Entering Our Village We Ran Into a Shepherd Grazing His Flock

Bonjour to all of you! It has been a while since I have written. It has been a very busy beginning of the year, and sometimes one benefits from a nice long pause, to catch your breath, reflect, and reset if necessary.

I am back in France again and wanted to share some of my first week here. Coming into our village after being away for almost six months, my husband and I were greeted by a surprise thunderstorm of rain and lighting, as well as a shepherd grazing his huge flock of sheep in the protected forest. Welcome back to France, and be ready for the unexpected.

All is well with our little mas (house), and it was very exciting to unlock the door and see all of the incredible changes in person. I have been working with a special someone here in France the last six months, who has a great design eye, and a team of artisan trades people at her fingertips to make a few needed changes with lighting, wrought iron railings, etc. Our little mas is cute, but some little tweaks here and there have made it especially charming and inviting. I will share more in another post.

Running of the Bulls at Fête de L”Etang

The French are full of fun, and always have festivals and events happening. Some we stumble upon, and others we are told about. We were told about the annual celebration, Fête de L’Etang in La Capelle, the next village over, where there is food, music, and even running of the bulls. L’Etang is a beautiful rare protected freshwater lake in this region among the typical garrigue (scrubland). Surrounding this lake you see a lot of vineyards, fruit orchards, and dark brown bulls are even raised here. These French cowboys and cowgirl are running three bulls in the middle of them around a small portion of the lake. You can hardly see the bulls, but if you look closely in the middle of the photo, you see two bull’s curved brown horns. It is a fast pace, and very exciting to watch. The beautiful white horses, it seems to me, have such a big sweet heart, and are a special breed typical of this area, that I have got to find out more about.

Mussels in Marseille

Still within our first week here, we met Colorado friends in Marseille for a day. We had never been to Marseille, and rented an AirBnB down by the Vieux Port. Marseille is interesting, a gritty melting pot of many cultures and history. Our friends were on a week long Mediterranean cruise that docked in Marseille for the day. I love mussels (moules) from my Brussels, Belgium days. I was in heaven having Mussel Meunière and frites for lunch.

It has been a whirlwind week full of surprises and adventure! Sheep, horses, and mussels!

Bon Appétit et Bon Weekend…Bonnie