Wednesday

Today we all decide to do different things.

Marian and Ben head off into the blue yonder on the bikes - not quite sure where they went but whatever they came back all happy and enthusiastic still about the wonderful bikes they'd hired.

I actually think they went up to the Fontaine de Vaucluse at one stage and I gather Ben is now very very keen to buy himself one of the amazing carbon fibre framed bikes - ultra lightweight and easy to handle.



Trystan, Leila, dad and I head over to Aix en Provence for a sightseeing day.

 We drive past Lacoste up on the hilltop to our right and also through Bonnieux (again up on the hillltop) past Lourmarin and eventually arrive in the centre of Aix itself.

These three villages are among the many famous  ' villages perchees' of Provence..

All this really means is that they are what we would call hilltop towns as they seem to be perched on top of the hills !!

They are fascinating to walk around as they really 'perch' ! and the narrow little lanes meander uphill, downhill or around - such fun to ramble about and make discoveries in ....


We park up and wander for a few hours, snapping away with our cameras and dad, as always, guiding us through the maze of streets.

I swear he has a map in his head of everywhere!!



Leila browses in a marvellous bookshop and treats herself to a new book - the writer/illustrator is very famous and revered in France and her style is quite unique and thoughtful.



We buy nibbles for lunch and some lovely cakes as treats for afters ! yum.

Aix itself was an interesting town with lots of ancient narrow streets perfect for wandering about it in.


Mid afternoon we head back home and eventually find ourselves at a supermarket where

Trystan and Leila decide to shop for his favourite Sauerkraut and sausages dish as it was their turn to make supper.


 When a young boy this was always his request for a birthday treat !! so it goes back a few years.....


We arrive at the villa and find that Isabel and Marian have been busy drawing and painting.

 Isabel is working on her drawing of Gordes and Marian is sketching out a memory picture of their time in New York.

This involves remembering where they went and drawing little reminders of each of the places. A fun thing to do.

New York was where Ben whisked Marian off to and proposed to her while there !! so it will all be very special to them both,

She is very organised and seems to be getting on well with it all.

Isabel is at the colouring in stage. All looks wonderful.

.
Trystan and Leila get busy preparing our feast this evening.


Both are good cooks and this meal requires us to have really good appetites - which we usually have !!

never fear.....

Tonight Team Eeles prepare themselves mentally for the big challenge ahead tomorrow.......

wait and see ......!

Tuesday

Today, hubby n I are up early and tackle the debris from the night before. I always like to start the day with a sort out before preparing breakfast etc. A sort of clearing of the decks.....

Halfway through the mammoth washing up session the cleaning lady - Izabel - arrives and seems quite surprised to see me up to my armpits in suds.

 We have a dishwasher, which I had already stacked and got going but things like pots n pans are easier by hand. I didn't think I could leave the dishes for her to do but apparently I could have !!! Just not used to having staff....

Gradually the family arrive downstairs one by one, and she has to work around us - sweeping floor, cleaning out the fireplace, bathrooms, bedrooms etc. She even washes the downstairs floors while we tuck into our breakfast.

All looks very shipshape and tidy when she leaves.

Lovely, brilliant job and I was glad when it was done.

She even offers to take a photo of us all together at the table.... one fact that she mentions though is that last year the temperature at this time of year was up in the 30s, sadly for us it is not quite that warm yet !!

Her gardner friend says it is all due to the lunar calendar - there are 13 new moons this year and not the usual 12 ?

could he be right ?

A chap we met in the campsite outside Canterbury on our way down to France was, actually, on his way back to the north of England. He had bought a house in the Loire last year and spent the winter there - sadly for him it was the wettest and coldest on record he said

Felt just like being back in good old GB and not France at all he said !!

At least in Britain it's sort of expected but he felt rather cheated really as nothing had lived up to his expectations. Grim.

The weather today is cool in the morning, but most days it has perked up as the day gallops along and the sun comes out.

The family want to get some cycle training in for their next big conquest (Mont Ventoux) and so head off towards St Saturnin and up what they affectionately called the 'wiggly'.... when I ask where this is I am simply told north of St Saturnin and up the many hairpins into the foothills of the Ventoux range.

  Good practice.

It sounded very exciting and they all seemed to have had a great time exerting themselves. The whizzing downhills are the best bit I'm told, well at least they are the fun bit and a reward for the uphill struggles.

