02.06.2013

Au Revoir

After surviving a strange night in a strange B&B (I had booked a hotel, not a B&B), with people walking around in front of our door and a cat meowing and scratching on our door the whole night, we went downstairs and had breakfast.

We had to sit down at the family's own breakfast table with two other families that managed to eat three times the amout of a normal breakfast while we were waiting on our food. Without talking about it we both knew that the other one felt vastly uncomfortable and tried to make it a very quick breakfast.

As soon as we had finished our meal we found out that the B&B didn't accept credit cards. With having spent all our remaining cash on French toll booths the previous day, we had to run out and get money from an ATM before we could leave. I seriously played with the thought of just leaving and not going back to pay for a good while on the way to the bank.

The rest of the drive to the ferry went relatively smoothly. We stopped for a quick lunch, fueled up the car and made it back to the ferryport in a good time.

We were back in Ireland at 11 in the morning on the next day, happy to be home.

01.06.2013

Driving, Driving, and More Driving

That pretty much sums up the whole day. We got up, packed the car, grabbed a pastry and started off on our long journey home.

France is a beautiful country to drive in, but being stuck 9 hours in the car didn't do much for either of our moods. By the time we arrived at our hotel, which ended up being more of a strange bed & breakfast complete with cats wandering around the hall and no door in the bathroom, we were not in very good form. We went to bed exhausted and I slept terrible because of feeling sick and one of the cats mewing and scratching at our door all night.

But I really can't complain. We had 12 perfect days and it was one of the most wonderful holidays I ever experienced. I will always appreciate the memories we made here.

I will miss France and all its graceful elegance - the sunbleached colors, the rustic towns perched in the mountains, the pale warm sunlight in the evenings, the lovely lilt of the language, the delicious pastries and most of all, the time I spent with my husband, just the two of us.

Sometimes I wish everyday life would be more like vacation. But then I realize that if it were, there would be no such thing as vacation. Its rarity is what makes it so special.

I'm looking forward to being home.

31.05.2013

Last day in Provence

Today was our last day in Provence. It's seriously astounding how quickly time seems to pass when you're enjoying it so much.

We just drove home from dinner and talked about how much we love to travel with each other on our way back. We are often so busy with other things, other people, work and everyday errands that it feels as if we don't have enough time for each other - even when we're doing all these things together. When we travel is the only time when life is truly simple. We eat, sleep, talk, snuggle, explore the world and take pictures. It's wonderful. Tomorrow we will hit the road and start our drive home. And I already cannot wait to go travel with Rebecca again.

For our last day we decided to do everything one more time that we loved to do together since we arrived. We got up at a good time, drove to Apt for a cafe au lait and a pastry, took some pictures, snuggled and had lunch afterwards. Then we had a break from the sun before we went to take pictures. We did another portrait session with me taking pictures of Rebecca, which was much more challenging this time because it was extremely windy. But we got a lot of interesting pictures and stopped at the restaurant in the former Renault garage for a nice dinner.

I will miss it here and I am very thankful for this wonderful experience. I couldn't think of a better way to have spent our first anniversary together.

30.05.2013

Cafe au Lait & Cherry Tart

Today we went back to the little cafe that we had gotten espresso at, and had a yummy breakfast. My favorite line of the day happened when we walked into the cafe. Johnny spotted the cherry tart, which wasn't out on the counter yet, pointed to it and asked the shop owner, "Is that for sale?" It was classic. The owner said yes, of course, and we thoroughly enjoyed a slice of that each with cafe au lait. I found out today that I love cafe au lait even more than a latte! While we were in town we spent some time wandering through the streets, looking for an artist's gallery that we had spotted on Market Day. We had really liked a couple of her paintings of Provence. We found the gallery, but it was closed - so we just took a few pictures around town and decided to come back Saturday.

From there we drove to Bonnieux and had lunch. Johnny opted for tagliatelle with carbonara, I had a platter of local meats with baguette. We had a really nice time together talking about photography and about how a good relationship helps you grow, not only as an artist but as a person.

