This morning I headed out of the Vaucluse and took the relatively short drive across to Forcalquier for its superb Monday market. The drive itself is quite stunning, taking a plane-lined route along the northern edge of the Luberon, before it opens out onto a spectacular view across to the low Alps, which were still … More A market, a Citadelle & difficulties with what to wear.
In 8 days time we should be at the Notaire’s office in Apt, on the verge of signing the final paperwork ‘Acte Authentique’ for our new house in the Vaucluse. As you can probably imagine things are a bit frantic at home as we are trying to get everything ready to take with us in the … More A new start – one week to go
We’ve now stopped ranting about what happened last week with the French house purchase and dusted ourselves down a bit. We’re still very disappointed with what the Agents described as process that was far from ‘correcte’ on the part of the vendor, but as we see it we are left with 3 options, stay bitter … More Back to the House-Hunting …..every cloud has a silver lining!
after 25 years of dreaming about owning a house in the South of France we have had an offer accepted on a property near Uzes – so our dream is now turning into solid bricks and mortar – and we are dipping our toe in the Gard … More A Toe in the Gard
More by luck than judgement, the first Sunday of our holiday this summer happened to coincide with the final day of this year’s International Art & Antiques Fair in L’Isle Sur La Sorgue. I must admit that I’d realised the ‘happy coincidence’ a few months ago and had been looking forward to spending a morning … More Fine art and something a bit different!
I can’t help it – I’m a sucker for a local Festival in France – so you can imagine I was delighted when, on a planned bike ride last week, we arrived in Saint Didier and noticed a sign for the Fig Festival taking place in Caromb that day. I feel I should explain that Caromb was … More A Fig Festival & a horse in a ‘flat-cap’
Sunday here really wouldn’t be Sunday without a trip to L’Isle Sur La Sorgue market and today was no exception, particularly as I had noticed that there would be an extended Brocante market over the Pentecost Bank Hoilday. Once again the boys accepted their fate & happily cycled through the lanes to the town. Last … More Two Weeks in Provence -Day 9 – A quiet cycle & the ‘Fete de L’Olivier’
Overnight I have gone from being on my own to having my hubby & 2 boys with me, which is lovely and as expected has added a new, very nice dimension to the holiday . So after feeding the chickens & having a leisurely breakfast we set off on bikes ‘en famille’ to head towards Apt … More Two Weeks in Provence – Day 8 – A family picnic & an unexpectedly hilly cycle
Today started with blue skies and the wind of the last couple of days had certainly dropped, which meant a day’s cycle ahead. The morning started though with feeding the chickens, who have become quite good friends over the past week and I must admit I now find it hard to contemplate renting a holiday home … More Two Weeks in Provence – Day 7 –Breakfast with a view & Crafts in Avignon
Today dawned brightly enough, but it was clear that the wind had increased overnight and was gusting quite viciously at times, so much so that the cushions from the sun-loungers had been blown around the garden. After having spent the day in the car yesterday I was determined to get back on the bike today, … More Two Weeks in Provence – Day 6 – Back on the bike & head-on into the Mistral
Vaucluse Dreamer 