Fontaine Moussue

This is where Jean Louis grew up - Salon de Provence, France. We love having a coffee at le café while sitting and watching the passersby.

A popular attraction in Salon is the Fontaine Moussue, on the Place Crousillat. This 18th-century fountain is covered by a thick mound of moss. Some say the moss is dying due to global warming. The fountain is surrounded by plane trees planted over the centuries: one was planted in 1799 to mark the end of the Revolution and another was planted in 1919 to mark the end of the Great War.

Cactus de Provence

You don't see many cacti in Provence. My Belle Mère (Mother-in-Law) is very proud of the ones in her garden and I took this closeup of one of them. She has to protect them in the winter against the cold, sometimes freezing conditions. I miss her. I miss her garden - even in the winter.

Fontaine-de-Vaucluse

Fontaine-de-Vaucluse is a medieval village at the southwestern corner of the mountainous Plateau Vaucluse, 25 km east of Avignon. It is one our favorite places to visit. In the summer months, the streets are lined with tourists to get a glimpse of the mysterious bubbling spring which is the most beautiful color of blue-green that I have ever seen.

I'll never forget my first trip to Provence to to spend the Holidays with Jean Louis and his family. He took me to Fontaine de Vaucluse and I remember it being so cold. This Southern California girl was not used to the cold winters of Provence.

Personally, I like to visit this village because it has my favorite shop to buy Provencal tablecloths (napes). We buy a new one every time we visit. It also has a fabulous santon museum. The picture below was taken in the museum. (more on Santons tomorrow)

Downtown Salon de Provence

Welcome to downtown Salon de Provence, France. This is a town next to my my in-laws village in Provence. Jean Louis took this photo a few months ago while visiting his parents.

Lavender Day

We will be planting about 20 additional lavender plants in the garden today. My husband is from Provence where it is ALL about lavender. His Mother often cooks with it. My darling french girlfriend just gave me a lavender sachel and soap last night as a gift from her recent trip to France. Merci Beatrice!

I've had good and bad luck with lavender. The climate here in Sunny San Diego is perfect, yet the soil is not. The soil in my garden is clay and lavender needs good draining soil. I have to compost like crazy and at times even throw the orginal soil away. I remember the soil in my Grandfathers garden in Lincoln Nebraska. It was rich; almost black. Anyhow, I've amended like crazy and will even add some cactus or maybe palm mix to help with the drainage.

When the plants mature (like the pic above) it will bring a bit of "home" to Jean Louis. Funny how the lavender here can be called French Lavender but it looks nothing like the lavender I've seen in Provence.

LAVENDER COOKIES
These cookies are probably better classified as shortbread.
1 cup butter2 cups sugar 1 egg, beaten 1 Tbsp. dried lavender flowers1 cup self-rising flour
Cream butter and sugar; add egg. Mix in lavender and flour. Place small heaps on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes or till golden brown in color.

Join

La Croix

The crosses in France are art to me. I love visiting old churches and cemeteries. I learned on this last trip to slow down and enjoy the moment. I had such a peaceful time simply walking and observing. Of course, it helps if you ADORE who you are travelling with!

This first picture was taken outside an old church in one of our favorite villages, Eygalières. It happened to be on Good Friday. I have some amazing shots of inside the church as well. I will post all about Eygalières another day.

Gilberte's Garden

These are just a few of the photos I took in Provence of my Belle Mere's (Mother in Law's) garden. She is an amazing gardener and it was such fun having her give me a tour of it and listening to all of the names in french. She is very happy that she can grow cactus in Provence which is something you don't usually see. I think the cactus shot is my favorite. Which one is yours?

My father in law puts these walnuts out for the birds to eat...how sweet is that?

Moulin de Olive

This is where we stayed the past few trips to Provence. The owners have a beautiful home and have opened it up to tourists.

Meet Gin (named after Beefeater). Gin is a pet goose but thinks she's a chicken. Her owner bought a goose egg at the local market and put it in the hen house. When Gin hatched, she thought the hen was her Mother. She is so sweet.

Pétanque

Pétanque (pronounced [pe.tɑ̃k] in French) is a form of boules where the goal is, while standing with the feet together in a small circle, to throw metal balls as close as possible to a small wooden ball called a cochonnet (jack). The game is normally played on hard dirt or gravel, but can also be played on grass or other surfaces. Sandy beaches are not suitable. Similar games are bocce and bowls.

The current form of the game originated in 1907 in La Ciotat, in Provence, in southern France. The name comes from Les Ped Tanco in the Provençal dialect of the Occitan language, meaning "feet together."


We had such a wonderful afternoon playing pétanque with Maman and Papa. We want to create an area in the garden to bring some of Provence home. I know it's a surprise but the Americans beat the Frenchies!!

Vernègues

My inspiration for this blog was from a recent trip to Provence. It was here that I played with my new camera and thought it would fun to share our trip with you. Enjoy!



I love crosses - you will always see some from my travels. The one to the left is from Vernègues. Vernègues is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities/cities in the US.




The remains of an old olive tree. The sky is an amazing shade of blue.


14th century Provençal Romanesque St. Jacques church. On June 11, 1909 an earthquake destroyed the castle and most houses in Vernègues