We live near a very small village. When I say small, I am not exaggerating. There is no post office, no boulangerie, no cafe, nothing. It does have a quaint thing going and it is interesting to me to hear about life there in times now past. Our area is known for its hiking and biking so we often see people pursuing those activities here and there.We are deep in the countryside of Provence and along with our little village we get those pleasures that run deep brought to us by nature. In any case, here are a few shots around our village.

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 This building has always intrigued me. Someone is living there now but it was once an auberge or hotel of some kind. When we first moved here you could see writing high up on the wall but it is all faded away now. I saw an old photo in the mayor’s office with women in long dresses and hats sitting in front of it.

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 This is the home of the mayor’s mother. He and his wife live behind her. She always has great flowers growing. The mayor is a farmer and long with growing grapes for his own wine and olive trees for his own oil, he also has a small plot somewhere and his mother sells white asparagus and strawberries in the Spring.

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 Mary watching over our village on top of the church that I have never seen open.

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 View up the “main street” of our village. This is what is called a gite. They have gites which house single families but this is a more rustic one set up for hikers and bikers with a camp feeling of bunk beds in large rooms and large bathrooms. We tried to book this for the family reunion coming up in August as it can hold up to 30 or so people but it was totally booked for 3 1/2 weeks by a group of handicapped children.  

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This is where we voted. Yes, I voted in the French elections. I really didn’t feel informed and wasn’t sure how to vote but in the end I voted as my husband did because he was so passionate about it. He was for the Socialist, Royal. He was so upset when Sarkosy won and worries about the future of France. He stayed up until 3 AM watching the vote returns in Paris. I do feel that France needs to change alot of things in how it does business so maybe Sarkosy can do that. We will see.  When I voted I put a slip of paper with the person I wanted written on it into an envelope and then put it into a slot. The mayor pushed a button which let the envelope drop into a glass container and a little bell dinged and the mayor said, “A vote”. Yesterday the changing of the guard took place in Paris when Sarkosy took over from Chiroc. Maurice was so upset he couldn’t even watch.