Race to the Finish!

The final brocante shots...as we race through to finish the series.  I got distracted yesterday with a wander through the market, a trip to the butcher, a stop at a little kitchen this and that store to get a new market basket (on wheels!),  a stop at the wine cave to pick up some celebratory champagne for a friend's birthday and finally, the epicerie to get some pita bread.  Whew!  That's the way the errands roll around here. 

I remember reading some ex-pat forum or other before I moved here in which one of the participants was complaining (bitterly) about how in France, she was having to go to six different places to pick up things on her 'to do' list.  She was really missing the convenience of the one-stop shopping in the US - not to mention everything being open on Sunday.  That little detail is one of the reasons yesterday was spent engaged in errands:  I've grown quite accustomed to everything being closed on Sunday...but for the marché and the wine cave (go figure!).   Frankly, it's one of the many things I love about this place!  I really enjoy having to wander around to collect the things on my list.  I really enjoy having a chat with my butcher - who knows me!  I really like that the people at the epicerie know who I am and recognized yesterday that I actually was ahead of the pushy (but very well-dressed) woman who was ignoring me and trying to get served ahead of me (as her husband was in line behind me).  I like that.  All of it.

Here's our final wander through the brocante fair.  Enjoy!

...and it won't be long before I'll be needing to tuck one of these lovelies in my bag to have handy at all times!

Bon dimanche à tous!
Leslie

Little World Views - La Broncante

A quick bonjour to wish you a lovely day - and to share the next-to-the-last of the brocantes.

à demain!
Leslie

More Brocantes

My goodness! I'm really off my game.  Yesterday was a 'Window on Provence' day and apparently my tête was dans la lune! (To have one's head in the moon is to say 'I spaced' in the vernacular of southern California.)

At any rate, today we continue our wander through Sunday's brocante fair, going from the sublime...

...where, if you look to the left of this image, you'll see how I feel about my little French life...errr...most of the time! (Le meilleur des mondes: The best of worlds.)  If you're a reader, do these books not just make you drool?  Perhaps one day I'll have to take you through the monthly antique book fair that happens in the Place de la Mairie. 

But I digress...shall we continue?  To the ridiculous...

...and you know what they say...you have to kiss a lot of frogs...

Have a lovely day!

Ciao,
Leslie

Little World Views - La Broncante

From Sunday's wander through the brocante fair along cours Mirabeau...a little something for everyone!

Ciao,

Leslie

Mardi Meteo

Get this!   21ºC  (70ºF)   Ever so lovely in plain, old English.

Can it get any better than that?  Well, yes.  Yes, it can!

I thought you might enjoy seeing the wisteria around my little ville (and a little ville just out of Aix) so I went shooting this morning just for you!

The scent is absolutely heavenly!

And you?  What's the day like in your 'hood?

Ciao,
Leslie

Emerging from...

...tax preparation.  Whew!  Done.  As I sorted through stacks and files and wore my favorite pencil down to a nub doing calculations, I did think of you all!  Those calculations are all now in the lap of my accountant and I can tackle the French taxes...does it never end?! 

Let's start here:

Remember a handful of weeks ago when I posted a shot and said, "Watch those trees..."?  And then just a week or so later, there was this shot:

Well, take a look at it now!

Our spirits, frozen by a long winter, get a lift when the leaves pop out on the plane trees along Cours Mirabeau.  Better than any anti-depressant on the market (okay...that may be an overstatement.  But you get the idea...),  the energy being emitted as those leaves push their way into the world is palpable...if not contagious...at least for me.  The energy of a world being reborn. 

In coming days, this elegant canopy will be in full splendor and ready to shade us during the heat of summer.  I wanted you to enjoy it along with me so I brought you along on my walk last evening.  Above, we're at the top of cours Mirabeau, taking the long view down toward the fountain at La Rotonde. 

Then we wandered through the brocante fair.  Lined up on the left-hand side of this grand passage, a few dozen antique vendors spread their wares on a regular basis.  I find their goods a bit overpriced but their vignettes charming.  I also find them all to be quite good-natured about allowing me to shoot photos. 

There is something about forks that always draws me.  Wonder what that's about?  (*wink, wink.*)

I'll share more of that brocante fair through the week so stop in during the days ahead to see what else you enjoyed!


Ciao,
Leslie

Mardi Meteo

Place Richelme, Aix en Provence

Bain du soleil*!  That's what we are currently experiencing. 

Layers of clothing are being peeled off as spirits rise.  I can absolutely *feel* the difference in the streets...or maybe that's just me peeling layers of clothing off as my spirits rise.

We are looking at temps around 70ºF today (21ºC) and the leaves on Cours Mirabeau's plane trees are popping out eager to prepare themselves to protect us from the warmer temps to come.  I, for one, welcome it all!

And you?  Pray tell what's happening in your 'hood?

Ciao,
Leslie


* Bath of sun (literally)