Les Faux Amis

50 foot Van Gogh face staring at you

Last week we went to Les Carrièees de Lumières again but this time with our lovely Scottish friends. We saw some of the works of Chagall and Van Gogh displayed on the huge walls of the former quarry and set to music. At the interval before the Van Gogh display started we went to get something warm to drink because it was beginning to get chilly in this vast cavernous space. As we stood in a portion of the caves that was open to the sky large drops of rain started to fall. I was glad to see the rain because the garden really needed a deep watering. After the show we walked back to the car and noticed that there were some really bright lights in the sky. We quickly realized that the source of those lights was in fact a spectacular storm, one that we would be driving straight towards. After skirting around Saint Remy de Provence we then drove down a beautiful tree lined road. Not long after the road could not be seen due to the amount of rain that was now falling. I thought about stopping the car but there was nowhere safe to stop so instead I drove very slowly and thankfully the rainfall lessened fairly quickly so we were safe to proceed at normal speed. By the time we got close to Tiny Town the storm that had been clearly over Les Alpilles was now intensifying over the Luberon. We arrived back home safe and sound where we were greeted by Bailey who despite the storm had been snoozing on the sofa during a marathon Netflix session with mum.

A bird’s eye view of Cassis

As is always the plan when mum visits we took a trip to Cassis. This had been planned for Tuesday but another very wet weather front descended and we decided to change our plans by a day. It’s more than an hours drive but incredibly worth it. All our faces lit up as soon as we caught our first glimpse of the sea. The weather was beautiful and therefore many people had decided to come and have lunch or a stroll along the waterfront. It was also market day. People were lying on the beach catching the final rays of sun before we headed back into sweater weather. A few brave souls were even swimming in the sea and I made a note that I needed to do that just one time before we left France.

Cassis waterfront

We chose a restaurant right on the waterside and made a reservation for lunch and then continued to wander round the town. When we were seated for lunch a fearless cat approached the table and that made Bailey start growling and she fluffed her tail and made herself bigger. Undeterred by this display, the cat merely hissed and swiped a paw in front of her face. The cat was clearly a bit of a street cat one that I might call Bruiser just like the fearless stray cat back in Tiny Town who never moves when we pass. Lunch was nice and especially because the setting was so perfect. We had the best spot for people watching and I realized that it was like watching my own personal fashion show. Just as when I was in Paris earlier this summer with my sister, we watched people go by and took in all the fashion.

View from La Route des Crètes

After lunch we headed back out of Cassis but first took a road that G had wanted to take last year but unfortunately the weather had been too bad and the road had been closed. The road was open this time and we headed up slowly navigating the winding switch backs and up towards the most glorious views of all over the coast line. This I was told was the highest sea cliff in all of Europe. I looked back to see that my mum was wearing her dark glasses and looking straight ahead willing the experience to be over. Presumably she was having flashbacks to a trip she took in the Himalayas where tiny old buses shuttled her around narrow mountain roads with the most incredible drops a mere stones throw away. When we finally started our descent, she was delighted.

Rusty Roussillon

Mum and I took a quick trip to Roussillon to buy some souvenirs before she left.

Walkies!

Since our friend Trish has broken her ankle we have been helping out with walking her dog Toby. Mr T as I have taken to calling him is a sweet dog but he is scared of almost everything. He is at his most happy when he is by Trish’s side. He is perhaps at his least happy when I come to take him for a drag, I mean walk. We walked him most afternoons this week when we were taking Bailey out for her afternoon promenade. The first day all was well and Mr T even seemed pleased to see us. However by the third day he decided that I was not his friend and that I should be avoided at all costs. There are two staircases in the house and so when I went up one he went down the other. This carried on a couple more times until I decided to double back and meet him on the staircase that I knew he would be coming down. When he saw me he seemed a bit shocked and managed to evade me again. Thankfully it wasn’t too much longer until I was able to nab him and put his leash on. Once outside the very excited Miss B wanted to greet him but he was not so sure. We continued on the walk and unfortunately met another exuberant dog, this time a chocolate lab. The dog was off leash and the owner did not have much control of him. He was just a big lump of chocolate excitement, not going to do anyone any harm but Mr T let out a bit of a shriek and so G picked him. When safely in G’s arms Mr T let out a bit of a growl as if to say “I’m not going to tell you again”.

