Here we go again! Bonjour Provence!

Today will be one week that we have been back in Le Thor and it seems like so much has happened. We arrived at sunset and the sky began to turn rose...or rosé rather!

The last few weeks in Portland were rather “mouvementés” to say the least! On April 2nd we welcomed a new family member...Jacques Otto Paris much to the delight of big sister Méline.

We were also hosted for lovely dinners and weekends by friends we enjoy in Oregon...

We left Portland via Calagary which is quite a cowboy town. The airport is very pretty and calm.

It made me think of Portland in the 70’s and there is an amazing glass wall sculpture in the International terminal created by an artist to represent the mountains which surround Calgary.

Our hotel was right in the terminal and we spent the next day on a short visit into the city. Calagary is a city with lots of contrasts with really futuristic buildings rising up among the old western style buildings. Even the policemen wear cowboy hats.

We went to the Glenbow museum which is a real treasure and was showing several, contrasting exhibits. A historic exhibit of Christian Dior fashion...sort of a mini version of the one I saw in Paris. They also had going a fabulous exhibit of Native Peoples which was incredible.

Our flight left in the evening so we headed back to the airport to take our flight to Marseille via London. It was a long trip back to Provence.

Speaking of long trips...on Saturday we will drive to Bretagne to visit “maman”. The last time we drove there Maya was six and it was LONG. This time I think we will stop in Angers which I have never visited so I will say à bientôt mes amis.

Bonjour from Provence

Yes here I am again...not even sure where to begin...we bought a house!!!! and it is Sunday morning in Le Thor! Outside the bell tower is ringing the hour. The bell begins to chime at 6 a.m. and bids us bonne nuit at 10 p.m. and its such a nice sound...unless you don't want to wake up at 6 a.m.! This is not a problem for me since I am an early riser after so many years of teaching but perhaps tourists who are in town might want to sleep in!

We have been in France now since May 7th...we arrived ahead of the Air France strike just in time for the train strike so we rented a car at the airport, filled it with our seven suitcases and headed south a few miles. We stayed the night in Pommeuse land of Brie cheese.

We found a great place to stay...a bergerie on the grounds of a small chateau. Here is our rental car parked at the entrance of the bergerie. Yes, its a Ford...the only "larger" car available!

Our room was upstairs and looked out into the area of the former farm. The owner's family have had the chateau for over a hundred years and now have several rooms which they rent out with breakfast included.

Early the next morning we drove out of town and south...it seemed like we might not have too much jet lag at least at first!!

Lunch was at this rest stop on the highway...the weather was perfect for driving and we sat outside and had our lunch...no wine and a good strong cup of coffee!

Since you are basically stuck on the highway in France because you pay coming out, the rest areas are well equipped with little shops and restaurants like this and they are becoming more modern and really quite nice compared to how they used to be. As we drove we could tell we were going to doze off so we pulled into a nice rest area in the shade and took a nap! We did this several times before we finally reached Carpentras that evening. Loved seeing this castle en route!

We could not get our house until May 14th, although we signed the day we arrived, so we spend a few nights in Le Thor at the hotel St. Louis...the place had a swimming pool but the weather was just awful so we didn't use it. The parking is to be done between little olive trees...here is a sign to remind French drivers to park correctly!!

 The hotel had a very nice little restaurant attached to it and we have returned several times to have dinner here.

 Our "new" house is located in the historic part of Le Thor within the partial wall of the ancient city...

You can see a branch of the Sorgue river on the right of the photo above which is steps from our front door. In the photo below you can see more of the wall and a couple of our "neighbors"drying off after a swim!

This former Hospice is located across the street and is now a retirement home.

Le Thor has two weekly outdoor markets and two boulangeries as well as a large cafe on the market square. I will tell you more later as we start to get to know the place. We happen upon little events every so often as we stroll the town and just heard the children's choir performing the Pink Martini song "Je ne veux pas travailler" to great applause at the salle des fêtes!!

 Here is some bounty from the market just last week...it happened to be a sunny morning then. We have had so much rain...more than they have seen here in 40 years so a sunny day is such a treat! I just love how artistically the produce is put out on display...makes you want to buy it all!!

 I did come home with this...fresh strawberries from the famed Carpentras strawberry producers! Can you smell their wonderful fragrance??

This reminds me its time for breakfast here so I will say à bientôt...stay tuned for the progress of the move in!

Paris again once more

Well, it is the last day of April as I write this and last night there was a full moon...the pink moon which is so named because of the wild ground phlox which starts to bloom at this time. Everything is blooming pink around here in Portland! The spiritual meaning of this pink moon is that it is a time of renewal and rebirth which is what is going on over here in my house right now (more explanation coming in May)...sort of. That said, I want to give you some final thoughts on the wonderful trip to Paris and some photos too so here goes.

We had to do a pose at the Palais-Royal one day when we were searching for some good moules/frites restaurants.

We did quite a lot of walking on that day and I spent some time taking photos of shop windows and things on the street. This really interesting boutique was located not far from rue Saint Antoine and everything looked so stylish. Lots of white in here.

 These necklaces were actually beads on lace confections...the reflection in the window made it hard to get a really precise photo but I do like how the building is reflected in the plexiglass stand.

Of course everyone knows that I adore the little deux chevaux and I'm always on the look out for them. This one I find particularly sweet...what is better than a pink car except one that has many shades of the color. To me it looks like it is smiling or at least winking at passersby!

Quite a contrast here to these three we saw on the Champs Elysees parked in a row. I think it might have been one of those tourist things where you drive a Ferrari through Paris??? Lots of people were having a look at them before they drove off.

We both like the selection of eyeglasses in this boutique which sadly was closed or we might have slipped a pair or two in our carry ons. I really like the pink ones in front but the yellow ones on the left are not bad either.

 These two dolls were keeping and eye on everyone.

Over by the Senat, near the Luxembourg gardens the children's clothing  store Bonpoint had a really fairyland style display for the winter season. This shop always has the most amazing clothes.

Down the street a bit these little elves were standing around cool beaded trees...remember it was nearly Christmas!

 This place had all things silver and glass. I would like to go back and see the street now. I had never actually been there before so that does prove that one can never see all of Paris no matter what.

 I thought the inset camisole on this dress was really unusual. You can have a sleeveless dress but still stay cozy with charmeuse silk gathered at the throat. You can almost see me there in the window reflection in my burgundy beret!

 This bit of silliness was really fun to look at...boxes of "gold flakes" in the window of a jewelry store. Really so creative and unexpected!

At a visit to the Centre Pompidou I took this picture looking from the inside out. It almost has a feeling of a mountain chalet because of the clouds up there. When we cam e in the door we just came straight in but less than fifteen minutes later this was the line waiting. The bookstore here is just amazing...almost an art exhibit on its own.

Towards the end of our stay we met my cousins at a historic restaurant...one of the oldest brasseries in  Paris called Brasserie Bofinger. It was a special evening celebration for us because we only see each other once a year if we are lucky! The brasserie has the most interesting decor with this magnificent dome ceiling 

and all around the restaurant inlaid wood, mirrors and paintings. It was a wonderful way to celebrate our final time in Paris. We had choucroute garni which is a house specialty and perfect for November. You can see we are happy n'est-ce pas??

Soon after it was time to leave our little studio on rue Castex and we closed the door for the last time as we headed off to the airport.

It may be April here and trees and flowers in bloom but I love to think back to this really great trip and how lucky we are to have been able to take it! Its great having a best friend to share some things like this with. So, happy May day to you...in France they will be selling muguet...and à bientôt!