They followed us home.

In Apt there is a L'Occitane en Provence store, selling upscale Provencal knick knacks, soaps, perfumes and souvenirs. Now our huge St. John's Town Center mall has an outlet. I never knew it was such a big company. Needless to say, no one in the store had ever been to Provence or spoke any French.

Quiet garden, Saignon

Janie, Rue de Cilly

Stairs, Rue de Cilly, Saignon

Rue de Cilly, Saignon

Bedroom window views, Rue de Cilly, Saignon

 These are just the first of many shots out of our bedroom window at Rue de Cilly. More to come

Weed flower, Japanese flag, Saignon

Corner, Saignon

Inadvertent origami, Saignon, Hippo

This is the result of a habit I have on my Sunday walks in the States. I walk along sidewalks and very often paper or cloth discards fold themselves into shapes like origami. I found this shirt/hippo in Saignon.

I have gone through all of my pictures from this year in Saignon and posted the ones that caught my eye. Now I will slowly go through the same pictures and find the smaller, quieter pictures.

Paella night, Saignon

 Ahhh..Paella night. The whole town gathered on the night before Bastille Day for a giant feast in the boules courts.

 This pair got an early start on the rose wine, and the red.

 The red was a bit "rustic" but the rose went down as smooth as silk.

 We had a lot of laughs.

 This wandering accordionist was delightful.

 Families gathered.

 This man makes hats so stylish that even I look snappy in one.

 Here is one of four huge pans of paella.

 It was a hit.

 Points were made ;-))

 YUM

 More laughs.

 Wife stealer

Best dancer

Reillanne market

On our last day in Saignon, our friends, Ian and Jane, took us to a town we had never visited, Reillanne. They have a nice little market that is distinguished by a number of booksellers. The last day is a perfect time to peruse books. Our bags were stuffed and near the weight limit so there was no temptation to buy. As you can see in the background, the walls of the square were covered with huge portraits, glued on. They were printed on very tough paper and had stood up to the weather quite well. Many mustaches were drawn on faces. Great fun and a perfect last day before the "joy" of travel.

Flowers at Mme. Blanc's, Saignon

Mme. Blanc lives right on the fountain square. Her family has lived in Saignon forever. She lets out beautiful rooms in her lovely village house. She also maintains a vast container garden in front. This is just a small sample.

Chez Christine, Saignon

Sitting under a mulberry tree having a breakfast consisting of a grand cafe au lait (or 2) along with a palmier, waiting for one or more groups of friends to show up and join us, was one of the true pleasures of this trip.

Sky, Bonnieux bike path

Clouds were a rare sight this year. Very hot and no rain. We got very good at managing shade on our walks when it was from 93f/33.9C to 97f/36.1C under a clear blue sky.

Place de l'Horloge, Saignon

I am really getting to like the Holga lens on my Olympus OM-D cameras. I have always loved the in and out of focus look of plastic lenses. What I didn't count on was the very different color rendition of a non-coated, two piece, plastic lens. The colors get smeared and the tone range reminds me of color in the 50s and 60s. They make these lenses to fit on Sony full-framed cameras, among others, for a mere 21.90 Euros.....in case anyone wants to have some fun.

Tiny dancer, Paella night

This little girl's parents help run a restaurant in Saignon. He is German and she is English. The child is learning three languages at once. She is as cute as a button and loves to dance.

Paella night, Saignon

Every year, on July 13th, Saignon has a big paella dinner and party. The whole town turns out and a great time is had by all. Ian and I had to watch as this charmer stole our wives away. Luckily, Ian had the way to get them back.........more wine!

Restaurant Ephemere is back!

 Last year this truck based restaurant popped up near the boules courts in Saignon. They are very good cooks and the food was lovely. We looked forward to it this year. Well, for a month there was no sign of it. Apparently they weren't allowed to use the building you see in the back of the top picture, in case of rain. It is owned by the school and they didn't want conflicts. Well, as soon as school got out they were back. What a treat to eat outside with friends in perfect weather and great food.......and a lot of wine.

Superb grilled lamb.

The folly of youth, Saignon

I walked down from Saignon to take pictures of the sunflower fields and a lavandin field. On my way back up I heard this roar from the road. Three boys (It's always boys, girls aren't this stupid.) had put some kind of metal tape on their tricycle's wheels and were off to the races. This is a 2km winding downhill road, steep in parts. They were already having trouble  staying in their lanes. A tricycle going 30km per hour (18mph) steers differently than at pedaling speeds. They also already had two or three cars behind them and many approaching in the other lane. The decision  making part of the brain doesn't develop fully until the twenties. (Janie will say that sometimes it isn't fully developed even at 69) It was a crazy, stupid thing to even think of. But it sure looked like fun. How big do they make tricycles?

Saignon garden may 23rd-July 19th 2015

 The picture above is of a community garden in Saignon on the day after we arrived. The one below is a few days before we left. There were whole crops that had been picked. The soil is very fertile and there are endless, long, hot, sunny days. There do not seem to be many bugs so upkeep is mainly watering and weeding.

A curiosity that I have not figured out. This is a very dry climate. Humidity rarely gets above 30%. There is not a lot of rain from May to August (Two days in the 60 days we were there). The soil dries out very quickly. I have never seen mulch in a garden here, nor for sale in a store. Is there a reason? I use it here in humid (80-90%) Florida, where we get frequent thundershowers, and it works a charm. We have sandy soil but I don't think the soil there is very clay based. It's a mystery. Mulch is magic.