One day we took a longer walk with Mr T and some friends from the village. This was the normal walk that we had started taking during lockdown because there was never anyone else on the trail. Our friends, both of whom had lived in the village for years were not familiar with this trail and so G was our guide. One of our friends had talked about how the local restaurant did not have any food for vegetarians and that got us joking that she should start a restaurant on her terrace. We had been talking about how there are so many words in French that have the same meaning and one of our friends said “Les Faux Amis” which is a term that literally means false friend. This term is used for words in French that look like English words but do not mean the same thing at all. That was it, we decided that she needed to call her restaurant Les Faux Amis. The most famous and perhaps most embarrassing faux amis might be asking for jam at breakfast and asking for “une préservatif” instead of confiture because a “preservatif” is a condom.

Just as with any language there are some words in English for which there no alternatives in French. Doggie bag is one of those. We discovered this when we went out to dinner at a nice little restaurant in L’Isle Sur La Sorgue called Les Georgettes. We were with Sandra and Rose and Rose ordered a steak but couldn’t finish all of it so we asked if we could take it home for Bailey. I asked Sandra what the word for doggie bag was and she said that there is none. Fortunately the waitress knew what we were up to and wrapped what was up in a tight aluminum foil parcel so that it would not spill in my handbag. The menu was quite eclectic at this restaurant and we ordered some appetizers. I was intrigued by the Iranian style beetroot and when the chef came by to say hello to us and ask if we had any questions, I asked her about it. She replied that she was inspired by a chef called Yotam Ottolenghi. Instant bonding. He’s my chef hero I tried to tell her. Now I knew why I liked this pretty unobtrusive place. That and the trio of sixties inspired lights, one with a collection of barbies in it, the other with some plants and another with old pairs of glasses. She’s obviously a bit eclectic and I like that.

Thanks for reading!

Les Trois Musketeers

Beautiful Burgundy

G looking like a winemaker surveying his vineyard

This was the first time that G had left Tiny Town all year and he was very ready for a break. Since mum was staying with us she volunteered to Baileysit while we took off. We decided that we should keep our trip to within France and chose Burgundy as our destination where G had booked us into a good centrally located hotel in Dijon for two nights. He planned our driving route so that we didn’t spend the whole time on the freeway which would have made the journey fast but not particularly scenic. Instead we navigated towards Grenoble and that meant that we were on a little bit of a quieter road that rewarded us with a view of the Alps. The view was incredible and it made us want to take a detour and go to Geneva. The idea of being able to drive from country to country in Europe is incredibly exciting for me. I was trying to think why that was and decided that it was perhaps because when I lived in the UK everywhere was a boat trip or a plane ride away because the UK is an island.

Beautiful books in Beaune

We approached a fork in the road and our journey took us towards Lyon so we had the view of the Alps in our rearview mirror. After skirting around Lyon we plugged in the next destination of Beaune. On arrival in Beaune it was still incredibly hot, as hot as back home in fact. We parked the car on a side street and walked around this beautiful little town. The architecture was so different from where we live in the south. Not only were there many beautiful grand town houses with flowers cascading from window boxes, but interspersed were half timber buildings that dated from hundreds of years ago. The influence of the Dukes of Burgundy shaped the architecture and you could see influences from Holland and Belgium in the multicolored tile roofs, some of which also had an incredibly high pitch. If pretty houses were on my list, mustard was on G’s and he managed to find the Fallot mustard factory and store. We bought a couple of different types and then wandered back towards the car, taking in the church on our way.

So many architectural styles live side by side

Our next destination was Dijon and since neither of us had ever been there before we didn’t really know what to expect. G took us on the Route des Grand Crus which led us right in front of some of the big wine makers. Up in the hills you could see the odd chateau and closer to the road were some more simple houses. No one seemed to have a garden and I said to G “no-one has a yard but they’ve all got a vineyard”. Every single piece of land was planted with grapes that would produce some of the most famous Pinot Noir in the world. We passed by villages with names like Vosne Romanée, Giverney Chambertin, that I had only ever seen on the front of bottles.
After arriving and checking in at our hotel we were glad to be on foot. I noticed that the hotel had a pool so of course had to check it out. In the basement of the hotel was quite a nice pool but it was strange to be swimming in a black room that had around a dozen disco balls of various sizes hanging from the ceiling. The idea of course was to capture the light and reflect it, but I felt like I was in a nightclub.

