Lunch at Thym te Voila, Apt

 We both had the minted fava bean soup and salad.  I had a ratatouille and Janie had a cucumber, avocado, smoked salmon and dill melange.

This is the modest front of Thym te Voila

Poppies, Rustrel....regular and oil paint.

 Photoshop has a rudimentary oil painting filter to change the look of a picture. A field of poppies lends itself to this. The original is below.

Menu, Thym te Voila, Apt

Thym te Voila, in Apt, is a wonderful restaurant. The chef has a wonderful imagination and makes different food every day. Most of the dishes are vegetarian, some are vegan and all are delicious. We usually got the formule express which was two appetizers (entrees in France) and a salad.

Hay bales, Bonnieux

During our stay we took a lot of walks on the bike path from the Roman bridge, Le Pont Julien, to the Bonnieux road. During this time we watched a farmer cutting and baling his fields. This was an alfalfa field and the smell of fresh-cut alfalfa brought back memories of living between two dairy farms in Vermont and rentin out 15 acres to a neighbor, who planted alfalfa.

Dog friend, Bonnieux walk.

We were on our usual Bonnieux walk when this guy decided to join us. He walked with us for a couple of miles, stopping in the shade and taking little side trips to taunt yard bound dogs. Then he joined a young runner and left us.

Flautist, Saignon.

This was one of those bits of serendipity that happen in Saignon. We were leaving Christine's after another wonderful palmier and cafe au lait when we heard flute music. We wandered down to the fountain and here was this woman playing a flute, beautifully. We listened for a bit and then talked to her. She is from New Zealand and goes on long treks with her flute and a backpack. Her current hike was to walk from Oslo to Jerusalem! For those of you who have seen Emilio Estevez's movie  The Way, this was a similar walk. She had actually done the walk from the movie. She even had a scallop shell necklace that her brother made her for the walk. Great fun. She played us a Telemann piece followed by a Bach piece.

Chicken curry wrap at Le Petit Cafe, Saignon.

Andrew is a very talented chef in Saignon. He is English and has had or managed three restaurant/bistros in Saignon. Last year we ate often at La Petite Cave, his previous restaurant. He closed that while we were gone and opened the new place while we were visiting this year. The idea was to be open from 8:00 to 5:00 for breakfast and lunch. Well, the food was so good that people were staying well past 5:00 (17:00) and he had to sort of shift his hours.

This wrap was superb.

Jack and Henrietta, St Saturnin

Henrietta was our host/landlord on five of our visits to Saignon. She has since sold her rental units and lives quietly (for Henrietta) in St. Saturnin les Aptes. Her father was visiting from Australia and Scotland. She is currently considering re-entering the rental market...............stay posted.

Peas, from farm to plate, Saignon.

 These are the peas that we bought from the farmer in the previous post. Janie shelled them on our little deck and I cooked them to go with rotisserie chicken from the lady in front of the Simply market. The chicken comes with gravy, garlic and potatoes that cook under the chickens. The best rotisserie chicken that we have had in The Luberon has come from this woman. The peas were just what you would expect from freshly picked peas, sweet and rich.

Produce farmer, Coustellet

This man was selling his own produce at the Sunday market in Coustellet. He had beautiful parsley, mint, peas and carrots. We bought a kilo of peas for dinner.

For Delia....Bougies

Donna Donna, Goult

A woman's dress shop recalling an older image of Europe.

Gravestone details, Goult

 The marble and the carving are so delicate.

Trees in graveyard, Goult

Just a close up this year. The Alice in Wonderland tree sculptures remain amazing.

Annual Janie in Goult doorway picture.

I have taken this picture every visit to Provence. The door keeps aging.

La Cagole, Goult

I love the way she goes to the bottom of the sign.

Horse sculprure, Bonnieux walk

 This is the newest addition to a sculpture collection along our Bonnieux walk.

Trees on our Bonnieux walk.

I took these same two trees last year. This year I threw in a cloud.

Our rental this year.

This year we rented a VW Golf 2.0 liter diesel. It is the perfect car for here. Plenty of power, lots of room, and small enough for the roads. It is a ball to drive and gets great mileage. Other than a built-in nanny that yells at me for going too fast, going too near, going too close to the edge of the road and lecturing me for having the windows open when closing them would save diesel, it is our favorite car ever over here.

Poppy field, Bonnieux

These fields have launched thousands of paintings, so I couldn't resist putting an oil painting filter on one of my shots.

Apt market day

 Beautiful garlic

 Fresh produce

 Best melons in the world

 Dried fruits

 Paella

 The best strawberries I have had in years. They are red all the way through, and as sweet as candy.

This lady sold us a scarf. She was delightful. Her hat read U.S. Navy. I always like to buy from a fellow sailor!

Rainy day, Rue Cilly, Saignon

 We have had one rainy day in the nineteen that we've been here. We had to make do with the food at hand, oh well, a mini-feast!

Happy mannequin

This is a vaguely creepy thing to come upon around a corner.

Angry Spongebob, Apt (For Delia)

Posters, Apt

Succulent, roof, Rue Cilly, Saignon

Our hosts are avid gardeners. Part of our "rent" is to water the herbs and flowers on the sun deck here. When I look over at the roof, they have nested succulents among the roof tiles. They form a solid barrier, need no watering and look great.

Fig tree, Saignon

Sheep, Saignon

On the same walk as the garden below I came upon this flock of sheep that were clearing a parking area of every piece of greenery they could reach. The next day they cleared a field. Very efficient.

Saignon Garden

 On our second day here, Janie had a bad cold and I went out to walk a bit. I came upon this garden being tended by three ladies. They had cleared the lawn part and were trimming around stands of iris and peony. One was reopainting the inside of a cistern. The garden is many small rooms and is very inviting.