We stopped over in Paris last night. It was a bonus to find ourselves wandering along by the Seine, past the amusing gargoyles of Notre Dame with time to visit two favourite shops, the most fascinating bookshop, Shakespeare & Company, and the best scarf shop in all the world, Kazana.
This morning we took a walk over Pont d’Austerlitz, through the Jardin des Plantes and on to the Mosquée de Paris. A lovely end to a nourishing week.
Yesterday morning we took the boys for a final walk around the winding lanes of the village. This included a stop for ice-cream, naturally. It was also a last chance to view the village from the opposite side of the gorge and enjoy the beauty of the stone towers and houses of Gordes hanging on to the side of the hill.
After an afternoon by the pool and watching butterflies the day ended with a magnificent meal on the patio in the company of family and friends.
Today we walked with one of the boys along an old track that led north out of the village of Gordes to the Abbey of Senanque 2.3 k away. Notre-Dame de Senanque was founded in 1148 by Cistercian monks who originally came from Mazan Abbey in the Ardeche.
Today many people visit the abbey not least to see the lavender fields surrounding the abbey buildings. We caught a faint hint of purple as the field nearest the front of the abbey came into view. Much of the communities income comes from growing lavender and selling the honey from their bees.
The church is simple in design with modernist windows set in a warm, light coloured stone. The day was busy with visitors but for a short while I had the church to myself. It’s open spaciousness made we want to dance.
Wended my way through the village of Gordes enjoying the stonework, doors and windows. My eye was caught by what must have once been a Christian shrine to Mary or a local saint. Now in the space where a statue once sat a more modern pillar of decreasing sized stones is found. It reminded me of a beach on the Isle of St.Agnes in the Scillies where many folk had developed the modern custom of building such a stone pillar.
I am not certain what these pillars hold for those who build them. Maybe it is different for each person who builds one. It would not surprise me if many held something of the spirituality of each person’s journey.
We travelled through the villages of the Luberon yesterday, a beautiful area, with vast plains of grape vines, the remains of the lavender harvest, fruit trees and cereals.
We saw the church tower of Bonnieux well before we arrived at this delightful village. From the terrace above the church you could see the hill villages of Gordes and Rousillion across the wide valley below.
After a delicious lunch at the L’Heure Bleue we wandered back through an area of the village with huge monochrome pictures on the walls of several houses and shops. My guess is they had been part of an art project denoting something of the history of each building. Fascinant!
The one bus to Gordes was full this morning. We waited over an hour for a taxi but the wait was worth it. The short trip up the mountain offered a wonderful first sight of the village across the valley.
We shared a sandwich for lunch to leave room for lavender ice cream and then wandered the village streets looking for simple, local food to take back for the family who are arriving later.
We scanned the valley floor from the village wall but fear we have missed the lavender fields again. Too early in March when we drove through Provence and too late now we have returned!
We flew out from Edinburgh to Marseilles this morning refreshed by a couple of days hospitality from a Scottish friend. The temperature on arrival was exactly twice that of Edinburgh but nicely tempered by a lively breeze off the Mediterranean Sea.
We took a train north to Cavaillon, a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region in southeastern France. The town is famous for growing melons – the heavier the melon, the sweeter and juicier it is.
We will search out melon for dinner!
Walking through the gorgeous meadows of wild flowers here in Wharfedale reminded us of similar meadows in Burgundy, France. Such simple colour, perfume and beauty.
However, it seems to me that it is the limestone barns and walls that makes the Yorkshire Dales landscape even greater food for the soul.
The first message we received this morning was – ‘Reason overcome by bigotry’.
Responded – ‘What have we become?’
Reply – ‘Isolated and small.’
In our small bit of life we will try to remain open and welcoming to the whole earth community. That is our personal challenge and that is where we may discover hope again.
We spent our last day in Paris with our friends at the French Open tennis tournament watching some fascinating games. It was sad to see Jamie Murray and his doubles partner, Bruno Soares go out in the third round of the Grand Slam.
However, the real surprise of the day was when the Williams sisters lost to Kiki Bertens and Johanna Larsson 6-3, 6-3 in a thrilling match for the winning couple.
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