Lights by the Duke’s Palace

We ate the Le Pré Aux Clercs the first night and had a beautiful view of the Duke’s palace which had been lit up in a soft green light. The fountains in front of the palace were also lit with the same color. The food was lovely, ambiance was perfect and we felt so fortunate to be there. When we got back to our hotel room G had found that Downtown Abbey the movie was available on the tv and I thought that I had just won the lottery.

I used sanitizer afterwards, don’t worry

The next day we went off in search of breakfast preferring to venture out in the town rather than staying at the hotel. We found a café that served something more substantial than just a coffee and a croissant thankfully, because that’s not the best way for me to start the day. After that we were ready and able to follow the Owl trail before heading off to the Fine Art Museum. The many sights of Dijon are identified on the Owl trail and all you have to do is follow these beautiful little brass triangle shapes with an owl on them that are on the ground. It’s a great way to get people exploring and we had fun trying to find the next owl. The highlight of the Owl trail is by a church where there is an owl on the side of the building and it is said that you should touch the owl with your left hand and make a wish at the same time.

The Works of Charles Lapicque

The Museum of Fine Arts is in part of the Duke’s palace and houses a wonderful collection of art and antiquities from Roman and Egyptian time up to the present day. Incredibly, the museum is also free. Also, many of the explanations are also translated into English so it makes the visit easy to follow. It was there that I discovered an artist that I had never heard of before. His paintings were so beautiful and the colors so vivid that I had to find out more about him. As luck would have it the gift store had a book on Charles Lapicque and so I bought that. As interesting as the art was inside, the views outside were just as wonderful.

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

Every time we went from room to room we could see a different view of Dijon just outside. One of my particular favorite views was of two Afghan hounds who were having a snooze while their owner wandered around the museum. The dogs fit in perfectly with their surroundings and you could imagine that the Duke himself had just come back from hunting and left the dogs to rest outside.

Monsieur Pompon’s Ours Blanc

It seems there are two symbols of Dijon: the polar bear and the owl. The polar bear was a particularly strange one we thought especially as there was also a picture on the ceiling above the bed in our hotel room of the bear. However in the Museum of Fine Arts we learned of the origin. Francois Pompon had been creating for years but he was not recognized until 1922 at the age of 67 when he exhibited the Polar Bear at the Salon D’Automne. There’s hope for all of us late bloomers I thought to myself.

A modern take on the Ours Blanc

After visiting the art museum we walked back to our hotel which was right next door to the beautiful Hotel de la Cloche. The hotel had a beautiful peaceful garden and we decided to have lunch there. The center of the garden had three interlocking shallow pools and right in the center was a modern interpretation of the Polar Bear.

Our hotel

For dinner we took a walk down to the Gustav Eiffel designed covered market Les Halles which was surrounded on all sides by various different restaurants, bars and cafés. We ate at an Italian restaurant and had a lovely table with views of all the comings and goings in the market square.
Next morning we were excited to go to a bagel place that we had discovered only to find that it didn’t open until 11am. What kind of bagel place opens at 11am we wondered. French bagel places, that’s what.

French Hogwarts

After bidding farewell to Dijon we once again took the Route des Grands Crus to discover more beautiful villages. We were above the road that we had taken to drive into Dijon and were essentially driving through vineyards. Some cyclists made their way through the hilly terrain with us. A view of the most grand house right in front of us stopped us in our tracks. We parked and got out to find out more about the building. It seemed to be no longer occupied as a residence and was now a school. G called it French Hogwarts.

We plugged in home as our destination and in our minds started making plans for the next journey we would take. Geneva came to mind first for me and I started to wonder if there would be a place where I could get doggie lederhosen for Bailey. Now that’s a sight I think we would all love to see!
When we arrived back home we were greeted by the ginger one. The sound of the car arriving woke her from her snooze, and undetected by mum she managed to get out of the house. I grabbed her and held on to her as G parked the car. While we waited for the engine to stop I held on to her tightly and I could feel her little heart practically beating out of her chest. She was so excited to see that the Chicken Man and his wife had returned.

Thanks for reading!