From there we drove home, had a couple of hours of relax time and then drove back out to Oppède le Vieux to take some pictures on film. The light was absolutely beautiful for most of the evening, and we tried to make the most of that because the forecast for our last two days in Provence looks to be cloudy. Johnny took a lot of photos on Hasselblad today - I can't wait to see them.

29.05.2013

My Favorite Girl

Rebecca and I decided to make up for last nights' disastrous dinner experience today. We skipped breakfast and drove to a nearby village that we had only driven by once before. The weather had cleared up and we enjoyed a lovely walk through the little French town in wonderful warm weather.

After exploring for a while we found a very promising restaurant and settled in for lunch. We both had tagliatelle with crayfish and a home made strawberry tart for desert. After our usual espresso we went back home to do some work and prepare our camera gear for another outing.

Arriving at our little cottage we met the owner of the property, Paul, who was cleaning the pool. We had a nice talk with him and quickly discovered that we had quite a few things in common despite the age gap of at least one generation.

Oppède le Vieux had left such an impression on us yesterday that we decided to go back today in the hope of better light and to shoot some film. We both got really excited about the idea of making this outing about a portrait session for Rebecca. So she dressed in one of her prettiest dresses and we set off.

I was completely in awe for the whole time we were there. Rebecca looked like a princess in an elegant French medieval town and I couldn't have been happier to be able to take pictures of her in that location. Our session started with occasional showers and after we were half way through it cleared up and we had the most amazing light.
Hungry from today's adventures we went back to the little restaurant in the former Renault garage and enjoyed a lovely dinner together.

28.05.2013

Oppède le Vieux

After being babied by my wonderful husband yesterday, I had a great night's sleep and woke up migraine-less - which had me in very good spirits despite the rain outside. Johnny and I made our usual trip to town for baguette and pastries, then came home and made a yummy breakfast of scrambled eggs, soft cheese, and salami.

After a few lazy hours at home, we decided to be adventurous despite the pouring rain outside (we were both a bit antsy after being cooped up all day yesterday). We ventured out with our cameras and umbrella to a ruined village we had heard about called Oppède le Vieux. We had expected it to be a few houses that we could just drive past and photograph from the car, but we found out differently once we were there. We had to park and walk up the mountain, and thankfully when we reached the outskirts of the village, the rain stopped. What began as an idea to drive-by in the rain turned into a beautiful walk through this ruined medieval city, built into the side of the mountain with clouds literally floating by our heads! There were so many picture opportunities everywhere that we scarcely stopped snapping around. Although the gloomy clouds gave a great atmosphere, we fully intend to go back again when we have sunlight. This was my favorite event of the trip so far, and delightfully unexpected.

Unfortunately the day ended with a little less luck than it began with. I thought I had seen a pizza restaurant on the way to Oppède le Vieux and suggested going back there for dinner. After 2 hours in the car driving around half the country, we hadn't found it, nor had we found anything else that looked reasonable. So we ended up back at McDonald's at 9:30pm for a quick (sadly not pizza) dinner. Nevertheless we were thankful to find something open at that hour.

27.05.2013

Migraine Day

Today Rebecca woke up with a migraine. She has headaches frequently, too frequently for my liking, but this one was a full blown migraine. We got up relatively early and went right to town to get something to eat after Rebecca had taken her medicine.

Neither the painkiller nor the croissant helped, so we sat down for an espresso with the hope that some more caffeine would make Rebecca feel better. Sadly it didn't either. We initially had planned to walk around town for a while and then have lunch there, but decided to get some groceries instead and go home.

Still getting worse, Rebecca waited in the car while I picked up Strawberries, fresh cheese and a couple of other yummy things from the supermarket. When we arrived home I started preparing lunch while Rebecca was resting at the pool.

After lunch we snuggled up for a nap. After every attempt to get rid of the headache was being unsuccessful, my hopes weren't very high that Rebecca would improve over the day. I felt horrible for her, we were trapped inside all day and had planned to go take pictures again with tomorrow's forecast being rain.

