Wool and pottery

We had a couple of interesting days this past weekend. On Saturday we learned about a wool and silk marché taking place in Sault. A surprise discovery by Anton.

JC and I thought it would be a nice outing for Maya and Oscar to take the very pretty drive there through forest and over hills. (Remember my earlier post about it with the lavender fields?) The children are both awesome travelers so we set off singing "Oh Suzanna" and a host of other songs we could remember the words for! I think I may need to build my repertoire on these songs so we can sing a few varieties!!
The lavender fields all had new crew cuts but the fragrance of the lavender was everywhere especially since there had been a bit of rain Saturday morning. I think the people living in Sault year round must be very calm and probably there are very few wool eating moths around. An appropriate location for a wool marché n'et-ce pas??

The sky was overcast but the marché was colorful.

I tried to photograph some stalls but the artisans were not really agreeable to that. There was a stand or two of felters who were busy with customers. Another stall was displaying scarves and fabrics dyed with plants. Really beautiful colors.
After a visit to the marché we happened upon a wedding in the upper part of the village.

People were coming out of the Hotel de Ville/Mairie where the civil marriage took place and they were walking towards the church for the religious ceremony.

On a few balconies townspeople were watching the wedding just like we were!

 Can you see this little old lady watching from the edge of her balcony??

Remember...separation of church and state here, but that does not explain the religious holidays like August 15 when things are closed! The French paradox.

After watching the wedding procession, we walked through the town for an ice cream and a look around.

 Here's Oscar opinion of the ice cream!

We made it to the car just as raindrops began to fall. No singing on the way home...passengers were all nodding off!

On Sunday the Mistral wind roared back into the region and we went over to Crillon le Brave to see the special pottery market.

As you can see the sky was a brilliant blue and the pottery exhibits were beautiful, creative and colorful. Everyone was taking photos and me too!

Maya spent the afternoon learning how to work with clay...a new medium for her.

Here's the view from the clay making station down into the valley below! Do you see the "dentelles" in the back?

We went on a search for a place to eat but all spots were "complet"...I don't think the organizers realized how many people would come to visit.

We, of course, did not pack a picnic lunch this time but we did locate the playground for a bit of fun on the slide.

The village of Crillon le Brave is very pretty and has been redone from a crumbling old village. This little olive grove is in the garden of a house which is being remodeled.

The pottery association of the region had set up all sorts of posters to explain the different types and steps for creating pottery items.

I spent the afternoon wandering around the various stands and watching people. I loved this woman's shibori fabric dress.

Here's another white lace top...a popular item this summer.

Emmanuelle and I both thought the name of "flip flops" for these pink shoes was a bit of an oxymoron. What do you think???

These little dogs were watching all the goings on.

They were even at the expo in the museum!!

Looking out of the museum's windows you can see the visitors below and the really blue sky!! It was a nice, windy day with lots to see!

There was music out on the square as we made our way back to the car for the drive home. Can you see Mont Ventoux in the distance behind the cypress trees?

A bientôt! See you next time.