Les & I have just returned from a 2 day, action-packed visit to Lyon, France's second largest city. We don't really know why, but we don't think we've ever been there before. It's a beautiful city, & we went there to reconnect with college friends. We had no idea, when we'd planned this short trip, how beautiful & interesting the city would be, nor that we would have the unforgetable experience of celebrating, with the "Lyonnais", France's soccer team...

This is a summer of travel for sure! We just returned from a 6 day trip, but it seems like a much longer one! Day 1: We started with a short drive to Avignon, to reunite with some American friends who were celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. We spent a lovely day with them, visiting the Pont du Gard (a must-do here!), the Roman aquaduct (c.1 AD) that supplied water to our neighboring city of Nimes. After a light lunch in a village cafe, we headed to the ...

I have to admit I am really disappointed in Unesco! On Sunday, July 1, we discovered that the International Committee of Worldwide Patrimony REJECTED the Nimes applicaton to become a World Heritage site. The committee says it could find nothing all that DIFFERENT from all the other cities already listed on the UNESCO list. It's true that Europe (& France as well) is much better represented than the rest of the world, but after 15 years of working towards this...

As you may already know, Les & I have chosen "Roots" as our summer theme. In my first blog of the summer, I mentioned "Roman Roots". We live in an area where the original settlers (The Volcae) were a Celtic tribe that created farms & developed trading with other tribes. One of their main crops remains until today: OLIVES. Our house is built on an old olive plantation, & we have 14 trees in our yard. Along with olives, they cutivated grapes, created wi...

Another summer & another chance for us to explore here, there, & everywhere! We are so happy to be back in France. It's amazing that after 9 months, we arrive on our doorstep, we open the door, & the magic of this little house welcomes us back! Immediately, we rush to the terrace to make sure the view is still there. And it is! Incroyable! By the way, I thought I'd supplement this blog with another view from the terrace, looking out at our side yard,...