The French Experience - Part 1A - The Beginning!

Ginny, my travel companion and partner in crime.

Do you think she looks happy?

How do I begin?  I think it makes sense to split our sejour in France into two distinct parts, because they really were.  The first week was spent in Ceyreste in Provence with my very hospitable, funny, and fabulous sister-in-law Rita,  and her husband Joel.  They spend part of their time here in a beautiful, large house in the heart of Provence, near Marseille and Cassis, high on a hill but with precious views of the Mediterranean.

View from my bedroom window.  That IS the Mediterranean through the V in the trees, but haziness over the water prevents you from seeing it.  We could see it clearly a few days later when the legendary Mistral (wind from the north with crisp, clear skies and bright sunshine!) relentlessly tormented the area for several days.  If I looked to the left, there was yet another view of the sea.

The house is spacious with master bedroom and two additional bedrooms on the ground floor and two more bedrooms upstairs.  Ginny and I occupied upstairs, each with our own room and a shared bath.  Typical Provence style inside and out.  We ate almost every meal outside, except when the cold wind blew too violently.  It never stopped us and actually gave us some great adventures.

Rita is a stupendous chef and prepares lunch and dinner every day, for company or not.  Her husband is FRENCH, so meals are "comme il faut!"  We ate and drank in copious amounts!  Want to see food?

Pizza and greens at a bistro in Sanary sur Mer.  Two lovely French ladies and their dog - a Whippet - sat nearby and  chatted with us.  Prior to lunch we stopped in La Cadiere, where we visited the atelier of a weaver who sold me a gorgeous wrap/shawl and gave me a ball of beautiful brown/rust mohair.

 A very badly focused photo of Valerie Frerot, the weaver "creation de vetements tisses main,"

 me wearing the wrap I bought, and Ginny.

 Pottery in the lower portion of her atelier.

 Another of Valerie's creations.

Rita examining my purchase.  I'm not so sure she likes it!

I thought I had taken photos of every meal we had, but alas the photos are NOT there.  No clue what happened!  The photo below is that last lunch with Rita & Joel at their home - and this consisted of left-overs.  How yummy does that look?

NEXT: Our gastronomical SHOCKER!!!!