Lounging in the Luberon

The village square of Cucuron

I believe we have finally found another part of the world we would consider living. It is a funny game we play, but it is all part of keeping the dream alive.



We are now on another house exchange in the Luberon region of Provence. "L'Oustau dei Figo" (House of Figs) is a renovated 17th century "bastion" located just outside of the small village Cucuron. It is a beautiful farmhouse filled with art and furniture from family travels. Much to our delight it is also filled with books. All in english! I believe Mike and I both have a half dozen on the go.



The Luberon region is at its finest: spectacular countryside filled with vineyards, olive groves and orchards. You can just hear the bees a buzzing. The markets, one every day of the week in a different small village or town, are filled to the brim with fresh produce, local specialties such as honey, soap and nougat, artisan crafts and always wine. I love the spirit of community on these days.



I am also loving all the country roads filled with cyclists. Mike has had some stellar days in the saddle with plans to conquer "the Ventoux" tomorrow. Mont Ventoux has hosted numerous stages in the Tour de France. He has had his eye on it for the past couple of days, but we have been hit hard with the "mistral" winds. One can barely walk in these winds let alone cycle.

I have read about these winds, but they are truly something to experience. I can understand needing to be inside in the rain and cold, but there is nothing quite like staying inside on a bluebird day because it is too windy. Crazy! Actually I have also read that these winds do in fact drive people crazy. The Mistral is a favorite topic of conversation among the locals. It seems to have a personality of its own. I am trying hard not to be affected by the weather, but I am losing the battle. Mike is going to have to move me to Hawaii for the rest of my years lest he goes crazy listening to my speculations on it.




I can honestly say that the rest of our time has been spent lounging. We had some busy weeks in Italy seeing. Now is the time for doing. Instead of imaging what we would do if we had the time... we are doing what we have been imaging. Riding our bikes,swimming, reading, painting, good old day dreaming.. we have all been keeping ourselves very busy playing.



Ok, running through the wheat fields looks like a ton of fun. It is not...
The trick is to wear jeans otherwise your legs will end up with lots of itchy, red welts.





Does swimming in the pool count as a bath? We all need haircuts!



A visit to Roussillon and its ochre fields. We had a fun hike through the Sentier des Ocres and some absolutely beautiful ochre formations in all the earthy colours of the palette. I was not expecting this kind of landscape here in Provence.



It felt similiar to Moab, Utah.



These two showed up on our doorstep, bags filled with tasty food and good wine. We wish they could have stayed longer!
Nikki has just started her own tour company in Provence called "picnics in provence" - Provence off the beaten path. Kirsten came, all the way from Beijing, to help her out for a couple of weeks. We caught up with them at the end of their visit. They were full of good stories. We spent the evening drinking rose and planning our future lives in Provence.



I love visiting with Kirsten. Our families will grow old together....I can be sure we will still be having the same conversations about what we are going to do with our lives when we are 80...

Replay s'il vous plait!

fields of red

I cant believe we are at the halfway mark. Time is flowing by like honey. Nice and slow....

When we first began the trip and I actually had a moment to think about the timeline, I would find myself a wee bit apprehensive about all of it. So much to see and so much to do. I will admit there were a few instances when I actually thought to myself ' we have how many weeks left?" Its funny how it has all changed. I barely know the time, let alone the day of the week. Did I mention I could do this forever?

We are now in Cucuron, a small town in the Luberon region of Provence. It is sunset - Mike has gone for an evening run along the back country roads and the kids are playing hide and seek in the wheat fields with the neighbors 11 y.r old boy and his dog. I am sitting here surrounded by vineyards,orchards and many a fig tree. There is a slight breeze, but all is quiet except for the crickets and the occasional waft of violin in the distance. (I kid you not!!).

I am having another 'a-ha' moment...

The kids have proven to be excellent travellors. They are up for any adventure...if it is presented the right way. Originally we had planned to situate ourselves in one spot and travel to and fro from there. We are very happy with our decision to move about. While we have grown to love most of the places we have stayed, we are always excited at the prospect of a new adventure. A common question around here is "where are we going next?"

Mike and I have also adapted well to travelling...travelling with kids..
Mike calls it his zen test...I just drink more wine.The coffee is not so good in France, but the pastis works just fine too.
We have discovered that we really do prefer rural to urban. We are most happiest in the country, on our bikes or in the trails, with few cars and fewer tourists. I have even caught Mike taking a picture of a rosebush.. Are we getting dotty in our years??

