Jewels from Jan: Pinch Me...I was in Provence!

04/03/2013

Bonjour mes amis!

I'm back! I missed writing last week, but let me assure you, I was busy...busy enjoying our Winter Break...in Provence!

Last post, I showed you the Chambre d'hôtes we stayed in for five nights. It was called, "Mas Lou Figoulon" in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. The couple hosting us were so nice and helpful, and the rooms in this beautiful home were filled with Antiques and beauty all around.

The first night, we stayed in a smaller room, but let me show you a couple of pictures...

We even had a Bidet in our bathroom! I had to gently explain to Jewelius what this was for. Of course, to him, it looked like we had two toilets in the bathroom.

The first night, we just explored Saint-Rémy-de-Provence and ate at a Bistrot, and enjoyed Couscous!

The Menu listed that if you ordered Couscous and a Bottle of Wine, they would give you a Magnum bottle of wine instead. So, we ordered as suggested, but they brought us the regular sized bottle of wine, so we tried to explain that the menu said we'd get a Magnum bottle (the equivalent of 2 bottles of wine). They accommodated us. We, of course, did not finish the bottle that evening, so we took it home with us to enjoy later...

After dinner, we tried to walk back to the car in the cold night air. Seems Dr. J and Jewelius disagreed about what direction to take...

We had this happen a lot during our week in Provence, with all the map reading in various villages we visited! We made it back to the Chambre d'hôtes, though, got a good night's sleep and were ready to start seeing Provence.

But first...

Jewelius noticed something in the hallway at Mas Lou Figoulon he'd never seen before. When I explained that it was an Antique Prayer Bench, he decided to use it every morning before heading down to breakfast...a good way to start each morning...

Before we headed out for our first full day in Provence, I took a few photos of the
Chambre d'hôtes Garden. Beyond the trees, there is a pool, but of course, it was too cold to even think about swimming. We're told this garden is just beautiful in the Spring and Summer, but I thought it was even nice in the Winter...

We decided to head to Isle-sur-la-Sorge first. It is a town that boasts many Antique shops, and regularly has Markets and Brocantes. I was anxious to go there, even though taking two guys along wasn't ideal, since they don't like to look at Antiques, OR shop in Markets...unless there's food involved, of course!

Oh! I forgot to mention that Isle-sur-la-Sorge also has many Canals and Waterwheels, so this interested the guys. It was rather cold, so many of the Waterwheels, though they were turning, had ice frozen on them...they looked very cool!

Remember those Mimosa flowers I showed you a while back? They were sold in all the florist shops in Provence. Later in the week, though, I even spotted some Mimosa trees in full bloom. (I wonder if one would grow in Texas?) I just love the burst of yellow and the heavenly scent!

A few shots around the town...

If I can't have a Mimosa tree, what about an Olive tree?

And then there were the Brocante and Antique shops...

I asked Dr. J if we could just take a boat home from France, when we go back to Texas. That way, I could buy some of this cool, old stuff and take it home with me...