A casual Sunday walk...to the top of Mont Sainte Victoire!

Recently, Nick and I found ourselves with an entire Sunday all to ourselves! We were sitting in the kitchen having breakfast looking at this gorgeous view of Mt. Ste. Victoire and commenting on what a beautiful day was. One of us said, "A perfect day to go for a walk!" Not needing to discuss our idea with, or get the OK from, anyone else we were packed up and headed out in no time. We drove east in the direction of Mt. Ste. Victoire and parked our car at the Barrage de Bimont, an enormous dam built at the base of the eastern end of the St. Victoire range. Our plan was simply to take a trail and stop when we felt like having lunch.

We had only climbed to the top Mt. Ste. Victoire once before. That was last year with another family, our approach was from the north side and the weather had been cold and windy. Today was entirely different-including the fact that we hadn't set out to climb to the summit! After crossing the dam, we chose an interesting looking trail and just started walking.

As we walked along, we were enjoying the lower trail and the views....

but we started wondering which trail would lead us to the summit?? Before we knew it, we were headed toward the lower ridge of the mountain and the summit didn’t look all that far away. We looked at each other and said “Pour quoi pas? Let's go for it”!!

It was a more strenuous climb along the western ridge than we had imagined from below, but we determinedly trudged on and made it to the Cross at the summit(look carefully at the photo and you'll see it) in about 1 ¾ hours. Heavy rain the night before left the ground, and especially the rocky paths, quite slippery so we had be really careful. At the top, we enjoyed our picnic lunch and the 360-degree panoramic view! Our decent only took about an hour and twenty minutes.

We're sure if we’d planned this outing in advance, odds are it never would have worked out so perfectly. Hooray for spontaneity!

Visitors from Duxbury!

Well, shame on me, this blog entry is WAY overdue! Mom and Dave were our first visitors this year and they were here back in October! Our rendez-vous began when Nick and I drove to Ville Franche sur Mer to meet them for a special lunch. Ville Franche, a small port town just east of Nice, is where Dad was stationed on the USS Salem in the 6th fleet in the early 1950's. Nick and I took Nicholas, Lindsey and Sarah there last year, but this was a rare opportunity for Mom and I to be there together. We had a belated celebration of Mom's birthday at La Mere Germaine, Dad's favorite restaurant there. Germaine, who started this now quite famous restaurnat, had been like a mother to all the US soldiers stationed in this little town after WWII, hence the name.

Back in Aix, we went to the special Saturday markets. There are foods of all kinds to overwhelm the senses! These fresh mushrooms, figs, tomatoes, radishes and a huge paella especially caught our eye...

No day at the market is ever complete without one(or two!) of the most delicious macaroons in the world...

We also wandered through the crafts, jewlery and bric-a-brac markets....

and finally ended up at one of the small flower markets at a plaza nearby....




Time to take our purchases and head home for lunch!

Another day, we took Mom and Dave out to see the Barrage de Bimont, which I've written about elsewhere in this blog. It was a gorgeous fall day!

Thanksgiving in Provence

Last week, many of our friends in the States were asking us whether they celebrate Thanksgiving in France. The answer is no, the French don't, but the Americans definitely DO! In fact, many French and Europeans have little idea about Thanksgiving or they have a vague notion that it's just a day for eating!


It's a great opportunity for us to tell the story of one of our nation's oldest and best traditions. Who can't relate to the idea of being thankful for what we have!? They also greatly enjoy hearing about the Pilgrims and their First Thanksgiving with the Indians, which, being from "Pilgrim Land" we are always happy to share. Nick, Sarah and I, like many of our expat friends here in Aix, really looked forward to celebrating Thanksgiving, but were also mindful of the fact that we really miss our own families at this time. We feel fortunate to have "family" to celebrate with here in Provence, but it isn't the same as being with our REAL family in the States.

Last year we celebrated at our friends the Pancoasts' house, but this year, we were able to host a group of friends, including the Pancoasts, chez nous. Our group included 10 adults and 7 children made up of 1 French and 4 American families. Normally in France, Americans celebrate Thanksgiving on the Saturday after the real holiday because no one has the day off on Thursday but this year we did it on the real date and everyone took a half day from work and school. Due to our smallish oven, the turkey had to be roasted off site. Our guests, the Rapps, cooked it at their home and it arrived safely, with them, triple wrapped in foil, a garbage bag, and a finally a quilt!

In our family, it is a tradition to give each Thanksgiving turkey a name and that name always begins with the letter "T". Since the Megan and Teal Rapp cooked the turkey, it's name obviously had to be.....Teal!

Once Teal unveiled the turkey, everyone set to work carving the bird, preparing all the side dishes, making the gravy and sampling some of the wines our French friends, Fabien and Cecile, brought. Guests began arriving after 2pm and with all the excitement of coming together and getting the meal ready to go on the table, we didn't sit down around 5! However, it was a jolly time of organized kitchen chaos!

