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~

Our annual escape 2014 ....

While the next holiday is almost around the corner I realised that I didn't even share my pictures of our last trip to England with you.

This blog has become multifunctional by now, the last time almost like a diary and I fear it will look like a photo book this time.
So in advance my apology for the upcoming photo bombing but I'm in the habit to get carried away a bit when it comes to my love for England.

In my previous (short) post which you can read here I already shared our lovely cottage where we stayed in the beautiful Cotswolds and promised you more of our surroundings, so here it is.


The drive itself was already such a pleasure with all the breathtaking views ....

The first village we payed a visit to was the small market town Chipping Campden , with its beautiful elegant terraced High Street with all sorts of lovely shops and its features ....

Another beautiful but also very touristic village is Bourton-on-the-Water also called "Venice of the Cotswolds". We bought some souvenirs in one of the many shops in this village and again we experienced the friendly attitude towards tourists. The owner was very interested in where we came from and we had such a lovely conversation.
Lovely village, lovely people ....

We were so very lucky with the weather , just a day or two we had some rain. One of them was the day we walked on the Malvern Hills an area of outstanding beauty. And this was the pleasant surprise on our way to the hills , bluebells as far as the eye could reach ....

When we reached the top of the hill, the rain stopped but nevertheless high humidity gave it an almost mystical appearance ....

And this was our private-just the two of us view on that magnificent hills ....

But even near our cottage we could enjoy nature in all its beauty, especially in Spring .....

And lovely houses covered with wisteria, like this one in Broadway ....

Next stop was the enchanting village Bibury. A village I had often seen on photos, but seeing and shooting it with my own eyes is another thing ....

Definitely my dream cottage ....

And now so in love with this colour ....

And as icing on the cake , we also found (on Mother's day, and the first one without my boys) these cuties ....

After a wonderful week in the Cotswolds we were heading to Sussex, enjoying the beautiful English countryside on our way ....

Our next stay turned out to be another great cottage where this was our view from the living room ....

And this our view from the kitchen window, again bluebells ....

Being near to the Queen Elizabeth Country Park there was a lot of wildlife to watch directly from the window, for example this chaffinch ....

High on my wish list was a visit to the South Downs and then especially Blackdown and so we did ....

While walking we saw lots of flowers including the beautiful forget me not ...

I had seen this bench many times on Instagram and always admired the peaceful surroundings and view , so you can imagine how very pleased I was to have really found this lovely spot ....

On our last day we drove towards the coast to visit the small seaside town and port Shoreham-by-Sea where ocean blue seemed to perform everywhere we looked.

Starting with the church bell , and you won't believe it but on our way to the town there was still heavy rain. But this was how the town welcomed us, just look at that sky ....

Lovely (blue) coloured houses ....

And this "blue wall" ....

Beautiful skies ....

And at the end of our walk the sea ....

I've said it before, but I really left my heart in this beautiful country and can't wait to return.

If it's only to this sunset ....

But I'm not complaining because our next trip will be to the Provence.

Hope to see you here again in a few weeks, or should I say .... à bientôt!

Anita

~xo~