I knew we needed a healthy breakfast before heading out for the day….
something about the word chocolate and croissants in the same sentence seemed
like a good fit…..i also hear that those two things together will make a type “a”
girl who clenches her fist while driving a manual car to relax a bit.
I even packed a small box to go…
it didn’t help though.
It’s a wives-tale….just so you know…i googled it when i got home.
We got in our car and headed to one of the sweetest little French villages i have ever been to….
ummmm….
i mean…..the only one i’ve ever been to.
Isle sur la Sorge
What normally would have taken only twenty minutes….took more like forty-five minutes..
due to the fact that someone’s fists were clenched on the steering wheel. I was sitting
being the good map reader while Kim was doing the driving when we came upon
a gorgeous castle on a hill.
I said….oh kim…let’s stop and see the castle.
I said….kim…slow down.
Kim….there goes the castle…why didn’t you stop?
Kim looks at me…then looks straight ahead…and says…
you need to warn me at least a good mile ahead of time.
No worries though….i didn’t REALLY want to stop and see a castle.
We arrived in La Sorgue to the streets filled with
people perusing the brocante that had taken over the town.
We found a little parking spot…..and i mean little.
The French don’t think of their vehicles the same way we do….the cars in France are
a means of getting from one place to another…..which is why when trying to parallel park
a tiny car into a tiny spot…..it is OKAY to bump the car in front of you AND the one behind you.
This is the only time in the south of France that i got behind the steering wheel.
I was given the task of parallel parking our car in the spot the size of a postage stamp.
This is also the reason we bought extra insurance for our car.
I clearly remember the nice man at the rental counter stating that we could return the car
with the bumper hanging off the front as long as we had the “extra” insurance.
Once the car was tucked away in a spot that we only dreaded about how we would
ever get it out….
we headed into the town.
There is something to be said about hitting the brocante in the south of France..
first of all….
i had no intention of bartering for anything.
I paid full price for every.single.thing.i.bought.
I bought a bunch of antique french linens that i am sure the lady i bought them from
was going to go home that night and treat her family to a nice dinner at the most expensive
restaurant in town.
She told me the linens were from her great great grandmothers home…
and that royalty probably slept on them.
So i bought all of them.
Then we found French Provencal soap.
You would have thought we hadn’t bathed in over two years.
I bought bars and bars of soap…..thinking of soaking in my claw-foot tub…
maybe bryan rubbing me down with one of the lemon verbena bars.
First of all….i don’t even have a claw-foot tub.
Secondly….there is nothing sexy about the idea of being rubbed down with a bar of soap.
So…..
i have a case full of the most wonderful French soaps…sitting on my table….
next to my antique french linens that royalty once slept on.
I loved this little village….it had a river running right thru the center of town.
It made me think of the movie….’a river runs through it’.
I dreamed i was on the back of Tristans horse…with all my soaps…
but we were not in Montana…we were in the south of France.
Okay…check check….back to reality.
This town was amazingly gorgeous….
i just love how i captured so much sun flare in most of my photos.
Who knew that i used to work so hard to capture sun flare when in reality…
all i have to do now is push a little button and viola….sun flare appears.
After walking around the town….and spending loads and loads of cash….
we found a little cafe to eat at on the river.
We also needed wine.
We didn’t want eggs though….but like i mentioned in an earlier post….
eggs come on everything.
Kim and i were enjoying out meal listening to the river as it flowed by….
talking about our wonderful purchases….when the couple sitting next to us
had their meal delivered to them.
I don’t know about you….but Kim and i have never seen TARTARE up close before.
If you don’t know what tartare is….then consider yourself lucky.
It’s a big lump of RAW hamburger meat topped off with a big ole RAW EGG.
Now….i’m the type of girl that really likes to try new things….i got an A+ for trying pigeon…
i ate guinea fowl….i watched kim eat pickled sardines…i do try.
I guess it was just the fact that the couple sitting next to us devoured the entire plate
of TARTARE with RAW EGG in less than two minutes.
Once the couple left…we lingered.
We had another glass or two of wine….and just enjoyed sitting in the sun.
We were even serenaded by an accordion player.
After lunch we walked around some more….
and came upon a nice man selling colorful rubber toys.
I don’t really remember quite how it happened…but he convinced Kim to
step behind the table and squeeze his pink rubber toy.
WHOA
That came out all wrong…….sorry!
They were cute rubber toys though….and she did end up selling a few for him.
After we finished shopping for the day and we were out of money…
we tried to find the car.
NOTE TO SELF:
little french cars in cute little villages all look the same.
Once we found the car we headed back to St. Remy…..
once again driving right by the castle….because the whole kilometer thing still throws
me for a loop…and i didn’t give enough warning ahead of time.
Like i said…..who cares about seeing an old historic castle…..i bet my
french linens were from there also…but really….i hold no grudge.
We walked around St. Remy….which if you ever find yourself there…
you will be taken away with all the beautiful blue shutters and doors.
I don’t know if i ever mentioned this before….
but my mothers side of the family comes from the south of France.
I did some historical work before our trip and found out that my mothers
great great aunts cousin twice removed is from St. Remy.
Unbelievable.
We found the place where she lives.
#4.
Now i realize we should have called her before just showing up at the door…
but really….
how was i to track a phone number down.
The thing is….
oh….alright……
there really is no long lost aunts cousin….
we just really wanted to sit in the blue car we found.
Or even have our photo taken next to the car….
but no one offered to take our photo for us…
so we just sat outside this place and drooled.
I don’t even like lace curtains…but i like them now
It was Kim’s idea to put on a little photo shoot….
she’s putting a portfolio together of her work and when she asked me if i would
so kindly just stand against the wall….
how could i say no and turn her down.
That wouldn’t be a good friend now would it.
We pretended she was The Sartorialist…
the problem is…she wouldn’t let me take photos of her.
I told her…i wanted to start a portfolio also.
so…..i had to take photos of her instead…
I can’t wait to show you my portfolio.
After our impromptu photo session we were hungry again.
We needed pastries……from Fredrick…
We sat and ate our pastries out in the courtyard…
and went back in one more time just so Kim could get another shot
of Fredrick for her portfolio……
and i grabbed a shot for mine
{to be continued…}
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