Vaucluse Dreamer

So that’s it – we’re home after another fantastic couple of weeks in the Luberon and

• yes we do have our next holiday booked and
• yes we are already counting the days until we go again.

We do live in a lovely part of the country, right on the edge of Dartmoor & within a short drive of the beautiful city of Exeter and I can’t imagine wanting to be anywhere else in England, but I can’t help but think that I would love to live in France & visit here, rather than the other way round. In fact I feel that every time we visit my ‘Vaucluse Dream’ burns brighter.

We had a good drive back yesterday, leaving the house at 4.30 am and sharing the driving through France to the Tunnel then across the bottom of England, before arriving home at 6.30 pm. In fact, although it was a long day, it was the easiest return journey we have ever had, made much simpler by using the Flexi-Plus ticket on Le Shuttle, which meant we had no wait & even managed to stock up on food for the drive back home.  I hate to say it but even the M25 and A303 were quiet.

Even though everything went well the drive back was tinged with a bit of sadness as we watched the temperature fall & we felt silly wearing shorts when we got out to fill the car up with fuel. Arriving home in the drizzle the first thing we found ourselves doing was re-lighting the Aga & setting a fire in the woodburner – a far cry from the last 2 weeks where we have relished spending every moment possible outdoors.

I know it’s a holiday & I know that on holiday you tend not to have to worry about the day to day tasks that take up so much time when you are at home, but life just seems easier when you are away.

One friend commented on the blog that it had been lovely to share my ‘joy and pleasure in what are really the simple, uncomplicated, natural pleasures of life.’ – to be honest she hit the nail on the head.

Over the last 2 weeks we have relaxed:

I have loved having the time to cycle for miles to visit a village, just to sit and watch the world pass by, whilst drinking a café-crème.

We have done our shopping on a daily basis from local markets, enjoying the process of buying food, rather than doing the supermarket ‘hit & run’ that we do here, which is never a pleasurable experience. As a result we have tried new things & eaten much more healthily than we do normally.

We have naturally exercised every day, cycling, walking, swimming and haven’t felt that the exercise is a chore to be slotted in around other things that are happening.

We have read books, blogs and I’ve been inspired to get creative by things I’ve found whilst pottering around markets.

But above all we have spent some lovely family-time with the boys & really enjoyed chatting with them and having a bit of ‘banter’ as my youngest calls it, without feeling that we are all running off in different directions. We now really appreciate the fact that we have 2 lovely young men to share our holidays with, before they disappear off to take up their own futures.

My husband asked ‘How long would it take us to get bored?’ – and after reading the comments I have had over Twitter from others who also love the area I don’t think we ever would.

So that’s it 10 weeks 3 days until we go again and I’m already looking forward to it and getting back to enjoying the ‘simple, natural & uncomplicated pleasures’ that come so easily whilst in Provence.

In the meantime it is always nice to be able to share my blog but also link with other lovers of France and read their thoughts and experiences through #AllAboutFrance monthly linkup via Lou Messugo