, baguettes and nougat we could manage. So many things to try, so little time.



Each day was spent whizzing down the windiest little lanes connecting all the villages, in our little micro car.  The quest:   to find yet another food and antiques' market, for a good old rummage.  Excercise was found in the form of trudging up hill after hill to enter these towns on foot, me armed with my camera and basket, ready to rifle through all the beautiful old linens, fabrics and bric a brac that we would find. 

We explored our area, the Vauclause and the Luberon Valley, and visited towns like Coustellet (where the Lavender Museum is to be found),  Gordes, Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, Cavailon (know for their melons), Lacoste (where you'll find the remains of the Chateau of the Marquis de Sade), L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue (true treasure trove for the antique lover, Bonnieux and we journeyed way north to Mont Ventoux and the town of Vaison-la-Romaine - known for the incredible amount of Roman Ruins. 

Sights & towns throughout Provence

Roman ruins at Vaison la Romain

Re

Lazy afternoons enjoying a game of boules

We found the vineyard that played host to the beautiful movie, "The Good year".   This vineyard has been producing organic wines for decades already and is light and delicious.  

Fields of lavender

We enjoyed all the wines from this region.  Many were simple blends, at affordable prices from the local market - but the reds were soft, light and extremely quaffable, with the white and the rose's being refreshing and simply delicious.  We did not encounter one bad vintage from the Luberon valley.

Only problem I did encounter at each of these markets, was that of the obligatory baguette that I always seemed to purchase too early on my arrival, and would then spend all morning apologising to those around me for hitting them with my dangerous, yet very tasty weapon.

The final challenge we encountered on our final evening, was that of how to fit all our new purchases into our luggage.  We wanted to take home all of Provence!  It truly was like playing a game of Tetris...Why we never considered couriering, we still do not know, but next time I shall have my courier pre-booked and waiting for me.

As sad as it was to leave our little swallows (and with the realisation that we would have to start wearing  watches again - no church bell announcing the hour on the hour), I think had I stayed even one more day, I would have had to check myself in as excess baggage....

  

Au Revoir....x