We have had many laughs at our own expense..

A few more pictures from Italy...


view of the rooftops from Montepulciano



Taking the "New Moon" tour in Montepulciano. It was actually very fun. Ahh..bella and edward.


Cantina dei Redi




View from Montalcino


Giro D'Italia is all the rage. A bottle of fine brunello produced for the race with proceeds going towards breast cancer.


Max and his Barcelona Messi shirt has made us a lot enemies here...


Oh, we are such tourists! Rome in a day could only be done on the big red double decker sightseeing bus! I know we will get lots of grief for coming this far and only spending one day in Rome. My only excuse is that we were loving Tuscany. Isnt it important to save something for the next trip?


Max with his head stuck in the big red bus...


Colosseum and Forum


one of a hundred statue pictures....what am i to do with all these?


Fontana Di Trevi.


More ruins...or as max would say "unfinished business"



" if I am really bad I will get more gelato...."


The Vatican

Tuscany

Feeling very lucky...



Seeing where the wind takes you does not always work out so well.



Once again I knew that we were to spend a week in Tuscany. I had thought lots about it,but was either too busy, didnt have internet connection,would rather go for a run...(the excuses are endless) to commit. Its just a bad habit of mine. I want it all..I get overwhelmed by it all..

I sent a mass of emails out the day before leaving Levanto in hopes of finding the perfect spot in the hills of Tuscany. Sometimes you just have to take chances and trust that it will all work out. Crossing your fingers helps too!

This reply made me laugh. I instantly wanted to meet Claudio and his family.

"swimming pool with salad filled water, cheese and wine tasteing in
Montalcino, washing machine, vegetables garden, mountain-bike,
pasta course and any other activities that you can see on my web
site www.agriturismo.com/rodellosso.
There is a big garden with a barbecue and table for to eat.
At 4 km at Pienza the are some little restaurants of my friends.
My father mades wine, my mother mades cakes and chickens made eggs.
Looking forward to earing from you soon, I remain with my best regards."

I booked it 4 hours before our arrival.



Agritourismo Rodellesso is a little bit of heaven. It is located along a country road a few km. from Pienza and smack dab in between Montalcino and Montepulciano. It is your typical Tuscan farmhouse with tiled floors,wood beam ceilings,ochre colored stone walls and a big central fireplace in the kitchen area. It proudly sits on a hill overlooking Val D'orcia. 360 degree views of all Tuscany -endless sky, olive groves, vineyards, poppy fields, old stone farmhouses, cultivated fields in different shades of green, lone cypress trees crowning hilltops and distant villages . There is a feeling of isolation yet the world is on your doorstep. I cant compare it to anything I have seen or experienced before.



And then there is the history...

I am reading ' Vanilla Beans and Brodo" " A book about real life in the town of Montalcino and its people. I can say that I am inspired to move to another small rural town in Tuscany and write my own book. It seems to be the thing to do....



True to his word....Claudio's mama makes cake, his papa makes wine and his chickens lay eggs. His garden produces artichokes, beans, lettuce and much more. You are welcome to all of it....



They taught us to make pasta.






It may not be pretty, but it was tasty.



They brought us to their friends cantina/vineyard, SanLorenzo. We got to taste a number of their wines including their delicious Brunello di Montalcino which the area is renown for.

Claudio (on left) and his friend Paola of Sanlornza



Olivia's first wine tasting.



Paola also makes Olive oil. A bottle of delicious oil that makes everything taste so much better...



The kids and I swam in their "salad" (salted!) filled pool while Mike went for long rides.



We walked...and took a lot of pictures! Will publish them to my flickr account soon.



A fabulous week. Almost makes me want me to pack up and move to Pemberton meadows..

Rose colored glasses..

One of my favorites emails found in my inbox ...

"OK it's all very nice, but it is starting to read like a travel writer's blog!!!! I find myself being seduced into wanting to join in. That's not what I need right now. I want to see compromising photos; hear stories of total melt downs and if at all possible lost children. Fights over foreigners trying to spouse steal are also acceptable as long as they end in someone's feelings being hurt.
And to spice it up for my kids can Olivia run off with a little Italian fruit vendor?"
dk

I was going to agree wholeheartedly..we do need more drama!! After careful consideration though I decided that I would prefer other peoples dirt and drama right now..(Dave, I do thank you for your follow up email - it was brimming with good stuff!)