After Rebecca woke up she felt a little better. We had a lovely dinner at McDonalds and went back home. I hope so much her headache is gone tomorrow and that she is not in such pain anymore. I feel so bad seeing her suffer while I cannot do a thing to help make her feel better.

26.05.2013

Slightly Lobstery

Seems as though we're finally settling into a groove. Wake up. Shower. Drive to town for a pain au chocolat and an espresso. Pick up a baguette for lunch at the boulangerie. I start to feel like a French local. Well, almost.

Today we picked up some fresh figs along with our baguette, at a little stand in town. Afterwards we drove to a scenic overlook above the little town we took pictures in before. It was a beautiful landscape, with the clay rooftops of the town in the foreground, the valley, and then miles away, fading into the mountains. We took a few photos there before returning home for an outdoor lunch on the patio. We had our usual assorted cheeses and baguette along with some chicken and fresh figs.

Johnny was a bit under the weather after lunch and decided for a nap, while I took a book (The Most Beautiful Walk in the World, by John Baxter - a book about Paris) to the pool for some sunshine, along with some fresh cherries and three chocolate truffles. Ok, four.

A couple of slightly sunburnt hours later, Johnny was up and felt better, so we headed out for a drive and some more picture opportunities. The light was perfect and the weather warm, so we drove top down, making stops along the way wherever we saw something pretty (that's a joke. Everything here is pretty.) After the drive Johnny was sporting a little sunburn to match mine... I suppose that's to be expected after a year in Ireland! For dinner we stopped in a great little town and had some tortellini, then home for a bottle of red wine and music by Penny & Sparrow. It was a great day.

25.05.2013

Market Day

Today Rebecca and I went to the local market. It was very busy and people from all cultures were offering their goods and produce to the visiting crowd.

After wandering around for awhile, we were lucky to find a little cafe in a small alley way that was not overflown with people. We sat down for our daily breakfast, consisting of a fresh French pastry and an espresso. We watched the people passing by and talked while we were enjoying our meal.

On our way around we snapped a couple of pictures and gathered food for lunch, namely fresh cheese, a grilled chicken, bread and cherries - all of that locally produced.

After enjoying a very tasty lunch outside back at our little cottage we had a short nap to recover from the eventful morning and to have a break from the sun. Then we went out for a long drive through the French countryside, enjoyed the weather and just being together without any agenda. For dinner we visited the small local place we went to a couple of nights before and had pizza and a fresh salad.

24.05.2013

Friday

After a sound night's sleep, we were ready for adventure. Our first order of the day: pastry and coffee, so after getting ready we headed to the nearest town to find one. Our first stop was at the patisserie where we bought our lunch baguette and each had a pain du chocolat. The second stop was at what we thought was a coffeeshop, but turned out to be more of a shady betting bar. Feeling a bit uncomfortable, we drank our cafe creme quickly and then drove on to get a couple of errands done. We were pretty excited to find that the local wines are very inexpensive - we bought a bottle of Bordeaux for 1,60 EUR!

When we were home, we made lunch - local-grown strawberries, various fromages, fresh baguette and fig confiture. Then we headed out to town again to take pictures. The weather was intermittently cloudy, so after about 30 minutes in town we abandoned the idea and decided to go for a long scenic drive through the mountains instead. On the way, we stopped at various spots whenever the light was pretty and took more pictures. There were breathtaking views around every bend in the road, and beautiful little vineyards and old villas. It's truly like being in a movie set everywhere you go here.

On the way home we stopped for dinner at a great restaurant that was an old converted Renault car garage, really well done. It had very good traditional French cuisine. Johnny had quinoa for the first time, as a side dish, and was convinced that was a meal in and of itself. We had a lot of fun together. For dessert we tried a little of everything. The French seem to like to mix herbs with their desserts, for example strawberries with basil, which makes for some very interesting flavors.

Tomorrow it's the weekend already! Time flies when you're having fun.

23.05.2013

Exploring

We discovered today that the French have very different times and time slots for certain daily routines than we are used too. And because of that, being late for breakfast develops into a habit.

