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!

Les Coquelicots en Provence

After winter, we all look forward to the arrival of spring. Even without a calendar, one knows the month of May has arrived in Provence when the poppies, 'coquelicots' en francais, pop up! We see the field or corn poppy in any number of places around Aix; in fields, along roadsides and even growing in between cobbles on the sunny side of a medieval, village street. This bright-red flower has been used to symbolize sleep, think of Dorothy and the Tin Man going through the poppy field in their way to Oz, and in Greco-Roman myths to symbolize death and resurection. Perhaps the most famous literary use of the poppy was John McCrae's World War I poem, In Flanders Fields.







A doctor serving in the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps during the war, McCrae reportedly wrote the poem on May 3, 1915, after witnessing the death of his friend, Lt. Alexis Helmer, on the front line. The poem appeared for the first time in Punch magazine on December 8, 1915.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields.

Today, throughout the world, the poppy is very much a symbol of that and other wars and those that fought in them. Looking at this field, I saw in it a likeness to an impressionist painting and was deeply reminded of McCraes' words "In Flanders fields the poppies blow..."





P.S. Susie just asked me to proof her blog entry. Uncanny comments as this is Memorial Day weekend and she hadn't put two and two together yet! Nick

PPS...and one more thing. This week, I have been reading "Currahee! A Screaming Eagle at Normany" by Donald Burgett. It is his look back at WWII and he describes the nonstop, nightmarish fighting across "body-strewn fields, over enemy-held hedgerows, through blown-out towns and devastating forests". The book captures a 'baptism by fire' of young Private Burgett, his comrades and the new 101st Airborne Division as they enter Normandy and become a legend of war. Concurrently, I have even been rewatching the fabulous series "A Band of Brothers" which so effectively documents visually that amazing time in world history. Nick

Paris en avril

Thanks to an unexpected but welcome business rendez vous for Nick, the two of us got to go to Paris this spring. In addition to Nick's meeting, we got to do lots of walking, sightseeing and visiting with friends; all under sunny, Parisian skies!

We travelled to Paris on the TGV and took a cab to our hotel in the St-Germain-des-Pres district. Door to door was less than 4 hours. Hotel Academie, rue St Peres, just off the rue St. Germain, is a three star hotel and by Paris standards, our room was spacious. We'd booked a superior room with king sized bed but upon inspection it was a bit lacking and when we commented on it, they offered to upgrade us to a junior suite. A sweet deal for only an additional 20 euro/night. Speaking of sweets, the hotel is next door to Debauve & Gallais, one of Paris' best and oldest chocolateries. We picked up a few tasty treats to enjoy after dinner.

We left our things at the hotel and walked down rue St Germain to stretch our legs, see some sights and have lunch. We settled in at Cafe Bergamote, just off the main drag, where we enjoyed some deliciously fresh salads. Nick's meeting was across town over near the Opera so we took advantage of the lovely day and walked there. We crossed over the Seine at Pont du Carosel, walked through the Place du Carosel and the gardens in front of the Louvre(there were considerably more people than there had been in January!) and through the Palais Royale.

A quick stroll up the Ave de L'Opera and we'd reached our destination at Rue des Capucines. While Nick attended his meeting, I wandered up to the Opera and poked around in the shops in that area. We strolled back through the Jardin des Tuileries and stopped at one of the cafes for a Perrier...

As you can see by all the 'turtles' out sunning themselves, it was a glorious day and there was hardly an empty chair to be found.

In the evening, we headed down the St. Germain this time we stopped at Carrefour de l'Odeon and had dinner at a delightful, italian restaurant, Il Suppli. This tiny, 20 seat haven for pasta lovers serves delicious, fresh meals with friendly service. Our waiter was from Rome and you could feel his enthusiasm for all things Italian, especially the food. We started with bruscetta made with fresh tomatoes mixed with lots of garlic, a pungent olive oil and basil slivers whose flavor assured you that summer was not far away. Our main plates were also well received; Nick had a simple pasta dish that he'd discovered in Italy coated with rich cheeses and plenty of black pepper and I had veal scallopini accompanied by a perfectly cooked melange of zucchini, eggplant and red peppers. Dessert was our stash of specialty chocolates back at the hotel.

The next morning we walked the few blocks to Café de Flore where we enjoyed a leisurely, delicious and cher petit dejeuner. The cafe creme was parfait!




Café de Flore, dating back to the 1880's, has been a favorite hangout, think tank and meeting place for generations of writers, fashion designers, film makers and celebrities. In its early days, writers and notables such as Apollinaire, Simone De Beauvoir, and Jean-Paul Sartre met and wrote here. After the war and into the sixties it's popularity with that group continued and in the 60's it also became a haunt for filmakers, designers and models. Today, it still attracts all sorts of celebrities and tourists(like us!). While we sipped our morning cafe cremes, we didn't recognize anyone special but did thoroughly enjoy watching what was probably a typical, morning parade of local Parisians who most frequent this well known establishment. We tuned into the mother and daughter savoring a chocolat chaud on the way to school, the dapper, suited men having a serious business meeting with espressos before going to the office and felt sorry for the sad-faced woman, dressed to look 20 years less than her age, looking lonely with only her cigarette and coffee as company.