Philip could never understand why I didn't use the gears more when cycling and my reply was 'I'm here for the excercise and not so much for the pleasure' and I wanted it to be hard work !! which it was....and I only changed gears when I absolutely had to.

 He used to chortle away in amazement at my puffing.

Leila and I decide to stay chez nous; Leila drawing and starting to plan for their trip to Paris the week after when her mother and sister come to join them. I head off up the track for a ramble and a photo session.

I just love discovering what is around me and don't really feel the need to head off miles all the time.

We travel so much that it is fun just to 'do' locally now and then. I remember it all better the more I see it and walk it.

The views around are glorious and I can't stop snapping the vineyards and the mountains in the distance as I walk through them all.

 I love Provence, it all seems so manageable somehow and terribly civilized.


Portugal was a lot wilder and a lot emptier, well, at least Alentejo where we were.

The family arrive back en masse late afternoon absolutely sodden as the heavens had opened up and again they ended up in the pool cooling off the aching legs !!

 Showers, changes and chillling again for a little while.

We enjoy a late lunch altogether.

Marian, Ben, dad and I head off into Roussillon and drop off a couple of the bikes. We only make it just in time and the girl in the hire centre is pretty short with us !!

Odd the things you remember ??!

We carry on into the town and do a quick food shop. The choice is disappointingly limited in the local small supermarket.

Eventually we settle down for the evening ahead.

　

　

　

　

　
　

Monday

 

Today I have decided to have a day chez nous - a chance for a little peace and quiet - and plan to get my paints out for a spot of dabbling and fun.

Last time I was in London, I bought a whole set of new acrylic paints, gel retarder, brushes and pallette knives.

So, I really have no excuse for not being creative today.



 But, first a spot of gentle housework !! a general tidy up and a wash on, or several in fact. Can't waste that good drying wind, it even has a name - The Mistral !!

Usually it blows for 4/5 days and then disappears.... until the next time ....

It can be quite fierce and a real pain but at times it is cooling and welcomed.

I want to tackle something simple to start with - and so paint a sunflower, or three in fact in one picture. It is always a bit of a gamble when I paint as I am not very controlled with a brush or pallette knife in hand and just see where it all goes.

The final picture is certainly colourful and a little bit too energetic looking maybe in the end in fact but I had great fun doing it and that is all that is important to me.

It is not a commercial venture, and I only do it as a pleasure and have no intention ever ever to get stressed by 'failure' or it not looking 'right'. Great cop out really !! but it means that I am always happy with the outcome.

 Simples !!

 
The family all head off mid morning to organise bike hire but first drive over to Isle sur la Sorgue for a spot of sightseeing and picnic buying session in the village.

Lots of fresh bread mainly as most of it was already in the fridge beforehand.


They wander round the town a while and eventually it's time for lunch !! They find a spot by the river to hunker down and tuck in.

Phil still has his ancient picnic blanket - much washed and much loved

He apparently had it at school and even his brother recognised it when he saw it recently at home, happy memories of so many family picnics over the years.

 We have carried this old blanket with us absolutely everywhere we have gone for a holiday ! In the old days it was simply laid over everything that was in the boot as a cover-all to keep things from rattling around etc.....

Nowadays I think he is truly attached to it ! It's ok though, nowt wrong with that.

It's a bit of gentle joke in the family that dad will drive half an hour to find just the right spot for a picnic !!

He usually manages to find somewhere a bit magical in the end, so well worth the few extra miles.


After this the troop head over to Vallon where the bike hire place was and collected the bikes after being measured up and handed out one accordingly !

This is defintely a first for Phil and he is very impressed.

I can hear the longing in his voice when he talks about these fantastic road bikes. His is an ancient all terrain model that he's had for about 20 yrs !!

The only advantage to his old wreck is that he can leave it anywhere and it'll never get stolen. Well it hasn't been yet anyway, but we musn't tempt fate as they say.

Phil drives back to the house, stopping here and there for a little photo session and the youngsters cycled back through the lanes.

They arrive back, later in the afternoon - the first actually being Isabel !! and one by one step into the pool, shoes n socks off but still fully clothed, to ease their aching legs. A funny sight indeed as they paddle around thigh deep in the soothing cool water with a glass of thirst quenching lager in hand ! The pool has many uses you see....


