I know you’ve heard about the Mistral: winds that sweep into Provence from the north bringing cold and sometimes wrecking havoc. In these past few weeks, the Mistral has been asserting its prowess, knocking over a cruise ship in the harbor at Marseille, downing trees in the local parks here in Aix, and generally making life very interesting. Rain has followed the wind, with severe flooding in some towns and villages. For a few days the temperature dropped to 0 degrees celsius at night – that’s freezing in any language – and Monique & Dominique turned on the heat in La Bastide. Now the days fluctuate between warm and humid to cold and windy. Winter is arriving! The leaves are falling, and french scarves of all sizes, shapes, and colors adorn both men and women to make theatrical fashion statements. Babies and toddlers are the cutest in their little winter hats and scarves.
To take advantage of the season, before snow comes to the higher elevations, Ken and I took a wonderful little trip during the past few days to the Gorges of Verdon. On the way we stopped to see an exposition of 20 atisans who make “santons,” little figures in clay of the Christmas creche, and scenes of farm life in Provence. It took place in the charming little town of Greoux les Bains – a town that has grown and flourished around Les Thermes, a spa, where folks come for “the cure.”
- Les Thermes
- Ken at Greoux Les Bains
After some mighty fine crepes for lunch we drove deep into the Gorges of Verdun, magnificent scenery of steep cliffs carved by the Verdun River long ago. Driving along the edge of the cliffs had me holding my breath a few times, and we were grateful for guardrails of stone on some of the hairpin curves. Night came quickly, before we were ready, and with snow on the mountains in the distance we decided to stop in the charming little mountain town of Castellane where we had dinner and kept warm in a fine little Chambre d’hotes – bed and breakfast. In the morning we (including SweetPea, of course) were greeted at the breakfast table by a three-month old golden retreiver-shepherd-mix puppy who revelled in Ken’s attention. A great way to start the day! And by noon we were back home in Aix for school and assorted duties.
In case you were worried that we would miss Halloween while in France, I can assure you we had a grand time at a party hosted by Karen’s classmate from Spain, Maria. She went all out with decorations, and the folks at the party came from all over, including Australia, Wilton, Connecticut, Switzerland, etc. Great conversations and food.
Speaking of food – we continue to find charming little restaurants in Aix that become favorites.
- Fanny’s in Aix
I’m very excited to try my hand at tagines – a simple Moroccan “stew” that contains all the spices I most love, like cinnamon, cloves, coriander. I bought a great little french recipe book on how to prepare tagines and was a bit taken aback to see that the recipe called for a “fever” of “giraffes” – or at least that’s how I translated the words “feve” and “girofle”. Fortunately, I have my dictionary at my side at all times and learned that the ingredients really are fava beans and cloves, but hey – I’m still learning!
As I write, a tagine of lamb and carrots and prunes and squash and potatoes is simmering in our oven and the aromas are calling me to dinner.
Stay in touch and come visit!!
