I am here in Provence and there isn’t much going on since thirteen guests have left. I have a few photos of things here and there and then, unless something interesting or exciting happens, I will probably be posting photos of my last time in Paris for a few weeks before we leave for a little trip.

I saw this car in la Tour d’Aigues. It’s really unusual to see a huge car in France, especially if it is a classic. There was also a little statue of Elvis hanging from the rear view mirror. The license plate shows that the owner lives in this region.

A few days ago we went to la Ciotat on the coast. There was a brisk wind and the wind surfers were out enjoying it. We were visiting Maurice’s sisters and their families. They always come to this area for the August vacation.

We have over one hundred lavender plants in our yard. It looks great in the summer and it’s wonderful watching the bees and butterflies do their thing amongst it. However, when it stops blooming, the flowers have to be cut off. I have to tell you that it is a lot of labor. But I smell really good each time I finish-lavender, santolina and rosemary fragrances cling to my clothing.

There are still tomatoes to be found at the markets. I bought a big batch to make tomato soup. I haven’t tried any new French recipes this summer but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been cooking-just using the same old recipes.

You know you are in the country when you round a corner on a local road in Provence and see this:

There they are, a hundred sheep or so heading in your direction.

Getting closer. The shepherd just whistled and two dogs managed the sheep. I never was able to even see the dogs.

Going around the car.

Here’s one with a bell.

A few shots taken on our last quick trip to Aix. I love that city.

Squash blossoms for sale. I have never tried to cook anything with them although I’ve had them at restaurants. They always seem to have the texture of tissue paper to me which isn’t too exciting to my taste buds.

Little olive trees. I love the little round pots they are in.

When I stopped to take a photo of this, my favorite fountain in Aix, Maurice said, “You’re taking another photo?” Yes, once again, but I never had an artist painting a picture of it before.

When I was growing up we only had red tomatoes. Where did all of these colors come from? I know they call the purplish ones, Heirloom, but I never saw any until the last few years.

The last time I saw so many vineyards was in Bordeaux. Gigondas is another wine country, loaded with vineyards and shops devoted to selling the local wine. We passed through this part of France on our way to Vaison la Romaine.

We went to this village. Maurice tells me that it is a very well known wine in France. It’s a small area.

These mountains are well known in the area called les Dentelles. I thought it had something to do with teeth as dents means teeth but, in fact, it means lace. I guess the range is full of holes and it supposed to look like lace. I didn’t see it myself.

We ate at a very nice place outside of Gigondas called les Florets. We sat below les Dentelles in the shade of some large trees and had a great lunch.

We had a bottle of this wine made from the vineyards we could see from our table. It’s a light wine, rather like that found in wine from the Loire Valley.

I had the cocktail du maison made of champagne, creme de peche and Baume de Venise, a sweet liquor made in the area. It was very good-potent too.

I seem to have gone to the Pont du Gard a lot lately showing people how fabulous it is and of course I have some more photos. You can’t visit without taking photos. We went into the museum on our visit this time and it was fascinating, really well done. The film about it was really cheesy though, dubbed in English with a young couple from Italy talking about it.

This gives you some idea of how large it is. It carried water for miles to Nimes.

Lots of water activities go on down below in the river.

This little dog was getting a ride while his owners looked over the Pont. I’ve never had a dog that would do this.

I went to a different area than I usually do and got a reflection of the Pont in the river.

I’ve wanted to visit Vaison la Romaine for a long time but it isn’t near us so we have always put it off. We finally made the trip to get a look at the town and to also see the area, such as Gigondas, home of a famous red wine. The town was packed with cars and pedestrians and it was hard to find a parking place. I kept my eyes open for Patricia Wells, the famous food writer, who I’ve read lives near here but, alas, I never saw her. I did once see her in Paris with a lovely smile on her face.

The town is split in two by a river. There was a devastating flash flood in in 1992 and a lot was wiped out but this Roman bridge remained.

It gets its name from the enormous amount of Roman ruins remaining in the town.

Curved roads, cobbled and steep on one side of the river.

You can always tell when you are in Provence when you see lavender for sale.