Final Blog for Summer 2015! We can't believe it, but another lovely summer has flown by here in the south of France. It's time to pack the bags, head to Paris (Aug 24) for our flight to Chicago (Aug 25), then our drive to Charleston, after a few days with family. We'll be back in Charleston Aug 31, & moving into our new space Sept 1. We are ready.

Over the past few weeks, we've gone back to our favorites: The Mediterranean Sea, The Cevennes Mountains, & up to L'Aveyron to see our friends Benedicte & Michel at their country house. Check out our albums "Bambou & Steam in Les Cevennes" & "A Day in the Country" to see pictures of last weekend's adventures.

This week was spent tidying up loose ends. Some of you have asked for before & after pictures of our house. So I did put together a few (I AM the Picture Queen for sure--I have tons!) for our album called "Our French House, Before & After" if you are interested in this kind of craziness.

This weekend we will go with the flow...& it sounds like it might be interesting. A big storm is predicted for Sunday. That will be only the fourth time it has rained here since June 2, the day we arrived. We can tell that fall is coming!

We are so very lucky to be able to spend our summers here! We love this area: it's so accessible to so many things! In 2 hours, you can go from the central plateau to the sea, or to Provence, or to the Riviera. In one hour from here we can get deep into the mountains that we look at every morning. We love the people too: we've had many different workmen here this summer--all kind, intelligent, skilled & eager to please.

We love the "fetes votives" that are always happening, but which we never attend. The French, as our handyman says, are "fous" (crazy!) Their village festivals are rich in "toro piscines" (a sort of musical chairs where people stand around a pool in which they release a bull, who then "knocks in (not out!)" the people one by one) or "fetes mousses" where everybody jumps into a huge pool of bubbles, or the newest one, "a color party", where each person gets a sachet of powdered color, which they release into the air. Obviously, the result of all these fetes is that people are either wet, or covered in odd colors, or both. They do have fun!

The only fetes we are not fond of are the "encierros", a Pamploma copy, where the villages block off some streets, & run the bulls through town. There is one going on here in Villevieille tonight, tomorrow, & Sunday night. We have yet to figure out why this, like bull fights, are fun.

But all in all, what we love the most is the tranquility of the way we live here. No television, no bombardment of daily news information (beyond the Midi Libre, our local newspaper over which I pour every day), few phone calls. As we've said before, it's the little things that are so refreshing: a cafe au lait on the terrace, a salad for lunch with bits of our own basil, fish for dinner cooked with rosemary from our garden, the cat from next door who comes to say hello, the walk down the hill to Sommieres, etc....

It's a real break from reality, & we've used it to power up ourselves for the coming fall, winter & spring. But we're already counting the days until next June, when we will be back on our terrace, enjoying this incredible view once again.

Love to all of you,

Elise & Les