What was really funny was that dad had stopped at a little stall on the roadside on his way back and picked up a large punnet of fresh cherries for us all .

Trystan, on his way back had also filled up his pannier with cherries - but they were scrumped from a tree just outside Langes in fact !!

This is a huge huge cherry growing area - thousands of trees in plantations, and almost every garden has a cherry tree or two and they are absolutely laden with fruit so the temptation was just too much... and on tasting, the scrumped fruit was the most delicious and juicy.

The bought cherries were totally inferior quality, splitting and not half as sweet and ripe. In future, whenever we bought cherries we always checked them out first. Once bitten.....

While the family change, shower and generally chill, Dad and I prepare the evening meal, lay the table, light the candles .....

Spiced duck breasts with a fruity sauce and lots of veg.

Dad really is a good cook

This was inspired by Jamie Oliver in fact - I love his style of cooking, fun and not too obsessed with 'cuisine' and technique but good simple tasty food that all can manage to cook without too much experience.

Perfect for families.



No games tonight, but lots of lounging about on the huge sofas and stoking up the fire.

  Earlyish bed all round.

A weary but happy clan.

Sunday

Today feels like a fresh start, we are rested, well sort of, and ready for the day ahead and its adventures....

Breakfast is outside in the sunshine on the terrace by the pool - hooray, a blue sky at last with hardly a cloud in sight !! What we came here for .... hopefully it will continue.

Still a bit cool, but we can cope.....It's normally 32 degrees this time of year here apparently. Spit, spit...

We decide to go to the local brocante market at Roussillon, which is just a couple of miles up the road. This will be our first visit there and I am excited about seeing this most famous town of the ochres.

Online, when I checked it out it seemed beautiful and in reality it was even more impossibly beautiful and full of the most picturesque nooks and crannies.

Cherry picking

A painter's dream, but also a photographer's dream. Never have I seen so many cameras in action !! but who could blame them as it was all so amazing, even the decrepitude was enchanting but we always find it so.


Newness can be so bland that the odd sign of ancientness is somehow comforting - the thought that it is still all here after the many many years..... and will still be here in many many years to come too ...all that sense of a continuing history....



a project ?

I actually feel like this about ageing and try not to be worried at all about all the crevasses appearing on my face and the general sagginess of the ageing process on my body ! I have to remind myself that I am very lucky to be still alive and in fairly good health so far at least.

So to me, old age is a blessing and I feel blessed to be still chundring on....

I sometimes feel a bit like the house on the right there - in need of a little love and care ....

We decide to take the car (I suppose in case we buy 'things') and so my hubby empties the car and boot, and fills up the hallway with our 'stuff' sadly.

 I am getting to the stage where I hate clutter as it saps me of energy I feel, all that shuffling around and wondering where it all is and what is it all for ?

 Still, hubby loves having everything he could possibly need just to hand, even when camping !! His explanation is - why not be comfortable all the time ?

why not indeed ??!!


Anyway, he rearranges the seats and we all pile in for the short drive to the village. We park up, after a bit of driving around - luckily for us the car can accomodate all 7 of us in one go, and even the seats in the boot are comfy and have a surprising amout of leg room we discover - in fact almost more than the middle row !!

A family conflab...

The market itself was in a small square and full of stalls with beautiful old Provencal knick-knacks, artworks, jewellery, pottery, costumes and so on and I wanted to buy everything !! but in fact bought nothing as how much can you carry round in a caravan ? We are pretty well laden as it is and really have no room for more 'stuff' apart from food, wines and chemicals - our daily needs.



My husband (who never has any idea of the time) almost bought himself an old gold watch, it had a beautiful clear face and was nice and big so he could see and read it without his glasses on - the lady did a good job of trying to sell it to him with details of it's history and manufacturers etc but still the price tag of 250 Euros was the final deciding factor not to buy it in the end. We might still return in a week or so and see if it's still there and then start the bargaining process...

There was one particularly interesting stall which had lots and lots of old school posters - by the look and style of them we decided that they were from the 50s. Beautiful soft colourings and lovely thick sugar papers and they made me very nostalgic for my youth and particularly for my mother as these were just the sort of wall posters that I remembered from her teaching days.

Leila actually bought one of the posters which had the counties of France printed on it. A beautiful souvenir of her holiday in Provence.

Bon appetite...