Drama is not easy here, in fact nothing is easy.Mike and I have been extremely patient. We are amazed that everything we do involves many steps...washing clothes (no dryer..), buying vegetables, finding the "right" lane and exact change for the toll road, figuring out if we really are allowed to park on the street,navigating,trying to dial a phone number, finding consistent internet connection..the list goes on. Very few things just happen.

We need an 'EASY' button.

For example...We decided to do a day trip to Rome yesterday by train.Steps involved:

Find a travel agent who would sell us the train tickets for that route.We had to wait for the shop to open.. as everything closes here between 1-4pm (what do these people do during this time??)We had to drive to the train station the day before to make sure the GPS actually had it right...it did not and therefore took us an extra 20 min. We had to determine if we could park there for the day..no...parking is no easy task as it is all dependent on the color of the lines. We had to make sure the train was actually running at that time and on that day. This is all the day before! (Keep in mind that we have two back seat drivers offering up their opinions on absolutely everything.) The actual day of the trip was not too bad. We started the drive to the train station being closely followed by someone at 160km/hr along a country road...only to then be passed as we approached a corner..addd some caffeine to that. Then I proceeded to validate the wrong ticket so had to try and explain to the conductor how and why I made such a stupid mistake..all in sign language. (The last trip to Venice I didnt even validate the ticket and just missed a hefty fine...so at least I am learning. ) We did get lucky though and somehow managed to spend the ride in first class so no complaints about that. There are benefits to not speaking the language..

This was all followed by a day in Rome with two children...no comment necessary. Ok just one, maybe two..from Max. "Oh look mommy, a toy store" ...just as we rounded the corner and the view of the Colloseum/Forum is in all its glory.. I also liked "Why cant we go to the zoo?"...and my favorite..."you mean the wall that they didnt finish building"

We have come to accept that everything just takes time and patience.We have settled into the ebb and flow of travelling. I feel like we could do this forever.

Add a warm, wine-induced happy haze to it all and life is good.


P.S. -

We have not lost the children..but not for lack of trying.

We did lose Mike in Rome for an hour and a bit. We didnt try too hard to look for him as we figured he knew where and when we were leaving on the train.He wouldnt let us shop so it was almost a good thing...

Lovely Levanto

The view from our house. A backyard filled with palm trees, palm fan, maritime pine, cacti,rose bushes, lemon trees and jasmine. A beautiful, heady smell fills the air...



Just finished a great week in Levanto, Italy. Consensus is...we will be back for a longer visit in the future. A funky little beach town with spectacular scenery - the locals are friendly, great beach with surf, large public pool on the beach,unlimited hiking(with wine /espresso stops along the way) and very good road and mountain biking. What more could one ask for??

We would have liked some sunnier weather, but I cannot complain - the locals have had to live with seven months of rain.



A little piece of heaven...english mags! Thank you Kelly.

We had the pleasure of spending the week with Darcy, Kelly and family. Our cottage was just big enough...for Anderson alone.



It took 7 of us to look after this one..



Two of us to get him up the hill home..



All sweetness..



Picking up fresh pasta for dinner. I had a 5 min. conversation only using hand gestures and facial expressions...and somehow ended up with what I wanted. I needed Kelly for this one. She speaks franglish with an italian accent and somehow they understand her!?



Maxs first car. We figure it will be just small enough to fit on the valley trail!
These little three wheelers are everywhere...in bright colors.



A day trip to Portofino. A little gem of a town to spend a day or two with your husband or lover. Kelly, the kids and I had a nice couple of hours wandering around. It is no wonder there are many paintings of this picture perfect town.





The boys were suppose to meet us there on bike, but they couldnt find the lower coastal road to Portofino. That would probably be because there isnt one! Who sets out on a long road ride without looking at a map?And trust me they didnt stop and ask for directions either. Kelly and I found them back in Levanto at a local cafe with a glass of wine in front of them. We took their seats, gave them the car keys , a car full of kids and sent them on their merry way...

Mike and Darcy had some great road rides and also managed to squeeze in a stage of the Giro D'italia. The locals are very enthusiastic about the race. There have been some epic stages due to the weather. Mike was able to get out and do part of the "Strade Bianche" stage. He rode the rolling hills of Tuscany and up into the town of Montalcino.

(You guessed it...We are now in Tuscany. I am beginning to think you cannot go wrong in Italy.)