Celebrating Summer in the best company ...

Just can't believe it's only a week ago we returned from our family holiday in the Provence.

Despite all our good intentions to slow down after our return, this past week was a busy one.

Unfortunately some things can't be ignored (read the daytime job 😉) 

But also busy with the pleasant ones, like our frequent visits to my dear mother-in-law

 and of course the Webshop 😊

Even during our break you've been so very generous with your orders, 

can't thank you enough for your constant support for our small business!

Blogging about our holiday sure is a way to remember and document the lovely time we've had.

You must agree with me that we were so very lucky with the luxurious accommodation we stayed in,

 Villa la Farigola

Two whole weeks of enjoying blue skies and Oleander

And clearly not the only one, because it was a coming and going of butterflies and bumblebees.

Being in the Provence, visiting a market is a real must (at least to me it is 😜)

So we went to the market in the lovely town Cotignac

In my opinion, you only find market stalls like this in France

For me another typical french thing is the taste of their melons.

 At least, I never have tasted them better than in France.

Before we left I found a very easy recipe for a salad including melon.

Here it is;

You will need:

- one package Serrano ham

- one ball mozzarella         

        - one bag of rocket salad           

        - a half ripe (cantaloupe) melon
- olive oil                           

- balsamic vinegar             

 - pepper and salt                 

Spread the rocket salad on a large bowl.

Then divide the mozzarella together with the Serrano ham 

into small pieces over the salad.

Drizzle the salad lightly with olive oil and balsamic 

vinegar (and some salt &pepper)

Bon Appetit!

        

After a stroll in town and having crepes on a lovely terrace accompanied by live music,
we continued our way to the village Tourtour

On our way me made two unexpected stops.
First one was this wonderful cascade near the village Sillans-la-Cascade
we encountered along our way.

We also passed the town Aups where we camped many years ago when
 our boys were still young, so we just had to stop and have a little walk.

Love this display as an entrance.

After lovely Aups we finally reached our destination Tourtour , with this wonderful view!

Such a privilege to have again two of our sons joining us during this holiday.  

Not only a fabulous view but also a very picturesque village

I finally had time to catch up with my embroidery 

Accompanied with a cuppa made by the husband who was 'in charge'

 for our daily one on this holiday.

Another outing on our list was going to Lac Sainte-Croix and

 hire a pedal boat to explore the Gorges du Verdon

Nature at its best

Afterwards we ended up in the lovely village Moustiers-Sainte-Marie 

Just can't beat facades like this (📷 my sister-in-law).

And again stunning views

After a day of rest we went to the village Cannet des Maurus to go to the 

Brocante Market I already visited a year ago. 

And also this time it was worth the visit, because I found these lovely Tureens

 you can find in our shop on here 

After that we continued our way to Aix en Provence 

A city that never disappoints, despite the fact that all the roads around the centre looked 

more like a building site, due to the construction of a new electric bus.

The villa were we stayed was surrounded by vineyards

Here is one of the stunning views driving to our villa at dusk

Still making (holiday) memories with two of our boys is such a blessing, 

the second town we explored this year was Marseille

Where we climbed a lot of stairs to reach the Notre-Dame de la Garde 

The stunning interior of the upper Church

On one of our last days we went to the town Vidauban

In love with the shutters, balcony ... well actually everything in this photo. 

Our main reason going there was to eat a real french delicatessen, Profiteroles!

I've so enjoyed spending time with this lovely lot and having serious
 intentions to go for a repeat next year. 

This home coming sure made up for missing blue skies and oleander every day, my Cafe au Lait 😍 

At the moment we're having a little Sale on our Website to make room for our new Autumn stock, 

which I'll share with you next time. 

Until then, have a peaceful Sunday all!

Anita

~xo~

A room with a view ....

As this was our view from our apartment during our last holiday in France, just a few steps away from the Mediterranean ....

and this from our front door ....

It really was a constantly changing painting and quite a challenge to photograph because I'm more a countryside/wildlife kind of 'girl' when it comes to photography ....

Wildlife was mostly represented by seagulls ....

But most of all I liked the ever changing colours of the sea and sky ....

There were not that many flowers on the boulevard but these made surely up for it  ....

Our apartment was situated in the little coastal town Palavas-Les-Flots what at first glance appears to be a typical tourist place with lots of crowds around the harbour ....

But after having left the boulevard behind us we found ourselves in a very charming village with a lovely garden hidden near the local church Saint-Pierre .....

Surrounded by this gorgeous wall ....

The garden has a beautiful ornamental pond ....

With enormous fish ....

And gorgeous flowers everywhere ....

Further along we saw so much lovely houses and shops you wouldn't expect at first sight ....

How much I loved our view and the beach, the well-known outback kept calling.
Many years ago - during our camping holidays - we had stayed several years in this area and its outstanding beauty and picturesque villages.
One I really wanted to visit again was the medieval town Saint Guilhem Le Desert ....

A little village consisting only a few streets but with many adorable shops ....

and beautiful facades ....

Loved this entrance with the planters ....

It's beautiful abbey ....

Which has its (free) entrance at the main square ....

Laundry the french way ....

Shutter love ....

And so many shades of blue ....

Spot the family members ....

And at the end of the village a lovely garden with all sorts of wildlife ....

Being only a 10 minute drive away from Montpellier a visit to this beautiful town was naturally on our list.
And how different from when they were still teenagers, our two boys also enjoyed the visit but couldn't resist teasing me how I've made them walk almost half a marathon ....

Not only we've shopped a little but also did some cultural sightseeing and walked towards the Promenade du Peyrou with Porte du Peyrou as impressive entrance ....

The water tower at Peyrou place Royal ....       

We ended up in a lovely part of Montpellier , famous for its 'off beat' shops and had coffee with
 cake on the church square ....

Around the church there are several streets with lovely shops but also funny unusual features, for instance this work of a local street artist ....

But also lovely brocante shops ....

At the end of the day we discovered this beautiful mural painted by Agnes and Olivier Costa , two artists also known as the Mad'Art concept ....

To keep every member of the family happy we combined a visit to the market with a drive to a lake nearby afterwards.
So first we went to the lovely town Clermont L'Herault where every Wednesday there's a local market with all the ingredients you would expect of a typical french market ....

After have bought some souvenirs and having a delicious cappuccino on one of the many terraces of this town we drove to the beautiful lake Lac du Salagou ....

It was a lovely relaxing holiday all around with as a bonus the presence of these two. I keep saying after every holiday it's probably the last time they'll join us. So I consider it as a great gift to have had them around me once again this year ....

Leaving this beautiful sunset behind we began our journey home .....

Can't believe while I'm writing this we're already several weeks at home and in the middle of Autumn in terms of weather.

In spite of my good intentions to not only slow down on a holiday but also at home I'm afraid I terribly failed for that matter.

September has been a very full month so far with even more events in store which I love to share with you next time .... till then!

Have a lovely evening,

Anita

~xo~