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We have just passed our half-way mark for summer 2016. The last 2 weeks were full of the joy of sharing our little paradise here, in Villevielle, & elsewhere in France. In spite of the horrible attack on Nice, we will remember this time period as a very special one, due to visits from family (my sister) & friends (a California couple).
South: My sister arrived on July 7, on a TGV straight from Charles de Gaulle airport. We managed to keep her awake (with a walk along our "voie verte") until 9:00 pm, so we could have her up & running for the next 6 days. We started with a visit to Nimes (The Arena, The "Maison Caree" (old Roman temple), & the Jardin de la Fontaine (the original source of water for the "Nimois", dating back to the Gallic tribe who lived here.) (See our album from last summer, Aug. 23, '15, for more information on Nimes). Following Nimes, to further the Roman "lesson", we stopped for a walk at the Roman road at Ambrussum (see our picture album "Roman Road Revisited"), followed by a lovely meal at a local village restaurant. Saturday morning started with a visit to Sommiere's market, always fun & crowded.
In between: After our market adventure, we started our treck up to the "in-between", using Route 75 as our road to several new cultures. En route to L'Aveyron ( a lovely area 2 1/2 hours north, similar to the Upper Peninsula in Michingan) for a wedding, we made a quick lunch stop at Villeneuvette, a lovely town created by Louis XIV's prime minister Colbert to create revenue to bolster the extravagant king's finances. See our album "Villeneuvette, 17th Century Wool Fabric Factory", July 14, 2012 for pictures of this delightful French version of Chicago's Pullman Factory/Village.
Still in-between: Next stop, the wedding! In 1976, we welcomed Benedicte, a delightful French girl, into our home as our "jeune fille au pair", a sort of helper/babysitter, etc. We have been great friends ever since, & exchanged children over several summers. She & Michel, her long-time husband, live near us here in southern France, but spend some of their vacation time, especially the month of August, at their country home, La Ferriere. (For pictures of this lovely home, created from a boys school run by nuns, see our album called "Chez Benedicte et Michel", August 20, 2012 & "A Day in L'Aveyron", August 18, 2015). Over the years, we have celebrated August 15, La Fete de la Vierge, with them at this incredible place. Some of the years, we have experienced cold & wet (no problem, we sit by the fire & talk, talk, talk!). But this year, the weather cooperated, & the day was absolutely what the French call "impeccable"!
The groom was their third child, Matthieu, who was marrying a lovely girl named Charline. The chapel is a 2 minute walk from their house, & charming, charming, charming. We had a middle seat up in the balcony (we weren't all that sure that it would hold us all, but it did!), where I had the perfect place to snap photo after photo of this important event. It was great fun to pick out the various family members & friends we have met over the years, starting with a visit during a trip with my brother & family --there were 8 of us!, 29 years ago.
The wedding was a full French mass. The priest's words were quite appropriate. He used a rock (French word "pierre") to symbolize the importance of building your marriage rock by rock to create a strong wall. The ceremony was comparable to a US ceremony, & lasted about an hour.
And then the reception started! We left before it was all over. If you want to see what a French wedding on a country estate looks like, see our picture album called "A French Wedding" from July 15. We will never forget it!
Still in-between: Heading out of the little auberge where we'd spent the night, we were off to Roquefort, the cheese factory that produces its distinctive cheese. See our album entitled "Roquefort" for information regarding this highly unique tour through the "fleurines" that create this delicious but stinky cheese.
Still in-between: next stop: La Couvertoirade, a walled medieval city, home of the Knights Templar, with a unique water retention system. (See our album called "La Couvertoirade... A Medieval City", July 16, to get a peak at this strange fortress in the middle of a plain.)
South: To finish our day, back south we went, to show sister Avis the Meditteranean Sea. We hit 2 of our favorite towns on the sea: Le Grau du Roi, & Meze, a fishing village. (See our picture album called "Meze" , July 23, 2012 to get a feeling for this "real" place that we have visited each year--it doesn't change!)
Still South: Avis is a big garden enthousiast, so on Monday, she & I drove to "La Bambouserie", the incredible bambou forest in the Cevennes Mountains. These are the mountains that we see from our terrace--it's fun to be actually IN them, especially at this unusual botanical garden devoted to hundreds of species of bamboo. See our album "Bambu & Steam, Aug. 17, 2015, if you like gardens on a grand scale.
North again, but farther: Tuesday morning, July 12, the 3 of us took the train up to Paris, to acclimate Avis for her final 3 days in Paris. We walked the walk towards her tours on Thursday (Normandy D-Day beaches) & Friday (Versailles & Giverney). Along the way, we saw the normal Paris sites, & ended up at our favorite mish-mash of restaurants on the Left Bank, called "La Huchette". The next morning, we showed her how to use the metro, taking it up to Montmartre & Sacre-Coeur, & visited a lovely museum, just re-invented, called "Le Musee de Montmartre". It tells the incredible history of the Impressionists who thrived in Montmartre's free art-filled ambiance. En route to our train at the Gare du Lyon, we dropped her at the Musee d'Orsay. We were impressed with her ability to absorb the workings of Paris in a mere 24 hours. She is now back home in her lovely "farmette" outside of Peoria. I miss her already.
Back South again: At the train station, we met our California friends, David & Lynn, who were coming down south for the Tour de France, which conveniently made Sommieres, the town below us, one of it's stops on the 12th "Etape" (on Bastille day no less) between Montpellier & Le Mont Ventoux. See our album "Le Tour de France, 2016" for pictures of this very special day we shared with them, some French friends, & a great number of other people on the rock wall as the "Peleton" sped by. It was cold & windy, so windy in fact, that officials cancelled the very end, the ascent up Mt. Ventoux, to protect the riders. Unfortunately, a wacky photographer caused a crash at the end by getting too close to the leader Chris Froome, who actually WALKED the final steps to the finish line. The Tour has a policy to give the leader credit for his day-long lead, & reset the time for him, so he ended the day still in the lead. Vive le Tour de France!
We capped the event on our French friends' lovely terrace, with a lovely lunch. And to celebrate Bastille Day, we drove David & Lynn down to the Mediterranean to La Grande Motte for what we had hoped would be a great outdoor dinner beside the boats in that pretty port. Alas, Mother Nature intervened, & the Mistral, that huge wind from the North, brought in a blustery windy COLD evening.
But it was nothing like what happened in Nice that night. We, along with many others, are so very sorry that one man in a truck can cause such damage. It remains to be seen how & why he ended up that night in that place to do that ugly deed. We live in a strange world.
We hope you, our family & friends, are all enjoying your summer, wherever you are & whatever you are doing. Life is too short, as events have shown, so we have to live it the best we can. Thanks for sharing our blog with us, as we delight in our summer here in France.
More to come soon! Our kids & grandkids will be here in 2 weeks. Now that will be some blog!
Love,
Elise & Les
- comments
Jane Pawelkiewicz Wonderful job per usual! Great photos and I'm so happy Avis had such a good time!
Debby Passo What adventures! I love reading where you go and your experiences it's such a treat. Sounds like the Summer is going well and enjoy all of your friends and family visits. Thinking of you and be well! Love Debby
Barbara Sheperdigian Since I can't travel myself the next best thing is reports from family and friends. Yours are outstanding! The pictures are a wonderful addition.