Spoiler alert: Tosca dies at the end
Tom Cruise proposed to Katie Holmes here At eight it was bright and sunny and October cool. I got SS a hot croissant (he favours one boulangerie over the other as we have two on our doorstep to choose from),…
Time flies by when you’re the driver of a train
The TGV train station at Avignon; very cool Blue sky, sun shining, and the famous Provence wind, the mistral, pounding. You could feel it in the car and when we dropped it off at the TGV it was almost impossible…
Bull manifestation
Did I ever give the update on the Tate Modern sunflower seeds? Despite taking thousands of Chinese villagers years to create and paint, the porcelain wasn’t lacquered. The seeds “opened” for one day. When people began to walk on them…
Le Shopping
It’s stop not arete and parking not stationnement and shopping. The Quebec sign police would have a field day. We took the lawnmower on the motorway SE to Aix (as in extremee or excusez or X the LA band from…
Man carrying oven
Even the graffiti has je ne sais quoi Any more culture and we’d be yogurt. Today, all day, in Arles. It was sunny, then overcast, but mild, up to about 18C. We started with a coffee in a brasserie on…
Exam at the end
Morning sun looking west from Les Baux Vineyards and olive groves in the Val d’Enfer The limestone outcrop which is Les Baux Part of the remains of the fortified castle at Les Baux Stupendous…
Sunshine Lollipops & Rainbows
Awesome gardens at the hotel Bastide de Boulbon It rained hard all night but we woke up to a beautiful day, occasional clouds, lots of sun, around 8C, but no wind. Our tourist world looked wonderful. Of course still…
Blow’d up good, blow’d up real good
We had an early breakfast—as early as you can have it, it starts at nine; the Germans were leaving, four hour drive to Frankfurt, pretty sweet. Mild but overcast. Drove south to Cluny, meandering along a two lane highway through…
Monday not so good
Closed for the season Chateau (maison de garde at the dam) in decline, Lac des Settons We had a wonderful, lively breakfast, one UK couple regaling us with stories about friends of theirs who were caught in the Eurostar tunnel…
His name was Ken
It was January at 8 AM: a mere five degrees! Had communal breakfast upstairs; four Germans, two Belgians, two Anglos from Kent. We were the first out of the B&B, on our way quite far north to Vezelay. It was…