Provence 2003
Journee in French means 'day', but we were there for about 10...
My first trip since breaking my leg was a huge success - 9 nights in a house in Provence. The house was great, the weather was great, no tourists except for us... This is my first all-digital vacation photo shoot, and I'm very pleased with the results. Click a photo to enlarge.
I've now integrated my diary with the pictures. It may be a little rough around the edges, since it has not been edited and is often written under the influence of evening cocktails. I hope you enjoy the "spur of the moment" feel! Every day includes a description of exactly what we ate, and what it cost. Not that fascinating, but fun to look back at in later years!
Day 1 - 10/30 - 10/31/2003
Today was probably our smoothest trip to Europe ever.
I worked at home for BNY and Jill picked up Kristen from school around 2:30. Kristen was all excited to be going to France and told the woman who escorted her from the library all about it - she wouldn't stop babbling.
We drove to Staten Island and Bob dropped us off at the airport for our 5:20 flight.
We were all set to "lose" our luggage in Paris, as had happened twice before when going to Toulouse. We packed a couple of days clothes in a carryon and I was sure I would be in the lost luggage office once I got to Marseille.
I worked at home for BNY and Jill picked up Kristen from school around 2:30. Kristen was all excited to be going to France and told the woman who escorted her from the library all about it - she wouldn't stop babbling.
We drove to Staten Island and Bob dropped us off at the airport for our 5:20 flight.
We were all set to "lose" our luggage in Paris, as had happened twice before when going to Toulouse. We packed a couple of days clothes in a carryon and I was sure I would be in the lost luggage office once I got to Marseille.
Our plane was an older Air France Airbus A300 with less-than-comfortable seats. The meal was mediocre; Kristen watched TV for several hours. She had really been looking forward to the TV-on-the-plane thing again.
Dave got about 3 hours sleep, Kristen 2, Jill less. We arrived at Charles de Gaulle's new terminal 2E at about 6:15 am.
After a long wait for immigration, and a 1 mile walk, we finally ended up at our Marseille flight with 5 minutes to spare. The plate in my leg sets off every metal detector, which is already getting old. Kristen thinks it's hilarious.
The captain announced they were holding the plane for connecting passengers, then connecting baggage. How exciting!
Sure enough after a turbulent ride to Marseille, our bags appeared too! We picked up cash and our Renault Scenic. Seems like the Scenic has gotten bigger - too big - and they have made it into a "car of the future" with a credit card key, pushbutton start, auto parking brake, etc. Nice, but annoying when you can't figure out how to use the radio.
Dave got about 3 hours sleep, Kristen 2, Jill less. We arrived at Charles de Gaulle's new terminal 2E at about 6:15 am.
After a long wait for immigration, and a 1 mile walk, we finally ended up at our Marseille flight with 5 minutes to spare. The plate in my leg sets off every metal detector, which is already getting old. Kristen thinks it's hilarious.
The captain announced they were holding the plane for connecting passengers, then connecting baggage. How exciting!
Sure enough after a turbulent ride to Marseille, our bags appeared too! We picked up cash and our Renault Scenic. Seems like the Scenic has gotten bigger - too big - and they have made it into a "car of the future" with a credit card key, pushbutton start, auto parking brake, etc. Nice, but annoying when you can't figure out how to use the radio.
It started to rain as we drove up to our house between Lacoste and Bonnieux. I had asked the owner to have someone meet us at 11 am, and amazingly we got there just about on time at 11:15. Door to door in about 14 hours!
After knocking on several doors trying to figure out which one was the "front" door, we were met by Mariette - the nicest caretaker we've ever encountered.
Completely fluent in English, bright, enthusiastic, friendly, funny, she spent over an hour showing us around the lovely house.
Kitchen, dining room, living room, 4 bedrooms, 4 baths, multiple patios, etc. - 4 acres of land. It's perfect - nice antiques, art, etc. $850 a week at this time of year - a bargain considering it's $3100 in the summer.
After knocking on several doors trying to figure out which one was the "front" door, we were met by Mariette - the nicest caretaker we've ever encountered.
Completely fluent in English, bright, enthusiastic, friendly, funny, she spent over an hour showing us around the lovely house.
Kitchen, dining room, living room, 4 bedrooms, 4 baths, multiple patios, etc. - 4 acres of land. It's perfect - nice antiques, art, etc. $850 a week at this time of year - a bargain considering it's $3100 in the summer.
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After we said goodbye to Mariettte, we drove back to Cavaillon to do 100€ worth of shopping at LeClerc. We started to feel really tired while shopping and the rain didn't help. Got home and figured out that the heat wasn't set properly and re-set it in an attempt to raise the interior temperature above 60.
Lit a fire in the living room fireplace around 6 that helped a lot. Dave napped from 4:40 - 6 after a late lunch of cheese and baguettes. Then a couple of drinks, followed by Jill's dinner of pork cutlets in a mustard - balsamic sauce, green beans, carrots & bread. Kristen insisted she wasn't tired but finally passed out at 9, followed shortly thereafter by Jill. The house is really nice and I'm looking forward to exploring the grounds tomorrow. It sounds like the rain has finally stopped. The house is really hard to heat - a minimum number of radiators, retrofitted to the house. It holds the chill well but the fire is just the ticket. |
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Kristen missed Halloween but didn't mind. She wore an orange witch shirt and got a few comments. We saw a couple of French people dressed up, and the LeClerc clerks were witches. Mariette invited us to the festivities in Lacoste - apparently they have been celebrating for 30 years since an American art school opened. We didn't go due to tiredness and bad weather.
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