Les Trois Musketeers

Shut The Front Door

A new Bailey approved vantage point

When you live somewhere you can get so used to how it is organized that you never make any changes because it feels so familiar. Well I imagine that’s how life goes for some people, but not me. I love to move things around and re-organize. “Where are the glasses kept now?” G will ask me, emphasizing the word “now”. I make it sound like he is my reluctant partner in change when he really enjoys it too. For close to four years we had been looking at a lovely solid wood door on one side that led to a makeshift storage space. On the other side there was a pretty iron gate that had been boarded up and it looked ok, but we always wondered how it would look if we bust that thing open. We talked about it often but decided that the layout made sense the way it was. Until we decided that it didn’t. We wanted to have a front door again. So on Tuesday morning without any warning I hear quite a bit of banging going on in the house. At first I thought G had dropped something really quite big. It also sounded as if there were no serious repercussions so I didn’t run down to see what had happened. Mainly because after the big bang there was a loud “oops” and that told me it wasn’t life threatening. Neither G nor Bailey were pinned under something heavy. A short while later I came down stairs to see that the board had been removed from the iron gate and we had a front door again. It was such a lovely change. As is the way with any change in a house, one change leads to another because you start to notice other things that now look out of place. Or you notice something that could be improved. We had a couple of wooden screens that had jasmine growing up them as a sort of separation between the bamboo terrace that guests would use and our new front door. We moved the screens back against the wall and that opened up the whole terrace. I had always thought it was a shame that it was not used. The bamboo terrace is one of my mum’s favorite places in the house and she was already planning having a cup of tea there later. Oh yes, the eagle has landed! Mum arrived safely into Marseille on a direct flight from Edinburgh. This is the first time she has visited since January of 2020 and we are delighted to have her with us.

Recently, some Scottish friends introduced us to a German man who lives in Fontaine de Vaucluse which is the next village to us. We got on well with him and so we invited him over for an aperitif the other day. Since we had recently toured his lovely home and seen all the renovations he had done, we gave him the tour of our house too. Then we settled down to chat over a glass of wine. He is a motorbike enthusiast and had been planning a bike trip from France to Africa but only six weeks ago had to put his plans on hold because many of the borders in the countries through which he would pass were closed due to the pandemic. It was so interesting listening to his plans and we covered so many topics, even Scottish independence much to my mum’s delight or dismay, I’m not sure which. Time marched on and I invited our friend to stay for dinner and he was happy to accept. It was close to ten o’clock when he announced that he really must go. The time had flown by, the conversation was easy and fun and he and G made plans to go bike riding, on bicycles not motorbikes, thank goodness.

View leaving Suzette

My first draft of turning the blog into a book is coming along nicely. As part of the chapter “Out and About in Provence” we have been visiting and in some cases re-visiting towns and villages nearby. This week we turned our attention towards Beaumes de Venise and Séguret. On the way we took a detour towards Suzette in the Haut Vaucluse region which is like the highlands of Vaucluse. The scenery is stunning there. That’s really saying something because there’s natural beauty everywhere in Vaucluse. However towards Suzette with the Dentelles de Montmirail in the distance, the terrain becomes much more dramatic. We parked the car below the village as instructed and that is really a good piece of advice because the village is tiny. Much smaller even than Tiny Town. The first thing I noticed, after the breathtaking view of course was a converted France Telecom phone booth that had been converted into a little free library. There was even an English section in this bibliocabine as it was known, so I happily took an interesting looking book called “The Jetsetters”.

Bailey – Got my book, now I’m leaving

We passed by an adorable vacation rental called La Grange des Lapins that looked as if the guests were just arriving. The front door was ajar and I stole a quick glance inside and saw a beautiful old fireplace. On the second floor there was a terrace that would look out over the most glorious panorama, full of terraced vines and over to majestic Mont Ventoux. G spotted the village church that dated from the 11th century and he wandered inside while I continued on down the road in search of a good view of the Dentelles. Not long after I was rewarded with a great view of acres of vines still laden with grapes and the jagged form of the Dentelles in the distance. I’ve never been to the wine growing regions of Argentina but for some reason I imagined that it must look something like this.