It being lunchtime, one of the stall holder families had rearranged the tables and chairs they had for sale and were organising themselves a very grand picnic. No burgers and chips or sandwiches here in France, but almost a proper meal with wine and bottles of water.

The french are great for enjoying all their meals all the time it seems to me. A trait to be admired and which we try and emulate as much as we can these days.

Well, actually as a family we have always sat down to proper meals together.

No grazing allowed !!

We then wander off at random around the little village snapping madly with our cameras like real tourists, which of course we are !! At every turn it's cries of 'oh my god look at this......' and the whole village is crawling with tourists which in some ways rather detracts from its charm but then again without the tourists it would not survive as well as it does.

 Cafes and shops all sell local produce and the whole place is buzzing with life and money being spent.



I quietly decide to come back mid week and in the very early morning so we can wander in peace with only the locals around. The tourists seem to arrive in hordes either on foot, by car or in coach parties. 
Really, hardly a french word is heard on the streets !

After a while hunger gets the better of us and we head back to the maison for mid day feast which in fact is more like mid-afternoon !

 Still food is good at anytime !!

Lunch is on the terrace, well you have to make the most of any fine weather and we all tuck in with gusto.



It's blinking freezing !

We potter around the house and garden and of course the pool.... a few lengths, a few dives, a few somersaults (the boys are much much braver than the girls when it comes to cold waters....)

and a very lengthy game of

Petanque.....

serious stuff.....





Leila is just amazing. She is a profession illustrator and now writer too, and whenever she has a spare moment gets out her sketch papers and her favourite blue pencils and gets to work observing and noting down anything that catches her eye.




Apart from just enjoying the drawing, she also realises that everything could be of use to her as inspiration in the future.

 How wonderful to enjoy your life's work so much and be so enthusiastic about it all the time.

That evening we are in for a little celebration without realising it just yet !!

Ben and Marian have previously announced their engagement, and went down to the Lanes in Brighton the weekend before to choose the ring.

 They had already been round the obvious shops in London, had a lot of good advice but had not made the final selection.

All so exciting.

Marian has always loved the colour green (all her childhood bedrooms were green of various shades) and so an emerald was the obvious choice. The actual ring they'd chosen was too large and so an adjustment had to be made and it was going to be sent to Ben's office when ready. She was looking forward to receiving it when they eventually returned to the Uk after the holiday.

Little did she know though ??!!

While we potter about, they went for an evening stroll down the lane and around the vineyards before supper, a glass of local rose in hand - and we carried on with lighting a fire, setting the table, lighting candles etc.....

After a while, they returned and I notice Isabel crying and also Marian wiping a tear away..... she very proudly showed us her engagement ring. Ben, bless him, is quite full of surprises ...... lucky girl. It is a really beautiful ring, almost oval shaped with a stonking great chunk of emerald (1.8 carat) in the middle and surrounded by dainty diamonds all round. Quite quite lovely, we girls have a little weep.

Can't quite believe that my little girl is getting married, is now officially engaged and starting to plan her wedding already.....we think Ben is wonderful and that she is a lucky girl to have found him.

We enjoy a lovely evening. Trystan and Leila prepare supper for us all - baked stuffed aubergines with french beans and tomatoes and a lovely fresh red cabbage salad too. Crikey.....

A game of Risk to finish off the evening again ..... this time dad sneakily wins, but only because they are kind to him early on at one stage..... never does !! He is merciless if he has even a little chance of winning ....!! men ??



happy wanderer !

Another 'perfick' day..... we love the Darling Buds of May.....in fact we love them so much we had them playing on tape whilst going over a mountain on a most horrendous track in Italy one time.....another story..... I still shudder when I think of that journey.....

Today I start my fourth mohair stole. Leila loves the colour and so I am happy to knit away for the next few months and will send it to Oz when all finished and pressed. Mohair is actually quite tricky to knit with as I've discovered !! those long fluffy strands need careful watching as you knit or you suddenly discover than you've knitted a bit of fluff and not the actual yarn.... all very disconcerting when you find dropped stitches and have to rescue the situation.



Dad being heroic

Pays to be attentive, normally I can just knit without having to look at the needles at all.....still the stoles look beautiful and are as warm and cosy as a ball of fluff can be !!


P.s. As we have taken so so so many pictures of the village of Roussillon I have decided to add an extra page to the blog - this will be mainly all photos with a little comment here and there.

The colours alone deserve their own blog.....