Nick and his sous chef, Teal, made the gravy..in between kisses!


You don't even want to know why these men are laughing so hard!!!

On the other hand, look at this happy and relaxed looking bunch of kitchen chefs...







Cecile had a clever idea for the wine: being foreigners to this Thanksgiving feast, she and Fabien chose foreign wines! They brought red wines from Corsica, Spain and Sicily, Dorothy brought a wonderful California Cabernet Sauvingnon (which I wish I remembered the name of...maybe Robert Burns?!) which she bought at Trader Joe's in Santa Barbara and Darrin and Julie brought some lovely French wines from a favorite nearby winery, Chateau du Seuil. So we had a real international wine tasting to go with our American feast!

We had all the appropriate dishes: mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, brussels sprouts, corn bread stuffing and REAL homemade cranberry sauce. Best of all, we had pumpkin and apple pie with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. These were not all easily had. The cranberries, the pumpkin pie mix, corn bread stuffing mix were all bought in from the States just for the occasion! Those items are taken for granted in the States mais ils n'existent pas ici!At last, everything was ready and we sat down to enjoy our meal together. Darrin said grace and afterwards many around the table gave toasts, recounted stories of memorable family gatherings and shared the things for which they were thankful...and they were abundant.

Teal, Cecile, Nick, Sarah and Megan

Megan, Darrin and Dorothy

Susie, Fabien and Julie

et les enfants; McKenna, Sarah, Olivia, Maele, Lexi, Sawyer and Eduard

Although we ate plenty of food, everyone managed to find room for the apple and pumpkin pies! Sarah had been looking forward to Dorothy's homemade pumpkin pie WITH whipped cream all day...


After dinner, a major kitchen clean up and some time relaxing by the fire the last guests left around 10pm. We then called the States to wish our families a Happy Thanksgiving and hear all about the activites of their day. Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!!

The Ligurian Coast:Cinque Terre-Day 1

As the well known tourist guide, Frommer's, describes it the Cinque Terre "is about as beautiful a coastline as you're likely to find in Europe." And in our limited travels we agree! Here, olive groves and vineyards cling to hillsides, proud villages stand perched above the sea, hidden coves are nestled at the foot of dramatic cliffs. It's simply spectacular! What's also terrific about the Cinque Terre (named for the region's five neighboring towns; Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore) is what's not here -- automobiles, large-scale development, or much else by way of 20th- and 21st-century interference. The pastimes in the Cinque Terre don't get much more elaborate than walking from one lovely village to another along trails that afford spectacular vistas; plunging into the Mediterranean or basking in the sun on your own waterside boulder; and indulging in the tasty local food and wine.

Here's a brief summary of our visit to this beautiful corner of the world...

From Portofino, we continued our drive east along the Ligurian coastline to the town of Levanto, about 30 minutes east. We stayed at great B&B called the Villa Margherita which is well situated just a few minutes' walk from the beach, restaurants and shops and a mere 10 minute walk from the train station. This meant we were able to be car free for our entire stay.

On our first day, we caught the train in Levanto and rode it to the first stop, Monterrosso;the western most village of the Cinque Terre, where we began our hike. The train ride took about 4 1/2 minutes but had we decided to hike to Monterosso it was described as a "not for wimps" 2 1/2 hour hike!

After a brief look-see of the village, which didn't impress us all that much, we pressed on as we were anxious to get started. Along the coastal trail, we were quickly rewarded with stunning views....which would last for the day!

Here, after getting some elevation, we have a nice view looking west toward Monterosso...




Along the trail, there were many steep stairways going through and between terraced vineyards and small gardens with vegetables and citrus trees...

After nearly about an hour of climbing up, we started our descent into Vernazza. This lovely, picturesque seaside village is described as the Cover Girl of the Cinque Terre. It is a well deserved title! Here are some photos as we got closer and closer to the town....

The restaurant where we had lunch, Trattoria Gianni Franzi, is located on the plaza under the group of multi-colored umbrellas you can see below...

And once we arrived, we were not disappointed in the least! As you can see, the town is truly picturesque....

the people watching was wonderful...

and the pasta was DELICIOUS!

As this was to be our 'light' day, after lunch we had our daily gelato and took the train back to Levanto where friends were waiting for us at Villa Margherita. Stay tuned for "Day 2 in the Cinque Terre" when we hike the entire 5 towns.

Interested in more photos? http://picasaweb.google.com/susiebates/CinqueTerreDay1?authkey=949r-TvdQ4A

Villa Margherita: http://www.villamargherita.net/

Trattoria Gianni Franzi: http://www.giannifranzi.it/