Sun 16 Mar 2008
We made a quick trip to Ansouis which happens to have a little market on Sundays. Although we arrived a little after noon they were all packing up and leaving. Then we headed up into the village to buy a baguette and the boulangerie was closed. Apparantly once the bread is gone, they close. So, not to totally waste the trip, we sat down and had a glass of wine.
This is the only place in town for a quick drink or small bite to eat. There is also a nice restaurant. I sure wish we had something like this in our little village.
We sat down outside and I noticed a lot of people standing outside sort of blocking the door and I wondered what they were doing until it struck me that it was the smokers and they could no longer smoke inside. I can’t tell you how nice it is now to eat any place in France and not have to inhale smoke. I had sort of gotten used to it but am glad it isn’t an issue anymore. I’m not sure why this lady was holding a whole box of Gauloises, surely the strongest cigarette out there.
I took this photo because I really like the color of the door. I bet it will really look great when the rose bush starts blooming, which won’t be long now.
March 17th, 2008 at 1:46 am
I didn’t realise that France had gone non-smoking in restaurants! Fantastic!! I also love that door — I always like to see brightly painted doors and find that the ones in the US are usually so boring. However, I’m planning to paint mine Mediterranean blue.
March 17th, 2008 at 5:02 am
I’m originally from Calif where smoking in public was banned eons ago, then moved to Missouri where we were shocked people could still smoke in restaurants. We were quite taken aback when asked at a restaurant “smoking or non smoking”…hadn’t heard that in a long time. While in Missouri, they changed the law about smoking in public places, and it’s changing here too in Georgia. Didn’t know it was sweeping the world!
Love the photo of the door! Isn’t it funny how they put the doorknob smack dab in the center?!
March 17th, 2008 at 8:14 am
Great that they have all gone no smoking, same here in the UK..but I wish the people would move away from the doors…so annoying.
Linda you can have my green door if you want, I really want a blue one, which I hope I will get soon.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:20 am
I guess the non-smoking thing is catching on all over :-). Love the color of that door next to the wood.
Have a wonderul day/evening!
March 17th, 2008 at 11:56 am
Yes, I’ve gotten so used to not having smoke around that I really notice it whenever someone is smoking, even in the car ahead of me on the road, the smoke blows back to me. My dad smoked incessantly back in the day…I hardly noticed it back then!
Love the green door, and just in time for Saint Patrick’s Day. I posted a green door today for that reason.
I hope the itching is decreasing…that was an amazing thing to read about, those caterpillar bags and eggs, yucky!
March 17th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Do they really, truly abide by the no-smoking rule? Amazing!
I hope you return to photograph the door when the roses are in bloom.
March 17th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Can’t believe they aren’t sneaking smokes in the Bar des Sports. Want to get back to Ansouis and the Luberon!
March 17th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
It’s a Saint Patrick’s Day door…yippee!!
Meilleurs voeux!!
March 18th, 2008 at 5:08 am
I’m noticing that in your photos the flowers and plants of Provence are just a bit ahead of those in Brittany. With roses we’re just at the stage of waxy looking red leaves in big clusters. When we moved here in July the roses were in bloom, full of blossoms in fact, but on some very leggy-looking fronds and odd shaped plants - bits spronging in all directions, climbers with nothing to climb on. This property is full of rose bushes in some of the oddest places, even clusters of them under overhanging trees. We probably should have relocated some, but just haven’t had the time. So we trimmed all of them WAY back this year and I’m hoping they will at least look healthier and neater in a month of so. Would love to have that green door as a back drop for a few of these disposessed climbers we’ve got! Actually, a door in the garden wall is a terrific thought.
March 18th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Hi Linda… it’s so nice to see your posting on Ansouis..I wish I had been there. Such a lovely picture of the green door!
Our bakery seems to run out a bit early these days since he opened a second bakery in Cucuron and the main team is manning the counters of the boulangerie in Cucuron.
Made me very homesick to be in Ansouis!
a tres bientot,