France is so photogenic, around every corner is another gem just waiting to be snapped at! If we lived here for longer, or if we grew up here, would these images be normal and mundane I wonder??
It certainly doesn't pay to leave home without the camera.
Last week was a combination of playing the tourist, the host, and the worker. We are suddenly aware that we have just over two weeks left here, so we are attempting to see and do a few things before we leave this area - who knows if or when we might be back. So, off to Moustiers, a village built into the side of the hill up near the Gorge du Verdon. Very famous for the faience pottery, it is a bit on the touristy side, but at this time of year its not too bad.
The French love to put chapels in rather inaccessible places, often at the top of a mountain with foot access only. Obviously the devout were a determined and hardy bunch in those days. Moustiers had its chapel strategically placed on the side of the gorge, but at least there was a well worn pathway to the top.
I still think there's a whole un-tapped market for net curtains like these in New Zealand.......
Next picturesque village - Correns. For a tiny, fairly ordinary village in the Var, it seems strange that none other than Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have got a house here. Of course, when I say "house", I'm talking multi-bedroomed-pool-and-tennis-court-closely-guarded-chateau-complete-with-full-vineyard type of house. Always optimistic, I went dressed in my best, fresh lipstick applied, in the hope that Brad might be popping into the boulangerie for his baguette. He must have been having a gluten-free day when we visited, as the boulangerie was disappointingly empty.
However, plenty of other things to look at...
The best piece of street graffiti we have seen for some time ....
A sign on a hotel door - "full"....
And a sure contender for the title of Best French Knobs and Knockers...
I love the way her tail (?) has worn a hole in the door - this resident is obviously a popular person.
Our friends from Nelson, Karen and John, arrived for the weekend, so we spent several happy days showing them round our favourite haunts. Villecroze is definitely our number one village in the area, not just due to the best pain au raisin...
Villecroze is an arty little village, with evidence of serious effort on behalf of the villagers to entertain the tourists, as well as keep them out!
Karen and John were able to join us in a very enjoyable evening of boules and Pastis with the neighbours.
The French take their boules games very seriously, especially when its a 'social' game with the neighbours
The evening continued with more Pastis, dinner, wine, more Pastis, a little wine, and finishing off with Limoncello and Cassis liquers!
During the course of the evening we noticed something very interesting. There were seven children aged between 13 and 4 at the gathering. We arrived at 4.30pm and left around 11pm. The children greeted all the adults with kisses when we arrived....and that was pretty much the last we heard of them: they had some cake in the kitchen at about 5pm, then ate dinner at the same time as us, about 9pm, again, inside in the kitchen. They played together for the rest of the time and never once came to the adults complaining about anything, or saying they were bored/hungry/tired, and there was no fighting at all. When we pointed this out to our friends as being very impressive, they couldn't quite understand us, and said that was normal behaviour - if the children drew too much attention to themselves the adults might realise the time and decide its time to go home!
And just to round off the week....a little bit of work!
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