After Rebecca and I had found out that the concept of little cafes also doesn't exist, we had a yummy pastry from the local Boulangerie - and left the coffee for a little later. We also explored the next bigger town and got some groceries. The selection of cheese in a regular supermarket surpasses everything we have ever experienced in any other country, which made for a very tasty lunch by the pool followed by a relaxing nap.

After we were well rested, we decided to load up our film cameras and explore a wonderful old town close by and take pictures. The weather was beautiful and sunny and we enjoyed each others company while snapping around town. We found a little restaurant in the village we were exploring and after a long walk we settled down for a nice dinner.

22.05.2013

1st Anniversary

Today was our first anniversary. It began like all good days should, with sleeping in and missing breakfast.

After checking out of our hotel, we started our drive to Provence. The weather was gray and gloomy, with rain off and on. We stopped for a quick coffee and bite to eat on the way. As we drove into the region of Provence, the landscape began to change from flat farmlands to more mountainous scenery. We began to see vineyards, and then the sun broke through the clouds and we saw blue sky for the first time in days!

We found the little hameau where our holiday home was located pretty easily. It's made up of 10 homes, that's it. About five minutes away is a small town. The holiday home is perfect. It has a little private garden with a pool and BBQ, a little kitchen/dining area, living room, 2 bedrooms and a bathroom.

After getting settled in to the house, we drove to town, parked and walked around for awhile to photograph and just take in the flavor. We both love the rustic elegance of France and were almost in disbelief at how beautiful everything was. And the weather could not have been more perfect - sunny and 20C.

We found a little restaurant in town and had a lovely dinner together of marinated beef, red wine and a dessert of cheese and fig confiture. After driving home, we gave each other our anniversary gifts. We had to laugh, because after bringing four cameras with me on this trip, Johnny gave me another - a beautiful Olympus rangefinder that I had taken a fancy to.

The perfect day ended with a bottle of rosé wine and some music at our little home-away-from-home.

21.05.2013

Embarking to France

Our second day started with a nice breakfast on board the Oscar Wilde. We arrived in France at 11 o'clock in the morning and started our drive in Cherbourg.

We then stopped for petrol and lunch in Le Mans and left the highway close to Vichy to stop for the night. Rebecca and I both love road trips and were enjoying each others' company after a couple of very busy weeks at home.

We had not booked a room in advance and after our first attempt wasn't very lucky, we found a nice room in the Grand Hotel Montespan Talleyrand. We enjoyed a fantastic dinner in the hotel's own restaurant incl. white wine and cheese from the region, before we snuggled up for the night - both of us passing out quickly after the long drive.

20.05.2013

Bon Voyage

To celebrate our first anniversary on May 22, Johnny and I are going to Provence, France for 2 weeks. We're both really looking forward to it. Waiting for this day felt like years!

It was a bit of a hectic morning getting our last-minute packing done. We had a good laugh between us about how much camera equipment we packed. Seven cameras between the two of us - two digital and five film. But everything was ready in time and we started off to Rosslare, where we would catch an overnight ferry, the Oscar Wilde, to Cherbourg, France.

Our drive was about 3-1/2 hours, and check in was smooth - we drove straight onto the ferry, parked and went to our room. Johnny had booked a nice cabin for us, which is like a hotel room, with a comfortable bed, a bathroom, a living room, and windows to the outside. We spent some time relaxing in our room and then went for a quick lunch at the Braisserie cafeteria. Afterwards, we went on deck to take a few pictures. The coast of Ireland had long disappeared, and all you could see was vast ocean, rough gray water disappearing into fog. It was beautiful. We sat for awhile together at the back of the boat and watched the wake rolling into the distance. We both felt incredibly lucky to be together on this trip.

After some more lounging in our room, Internet surfing and a short nap, we went down to the Steakhouse for dinner. Tonight we will cozy up in our room with a glass of white wine and fruit. I'm already looking forward to snuggling up and sleeping - I love the feeling of being rocked by the waves. I feel so incredibly blessed to be enjoying a holiday like this with my husband. Tomorrow we arrive in Cherbourg at 11am, and then our long drive to Provence begins.