25ans de Mariage!

One's 25th wedding anniversary certainly is a milestone , particularly in today's age and Nick and I were blessed to celebrate ours this week. To mark our special day, we simply desired an evening away somewhere special (and preferably calm) so we could have some time for 'just we two' to mark this significant milestone in our lives.


With that in mind, I planned an overnight to the small, medieval village of Moustiers Sainte Marie, located about a two hour drive northeast of Aix. We had visited this quaint spot just a few weeks after arriving in France in 2006 with Sarah, Mom and Dave. We had always planned to return so it was "Now, or (maybe) never" as they say! The town is famous for the faience pottery which first came to the region in the 1600's and became very popular in the 18th century on the tables of the rich and famous in France. Moustiers is also close to the Gorge du Verdun, the Grand Canyon of Europe(more about that tomorow).


We arrived in Moustiers on a scorcher of a day with the temps in the mid-nineties. Not the best weather for hiking but after getting settled in our room at Bastide du Paradou, we set off to make the trek into the village.

Situated in the Alpes de Haute region of Provence, Moustiers is a village divided half by a mountain stream which rushes down from a narrow rocky canyon above the town. The view of this mini-gorge, sprinkled with small waterfalls and medieval houses as well as the ceramic shops, is beautiful. As you wander the narrow, medieval streets and duck under vaulted passage ways all the while listening to the sound of the gurgling river you have the feeling you are in an Alpine village.




As we'd been to the village before, we didn't linger long near the shops but continued our climb up toward the chapel. It was a hot climb but well worth the effort. This path, lined with 12 stations of the cross, has been used for pilgrimages to the chapel since the year 470...



We had spectacular views all around including this bird's eye view of the village....






On our climb we passed through the ruins of the ancient defensive walls and finally made it to Notre-Dame de Beauvoir, built over the first 5c. chapel in the 12th century. On this particularly hot afternoon, the cool air inside the chapel was truly a gift from heaven! It was amazing to see the many and detailed stained glass windows, intricately carved decorative molding in such an ancient church located so far up a steep hillside.



The lure of a swim kept us going all the way back to the bastide, where we happily plunged into Jean-Louis' private pool for a cooling dip. Our special evening began in his lovely garden with a glass of champagne before we went to dinner at the nearby Bastide de Moustiers.









The super hot day gave way to the most delightfully, balmy evening thus ensuring our dinner at Alain Ducasse's fine restaurant would be outside under the stars. This welcoming table was our front row seat to a dining extravaganza we will always remember.





With a menu that changes everyday depending on what is fresh and growing in the Bastide's garden, each meal is a surprise. I'm not a food writer for Gourmet magazine so won't even attempt to describe our dining experience other than to say we were expertly served course after course of well prepared, inventive and classic, delicious cuisine that never failed to delight both our palettes!

The people watching from our table was interesting, but mostly we concentrated on each other and spoke of memories of our wedding weekend twenty five years ago and other anniversaries. As the dusk fell, the surroundings continued to dazzle our eyes...





We awoke the next day, our actual anniversary, to a glorious morning...



A glance out our window at the garden below showed us our table where we went to enjoy a relaxing, delicious petite dejeuner.




After breakfast we were off to visit the Gorge du Verdon. The world's second largest gorge, it is about 25 kilometers in length and up to 700 meters deep. It was formed by the Verdon River, which is named after its startling turquoise-green color, one of the canyon's most distinguishing characteristics. The weather did a rapid change just after we headed out so we drove some of the most impressive part between Moustiers and La Palud where the river has cut a ravine up to 700 meters down through the limestone mass. It is truly spectacular!!








At the end of the canyon, the Verdon river flows into an artificial lake, Sainte-Croix-du-Verdon.



As we were heading back to Aix, Nick casually mentioned to me that he had some special, surprise anniversary dinner plans for us that evening. I asked for more details but he left me wondering about it all the way home.....stay tuned!