My second trip to Les Calanques this year, and I’m still wondering if any of it is even real. There are no words or pictures to do any of it justice. Neither words nor picture can capture the vividness of the color, the sweet sharpness of the smell, the weightlessness of floating in the October Mediterranean. There’s a sensation here of being lost. Lost, free to find your own path down the cliffs and into the sea.
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Sunday, market day! L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue is famous for having one of the best markets in all of the South of France, and it did not disappoint. I left with: the best caramel sauce I’ve ever had in my life, the best mustard I’ve ever had in my life, a French market basket (the kind that were trending all summer at home, except mine is real), and a very full stomach, courtesy of the Corsican restaurant we wandered into for lunch. It was so lively, so charming – even on this hazy day.
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After lunch in Les Alpilles, we kept driving through the mountains, past the olive trees and the grapes, along the farm roads, and into the Luberon. And then we arrived at this city in the sky. Gordes, a French fairy-tale. The entire place seemed to be one giant castle overlooking the fields. I loved getting lost in the maze of the old streets, so far, far away from the rest of the world.
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Lazy weekend days in the South of France, tasting wine in secret-mountain-lairs and feasting on “cheese bricks” in a mountain-side village. No agenda except eating, drinking, and exploring.
We didn’t plan an intense day, since it was supposed to rain. It never did rain, but I’m glad we didn’t plan anything. It was so refreshing to relax, to go with the flow.
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A small town in the south of France, just under an hour from Marseille. I snapped these pictures quickly from the parking lot just before dinner nearby. No shots of the view from the restaurant, but you can imagine, it was perfect. And the food… SO good.
These simple spaces, the unknown ones with “less” to see and to do, where I can go with the flow – these are my favorite.
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I knew this little town was one train-stop north of me in Cambridge; I did not realize how charming it is. We had visited it last year, but by car and only briefly to visit the famous cathedral. This time, I wandered on foot to meet friends for tea (the best tea ever) along the river. Later, we wandered through the nearby antique store, and we probably would have spent the evening there, if it weren’t for me realizing the time and darting out to catch the last train back. This was a special discovery for me. I can’t wait to return, with more friends, and for more tea. And maybe for my own antique china tea-set or two.
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exploring & escapades 