In search for a flea market....

                        .... and end up in the lovely village Castelnau-Montratier 

The lady from whom we rented our holiday home gave me a list of flea markets in the area and one of them would be in this village. When we approached the village by car we were surprised by this wonderful view....

At the top of the hill stands the Église St-Martin who has some resemblance with the Parisian Sacre-Coeur.

When we arrived in the village we only saw a very nice, but small local market so no treasure hunting here.
Still our visit was certainly not wasted because what a lovely village it was.... 

Next on our list was the flea market in the town Caussade and there we had more luck when it came to treasure hunting ....

For instance beautiful old postcards ....

Lots of furniture including this table with enough room for the whole family (and wishful thinking) a bunch of grandchildren ;-)

My husband immediately got inspired after seeing this wine rack .... 

And lots of lovely old linen ....

All sorts of egg cups .... 

And beautiful fish dishes ....

My son David in his element with having a passion for (old) books ....

Even live music ....

And where better you could find this ....

Because we were travelling with the whole family there was really no room for big stuff to take home. So therefore it remained (with pain in my heart) with this purchase .... two lovely picture frames. Once home filled with old holiday photos from me and my mum & one of me with my dad and sisters ....

A nice souvenir with some own (family) history added ....

Have a nice weekend,
Anita xo

Summer holiday ....

Being home for some days now after a very nice holiday in the South of France.
After some doubts in the beginning whether it was wise to travel with my mother still in hospital, I'm glad we had decided to go anyway.
Nothing is better than just leave everything behind temporarily and to be able to relax and make some decisions and plans for the future on the way.
Because getting away from it all have made me see certain things in a much wider perspective and showed me how to act on it "facing the music" once home again ....

Not only I've done some "serious thinking" and set myself some challenging goals but also found the time to read all the magazines that had piled up in recent weeks. Even started reading a book , feeling quite relaxed and at home after creating my own little corner including a small bouquet from the garden ♥

The house we had rented was in a beautiful setting with a very spacious garden full of flowers, butterflies, bees , squirrels and a lovely view out of the fields ....

And (for me very precious) had many family meals in it ....

We even had a pet, Sophie the cat ....

The lady who owns the house had done a great job decorating it with her finds on the many flea markets (more about that in another post) in this beautiful part of France ....

There were all kinds of beautiful towns in the neighbourhood and every car ride over there brought beautiful pictures ....

Really everywhere you looked there were these gorgeous sunflowers ....

Again it was so much fun to spend 24/7 time with my family. Although the two youngest boys didn't always appreciate "all that culture" we've visited beautiful places which I like to tell more about in one of my next post.
Until then and have a lovely weekend!

Anita xo

A bientôt ....

Tonight we leave for a one week stay in the South of France. For the first time in years not to the Provence but the Lot and Garonne region.
I've been there twice already when I visited a dear friend who live near Toulouse, a city so beautiful that I really want to show to "my boys"!
Further it's a completely new area to me and I can't wait to explore it!
Every year I think it will be the last family holiday but the boys are coming along, all three of them!
So I'm the happiest mom ever :-)

While I'm packing and listening to this ....

I can see myself driving through the French countryside and drinking my morning coffee on a genuine french patio ....


Have a good weekend and hope to meet you soon by a new post with many pictures of that beautiful French scenery ....

A bientôt,
Anita xo

A cultural day within the joys of motherhood ....

I can say that meeting my husband over thirty-three years ago and thereby becoming a mum of three beautiful sons is a constant source of happiness.
I enjoyed every stage of my children as a mother and even now they are grown-up they still bring me great pleasure.
All three have different interest and my eldest son David is the most "cultural one" of the three.
Last Thursday we went together to Amsterdam and visited the (after nine years of restoration newly reopened) Rijksmuseum and I had a wonderful time ....

The entrance from the Museum Square with the famous cyclists tunnel....

After much debate between supporters and opponents the bicycle tunnel is (to the joy of many people) reopened twenty-four hours a day. I think this short impression (made by David) shows clearly why .... 

The beautiful garden around the museum ....

Me at the hall of fame (added this picture after being persuaded by David !) ....

With of course the famous picture of ....

The Night Watch

What struck me most, beyond all art, is the way all the murals were restored. They started making the original decorations visible again as early as 2006. At first they had to remove the old paint and plasters layers. The original layer was damaged and in many places even completely disappeared. To restore the cooperation was required of a restoration workshop by means of analysis samples of the original paint found through holes in the wall.This resulted in sixty new reproduced  Cuypers colours. And then they made the decorative painting on the basis of old drawings and black/white photo's ....

The application in the library made the biggest impression on me .....

The beautiful windows, new ....

and old ....

There is so much to see but here some "new" art added to the collection since the restoration ....



Sideboard (c.1933-1934) and diagonal seat (c.1929-1030) from Willem Hendrik Gispen ....

The Mondrian dress (c.1965) from Yves Saint Laurent 

And the famous chair (c.1919) from Gerrit Rietveld ....

In the (new) Asian Pavilion a beautiful bodhisattva (c.618-906) from the Tang dynasty  ....

And yes that's what you get on the road with an architecture student - the outside is also very interesting ....

I would say ....when you're in Amsterdam don't miss out this beautiful museum!
After our visit we walked through a very sunny (and hot) Amsterdam and ended our day on the 11th floor of the Hilton with a nice cool drink and magnificent view ....

After this day I realise even more how rich I am and count my blessings once again ....

Have a good week!
Anita xo