Last year when The Tour De France visited Provence I was down here on my own and still waiting for the boys to arrive from their rather epic cycle ride from Dartmoor to Sète. I grabbed the chance to watch The Tour finish on the iconic Mont Ventoux, only for the summit finish to be … More ‘Chapeau’ to The Tour de France
A few years ago now we headed across to Les Baux-de-Provence with our boys, after having seen the spectacular site in the helicopter footage during the coverage of the Tour de France, which unsurprisingly is essential viewing in our house! Les Baux-de-Provence sits atop a rocky promontory on the Southern side of Les Alpilles not … More Treading in ancient footsteps at Les Baux-de-Provence
It’s nearly 9pm and it’s still around 30 degrees on the terrace this evening. The weather over the last couple of weeks has been bizarre, ranging from the day I got in the car at Uzès to see the display reading 47 degrees to a week ago when the temperature dropped to an unseasonable low … More A Beach, a Gorge & Waterslides – 3 cool & wet places in Provence for the summer.
The last couple of days have been a bit of a whirl, which culminated on Friday in me driving across to the stunning Gorges du Tarn The drive across is lovely, following the main road through the centre of Avignon, on to Uzès then across to the old mining town of Alès, clearly very proud … More An opportunity for a night away & Sommières Brocante
I like Thursdays for many reasons – not only is it nearly the weekend, or a chance for yoga both in the U.K. and here in France, but there’s also a good handful of markets to choose from. There’s the lovely mid-week one at L’Isle Sur La Sorgue, slightly smaller than the Sunday event, but … More Beyond the Veloroute cycle #10 – a couple of Thursday markets
It’s 9 weeks since I last left the house and returned to the UK. Andy has been down since & our eldest has spent the last month there pottering about improving his French and his Strava times at the same time. It’s felt as if I’ve been counting down the days for the last 9 … More Not the most relaxing trip back
Let me start by saying that my husband & I both hate grey! It’s a colour that we’ve never really got on with …… I’m sorry as I know lots of people love it when the skies are a monochrome slab of grey cloud, encouraging fires to be lit and giving rise to ideas of … More The Colours of Provence
What we’ve realised since we bought the house this time last year is that there is no really bad time to cycle in Provence. Yes Summer is hot, but speaking as a ‘mad dog’ I’m very happy to go out in the mid-day sun and to be honest it gives us a great excuse for … More Beyond the Veloroute cycle #9 – Roussillon, Bonnieux & an Elephant!
Having spent a good few months out of the last year in France both Andy & I have seen our French really improve, although we both started at very different levels. I’d learnt French at school, although had given up after taking my ‘O’ Level for the simple reason that I detested the teacher and … More Learning French to enjoy life in Provence
There is something so wonderful about French buildings and all too often we miss seeing them as we hurry past or simply focus on everything at eye-level. In the past I’ve probably been one of the worst, focusing on just cramming as many of the things we love to do into a busy couple of … More Peeling Paint, Shabby Shutters & Intricate Ironwork – How wonderful
Vaucluse Dreamer 