Charged up for our next activity of the day, we left Cafe de Flore and walked to meet our friends, Aia and Stephen, at their apartment located just opposite Theatre de l'Odeon and a stone's throw away from the Jardin du Luxembourg. This majestic garden was designed and begun in 1612, covers about 55 acres and is noted as probably the most popular park in Paris. Formerly a royal garden, it was not opened to the public until the 19th century.

During two brisk turns around the expanisve gardens, we chatted and caught up with each other and marvelled at the beauty of our surroundings. It was spectacular...

Between 1615 and 1627 the Palais du Luxembourg was constructed at the northern end of the garden. This royal palace was built for Marie de Medicis, mother of Louis XIII. She was of Italian descent, so the architect, Salomon de Brosse designed the palace in a Florentine style. This once palace has had a colorful history. In 1794, during the French Revolution, it served as a prison, during the Second World War it became the headquarters of the Luftwaffe and today, the building houses the French Senate.



Directly in front of the palace lies Nick's favorite feature of the garden; the octagonal pond, known as the Grand Bassin. In the warm seasons, children(and big grown-ups who wish they were children) can rent small boats.

The garden is also a place for many Parisians to sit, relax and enjoy the day. According to Aia, this group meets here daily....

All our walking enabled us to work up our appetites for dejeuner at one of Aia and Stephen's favorite left bank lunch spots, Le Comptoir. We were fortunate to get a streetside table at Yves Camdeborde's popular brasserie where we not only enjoyed our lunch together but the world going by around us.

All our dishes, which ranged from gourmet salads to poulet roti fermier with oven roasted new potatoes to a tender lamb shank with couscous, were delicious.

After lunch, believe it or not, we were still up for more walking and more gardens! We headed over to the 7th arrondissement to the Rodin Museum. It was a perfect way to pass the afternoon looking at the lovely gardens and the artist's works.

The museum is housed in the Hotel Biron, named not for the builder,Jacques Gabriel, or first inhabitant, Abraham Peyrenc de Moras, but for one of the last families, maréchal de Biron, to live there. After being used by Napolean, a Russian ambassador and as a school by the Dames du Sacre-Coeur, it was subdivided into rooms and Auguste Rodin began to use several of them as his studio. He also enjoyed entertaining his friends in the surrounding gardens. In the 1920's, at the height of his fame, Rodin lobbeyed the French government to make the estate a museum of his work. He made a bequest of his property, his archives and the contents of his studio at the time of his death, and the French government accepted in 1916. The museum opened in 1919.

Strolling through gardens, we enjoyed the tranquility which came from the sometimes wild nature of the plantings, the harmonious mix of landscape and statues and the magic of the reflecting pools. Of the many plants fowering at the time, the blooming peonies and lilacs were the most impressive.

The peonies truly captivated me!!

The most famous Rodin sculpture, Le Penseur/The Thinker is just one of many located in the gardens today....

Gates of Hell...






Caryatid Carrying a Stone-Sculpture...

Close up of Caryatid...

Being a warm day and all, Nick and Stephen decided a cold beer was in order so Aia and I checked out the nearby shops ....

After our busy day, Nick and I took in a movie, Cheri, as an entertaining way to get off our feet and have some downtime for a while. A light dinner at the nearby pizzaria, Le Golfe de Naples, was the perfect end to a wonderful day.

For our petite dejeuner Saturday morning, we went to Starbucks!! A radical departure from the Cafe de Flore but boy did we enjoy our vente lattes with extra shots! From there, Nick and I walked over the Seine to visit Notre Dame....

This wonderful old car parked in front could fool you into thinking you'd entered a time machine.





We spent a bit of time quietly taking in the awesomeness of the interior of the cathedral and then we went along the gardens along the Seine and crossed over the Pont de Archeveche onto L'Ile St Louis...

Neither of us had ever been over to this tiny island in the middle of the Seine. We loved the ambiance on this Sunday morning and thought we'd like to stay here if/when we're back in Paris someday.

Singing for his petite dejeuner or just enjoying the morning??

The colorful shop windows along the narrow streets were inviting...

















Crossing back over to Ile de la Cite, we lingered on the pont St. Louis to just 'stop and stare'... we soaked up all that was around us and commited it to a savored memory...

We strolled up the right bank of the island, continuing our 'soaking up Paris' promenade....

Back at the Academie, we gathered our things and took a cab over to Aia and Stephens' where the four of us enjoyed a delicious Sunday lunch. We lingered at the table savoring not only the food but our friendship, touching many subjects all the while avoiding the elephant in the room which was possibly saying good bye for quite a while....instead, when we left for the train station, we simply said "A bientot, mes amis. A la prochiane".

More info:

Academie Hotel Saint-Germain, 32, rue des Saints-Peres, 75007 http://www.academiehotel.com/

Cafe Bergamote, 8, rue Montfaucon 75006, http://www.bergamote.org/

Il Suppli, 2, rue Conde, 75006, 01 40 46 99 74.

Le Comptoir, 9 Carrefour de l'Odeon, 75006, 01 44 27 07 97

Rodin Museum, 79, rue de Varenne, 75007