From there we took a road down to a little village called Le Barroux where we found more incredible views and an ancient still very much intact castle. A five minute walk from the car park took us up to the castle with views all over the surrounding countryside. We descended to the village where because of the rain in the distance, a long thin bank of fog formed on the horizon. Beautiful stone houses and interesting views seemed to beckon us to continue to explore. One house in particular caught my eye and we wandered over to find out more.

Wandering around Le Barroux

It looked like a beautiful old house that had perhaps become a hotel or a bed and breakfast. The planting on the front, a twisted old vine and then I saw stone forms of cats at play. Right there next to the stone cats was a real one who was readying himself to climb down the vine from the second floor to the ground. I took seven pictures of him as he descended.

He’s done this before

He stretched his paws out and clung on to the vine. All was going well. Next he had to navigate a twist in the vine and he had to use all his strength to prevent him from falling. No doubt he had made this journey a thousand times before as momentum took him finally, in a controlled way to the ground. From then on we noticed cat sculptures and figures made of iron all over the village. I stopped to take a picture of a really old child’s pram that had been planted with flowers before we continued on our journey by car towards Beaumes de Venise.

We didn’t stop in Beaumes this time, instead we carried on through Aubignan and on to Vacquerays, through Sablet and on to Séeuret. Since Séguret is absolutely beautiful, but also very hilly we decided to try and find a place to stop for lunch before there. Domaine de Cabasse, a place we had eaten at before was close by so we drove in through the gates up towards the restaurant. The place looked a bit deserted apart from a couple of large trucks. It looked as if they were getting ready for a large outdoor event, but given the times we are in that was not possible. I got out of the car to see if the restaurant was even open and walked past the large trucks that were open for me to see what was going on inside. Inside, I was surprised to see was a mobile bottling plant. I asked a man in the truck if the restaurant was open and he replied that he had no clue, so I continued further. The reception area was empty apart from a woman who was cleaning and I got her attention and asked her if the restaurant was closed. She replied simply “yes” and with just that one word it sounded as if she was saying “of course it is you fool”. On my way back to the car I stopped momentarily to marvel at the mobile bottling plant before we headed off in search of another place for lunch.

La Bastide Bleu, Séguret

As luck would have it we found a place called La Bastide Bleu. I put on my mask and walked through the blue gates and a waiter greeted me. I asked if there was still space for three for lunch because it was not almost 1.20pm. Fortunately the waiter said “of course” and I set off to get the others. A boxer dog at a nearby table popped his head up when he saw Bailey arrive and we were shown to a table right outside the front door of the beautiful old house from the 17th century. There were quite a few other people in the quite large garden terrace area that was well spaced out so that no-one was too close. In the distance we could see the village of Séguret and so from this vantage point we had the best view.

Séguret in the distance

Lunch was lovely, beautifully presented and tasted great. Our server who had immediately brought water for Bailey, commented on how pretty she was. She asked me if she was a Labradoodle and we talked about how uncommon Doodles were in France. After deciding that we really should start the journey home we got up to leave and Bailey knocked over her water bowl. It was as if she was making a grand gesture to ensure we noticed her departure. Such a drama queen.

Thanks for reading!

Les Trois Musketeers

Together In Electric Dreams

View from Menerbes

While cycling around the hill towns of the Luberon which suddenly became not so hilly thanks to our electric bikes, a song came into my head. I started humming “Together In Electric Dreams” and wondered how on earth I had remembered a song which a Google search revealed was recorded in 1984. Curious to know how the song got its title I Googled some more. According to the oracle that is Wikipedia, the song was written for an American-British Sci Fi movie of the same name. The first line of the description says “Electric Dreams is a 1984 American-British science fiction romantic comedy film set in San Francisco that depicts a love triangle among a man, a woman, and a personal computer.” Intriguing non? If you’re curious, here’s the link to find out more which includes the computer being doused with champagne and becoming sentient and then jealous of the relationship between the two leading characters.

On the road to Bonnieux

We rented our bikes from Sun e-Bike in Bonnieux and after a very quick explanation we were off. Straight out of the store was a down hill stretch followed by a pretty sneaky long incline. Time to press the warp factor button that we had just learned about. There were three settings for warp factor. Setting one engaged the motor and gave you a bit of a boost. Setting two was a bit like being on a moped instead of a pedal bike and setting three was to be engaged on a very, very steep hill. As we were speeding down the hill on the other side, going up were “real cyclists”, people that used their legs on the hills. I was surprised that they greeted us and said bonjour. I had imagined that there would be some snobbery for want of a better expression, against the electric folks. Alas, no. Everyone greeted everyone else regardless of their mode of two wheeled transport.

