Tag: Experience Sabbatical in Provence
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Provence sabbatical day 29 – enjoying village life
Getting to understand village life! Winter in Provence: no tourists, just locals, friendly French interactions, grabbing bits of sunshine
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Provence sabbatical day 28 – sea spray in St. Tropez
A nice lie-in after a fab Christmas dinner with Patricia. Around lunchtime, we took the leisurely route to St. Tropez, enjoying the sunshine
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Provence sabbatical day 27 – Christmas Day 2013
Wow. You wait 365 days a year for it, and then suddenly it’s here. Christmas Day. And here we are in the South of France, with our great buddies, celebrating Yuletide.
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Provence sabbatical day 26 – the day before Christmas
What a lovely way to enjoy Christmas? Cozy and warm with candles and a lovely fire, amazing smells emanating from the kitchen and a relaxed vibe. Life is Good!!
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Provence sabbatical day 25 – Christmas madness and fabulous friends
It was after 5pm when Rob, Diana and Naomi trundled into town. Bienvenue chers amis!
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Provence sabbatical day 24 – Christmas cat in a hat
What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.” ~ Dr. Seuss, author of Cat in the Hat
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Provence sabbatical day 23 – Cotignac tourist office
It’s been raining solid for 2 days. I’m not complaining. We’ve had amazing sunny weather, and the land needs rain. But when it stopped today, Patricia and I hopped and skipped our way down to the village. I wanted to pop into the tourism office to find out things to do for when Rob, Diana […]
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Provence sabbatical day 22 – Breaking Bad and mince pies
Watching Breaking Bad late into the night and meeting a 90-year-young legend, Patricia’s Mum.
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Provence sabbatical day 21 – baubles and lamb curry
The final DIY touches, decorating for Christmas and a slow-cooked “best dish I’ve made” lamb curry
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Provence sabbatical day 20 – fire nooks and e-cards
If this post is a blurred mess, please forgive me. I think we got about half an hour’s sleep last night. Don’t ask me why. Just couldn’t sleep. Eventually I gave up trying and came downstairs to a bewilderd Mado … “What? It’s breakfast time already?” He thought it was Christmas. Peeking through the windows, […]
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Provence sabbatical day 18 – we’re finally unpacked!
Gosh, we’re in week 4 of our sabbatical! Time is flying by. And finally we’ve managed to move into Pen’s room and unpack!!
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Provence sabbatical day 15 – festive season creeping in
Installing a 4-metre Christmas tree into your lounge is a lot easier with more than two hands. Marcel and I lent ours. Even if I say so myself, it all ran very smoothly.
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Provence sabbatical day 14 – what’s for dinner?
Maggi and Derek have done their very best to recreate an “vieille maison” using Provencal features and techniques, and the result is marvellous!
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Provence sabbatical day 13 – reflections and panes
I adore mirrors. Not because I enjoy spending hours looking into them. But because of reflections are like memories.
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Provence sabbatical day 12 – a drive to Darty in Frejus
Sidsel gave us a tip for the washing machine, Darty. And that you can order online. But we thought we’d go check it out in person.
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Provence sabbatical day 11 – back to the future
Last night’s carol service took me back 3 decades to watching my parents sing in Pretoria. One of my proudest moments, they have both got such beautiful voices. And it seems the local antique dealer is harbouring the voice of an angel! I had to close my eyes to fully absorb the nuances of tenors, […]
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Provence sabbatical day 10 – freezing my socks off
I froze my socks off. And then my toes defrosted! It turns out that not all socks are equal … the fuzzy socks that I normally sleep in do wonders at keeping my toetsies warm, but get painful if you walk in them too long. And walking socks on the other hand, are pretty damn […]
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Provence sabbatical day 9 – la terrasse du soleil
I woke up early to get some bookkeeping done. What do you mean it’s Saturday? Really? Patricia collected me around 11 am for our stroll down to the village
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Provence sabbatical day 7 – mon roi et un petit gâteau
“Is it 12 o’clock yet?” Marcel was trying to read himself to sleep, and I kept asking until he said yes. “Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday my darling Marceeeeeel, happy birthday to you” … and then five minutes later in Dutch, and five minutes after that in Afrikaans …we won’t even […]
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Provence sabbatical day 6 – sparky and the rocking pot
Maybe it was all the fresh air, olives and excitement, or maybe it was sheer exhaustion, but I slept like a baby. We woke up late 🙂 Even Mado seemed to understand and only meowed once. Our first task of the day was a semi-panic SOS call to Christiane … during the evening, we sniffed […]
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Provence sabbatical day 4 – taking care of the supplies
3am and I can’t sleep. Wide awake and thinking about everything and nothing at all. A little blue light on the screen casts a lovely shadow of Marcel on the wall. He looks like a reclining Moore sculpture. Tossing this way, turning that way, I eventually nod off again. Mwaauwwww. It’s late-o’clock and Mado, the […]
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Provence sabbatical day 3 – watch paint dry or visit the village?
A sunny Sunday perfect for a day of rest, or vin rouge in the village.
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Provence sabbatical day 2 – the sun has deserted us
It’s amazing the difference between being a guest and being a caretaker. Don’t think I got a wink of sleep last night.
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Provence sabbatical day 1 – it officially begins
Our sabbatical in Provence officially begins. We find ourselves settling in to the farmhouse without auntie and uncle, and pinch ourselves again … is this real?