Church in Menerbes

We took an alternative road into Menerbes that brought us into the village by a different route than we were used to thus allowing us to see the place from a different perspective. We cycled around and up some quite decent hills that were no problem thanks to warp factor. From there we headed toward La Coste but took a different route altogether because we felt like exploring. In the end we didn’t make it to La Coste but we had fun on some unknown roads in any case. Thank goodness G has a sense of direction because I certainly don’t. If it was down to me to navigate we’d quickly be lost, out of battery and not very happy. After a really big downhill what comes next, the inevitable up hill but we were not worried. I smiled almost the whole time even during the very hilly parts because it wasn’t a slog at all. You definitely still have to pedal and expend energy but it’s not the type of cycling that leaves you absolutely exhausted and dreading the next hill. Incidentally that will come next for us as we attempt to do the huge hill from Fontaine de Vaucluse to Tiny Town on conventional bikes.

Meanwhile back en route to Bonnieux where we stopped to admire the village perched on the hillside from afar. I took pictures knowing full well that they could not possibly do justice to the view in front of me. We were starting to get a bit hungry so we cycled back into Bonnieux and found a restaurant with a terrace so we could have some more of that lovely view. After lunch we headed back home to a delighted Bailey who had enjoyed her Kong time followed by a snooze. So, am I ready to get an electric bike? Nope, not yet. I think I’ve got a few more years of pedal power in me. However I would highly recommend them for a bit of sightseeing because you get to see more than when you’re walking and warp factor is a blast.

This week we had drinks with our last family of renters who were a charming family from Germany. They were very curious about our life in France and during the course of the conversation we told them that they were the last family to stay with us and that we were selling and moving back to California. Immediately the daughter turned to her dad and said that they should buy the house. Quite taken aback, he practically choked on his glass of rosé. When they were leaving they told us to look in our guest book where she had written that she was still trying to convince her dad and we had a good laugh about that. During our soirée together we introduced Bailey to the German family’s dog who was called Pepper. At first Pepper was on leash and started to growl at Bailey. Suspecting that Pepper’s behavior was altered by being on leash while Bailey was roaming free, I suggested that they let Pepper roam free too. Just as an experiment. The experiment was very quickly abandoned because quick as a flash Pepper went for Bailey and a fur tornado ensued. We grabbed our respective dogs and Pepper was banished inside the house. Later in the evening when the bell rang announcing a delivery Bailey ran up the stairs to go through the house to see who was at the gate. However when she got to the glass doors, Pepper all teeth and curled lips, was on the other side so she quickly abandoned that plan.

Got my view back!

Since we have concluded our stint as HomeAway hosts, we decided to change up our living arrangements. We’ve gone full circle and moved back into the main bedroom that is my favorite in the whole house. Last time we spent time in that room was before we started hosting over four years ago and when we were doing the renovations on what became our side of the house. We spent about six months there and enjoyed the amazing light that is cast in that room as well as the beautiful views from the veranda. I was very excited to have a change of scenery and a bigger bed because Bailey is quite the space hog. Of course moving into another room made us look at things differently in other parts of the house. We decided that we needed to have dedicated work spaces and have swapped the desks to allow that to happen. I am back upstairs with my smaller desk that allows me to have the most beautiful view of the Sorgue valley. The dimensions of my previous desk were such that the only possible arrangement had me staring at a wall. I am sure that caused me to write less and to write differently. G has bought a tablet called a Wacom that connects to his laptop and he’s learning how to draw using it. To do that he needed the bigger desk so that worked out fine for both of us.

“It’s like being in a hotel” said G as he woke up this morning and realized that he was not in his normal bedroom. Bailey is most confused with all the comings and goings but she is quite pleased to have all her space back. However last night despite having considerably more space available to her, she still chose to flop quite WWF like, half on to me and spent the rest of the night there, glued to my side. Things are only just going to get better and better for Bailey because tomorrow Granny arrives from Scotland and the Bailey and Granny show can begin.

Thanks for reading!

Les Trois Musketeers