Shopping Spree in St. Tropez

Mike & I have been talking about how living here for an extended
period is different from, say, a two week vacation. Our trip to St. Tropez today was a good example. It was market day in St. Tropez and there were lots of stalls - food, jewelry, clothes, meats, cheeses, olive oils - you name it. If we were there on vacation I would have scoured the market for table
cloths - there were some lovely ones- little souvenirs, lavender
scented anything & maybe some jewelry. Mike would have been looking at
cooking gadgets to bring home. And we both would have been purusing
the food for any small things we could nibble on, all the time wishing we were
able to cook.

Today we has an opposite experience. First we shopped
for our meals through Saturday - our next market day. We bought meats,
cheeses, lots of veggies & strawberries fresh from a neighboring
town. Oh & pate, too. (It's odd that I'll eat things here that I would
never touch at home!). I skipped all the linens but glanced at clothes
- maybe another time.

After the market we wandered the streets & little shops. We had a big
shopping day! Our haul: 2 eggs cups for me (I'm eating lots of soft boiled eggs for breakfast since I have to skip the bread ), S hooks to hang lanterns from the tree, candles for the house, and our big achievement - a plastic cutting board! You have
no idea how hard it was to find that.


And, by the way, St. Tropez is lovely. It wasn't too busy except at the
market. The town is on the Bay of St. Tropez & the water is beautiful. We walked up to the Citadel for views across the bay. There were peacocks in the trees which the British tourists were calling cranes. We're glad to see St. Tropez before the crowds hit. We even watched a hot game of boule in the square.


Speaking of boule, Mike & I got a lesson from a couple we met in
Cotognac - Dave & Karen. They live in DC but have been in Cotignac for
6 months. They took us to the boule courts & gave us lessons in the basics. I
won't be a boule champion anytime soon. Can't speak for
Mike though! Since Dave & Karen are leaving for home soon we bought their
boule sets so we can practice! This is another thing we would not have
done on a vacation trip.

We've also found that we're spending more time imvestigating small
towns in our area. If we were on vacation we would be in bigger places
& in museums. This weekend, for example, we were at the market in Aups
when we ran across a flyer for a plant sale in Villecroze. So we put
off our plant purchases ( something else that's not a vacation
shopping item) for the plant market. Well - what a pleasant surprise! The
park in Villecroze is lovely. It has a waterfall that cuts into the
cliffs with landscaped grounds all around. Delightful. It's so fun to
stumble upon something so unexpected. (Sorry,no photos. We forgot the camera.)
From there we went to TourTour, a village perched on a hilltop. After
wandering the streets we saw a pretty secluded terrace with a few
tables under a big tree. It was charming. Turns out it was a
restaurant. We couldn't resist having lunch there. The owners are a
husband & wife team - she cooks & he waits tables & talks to guests.
They have a total of four - yes, four, tables - all outside under the
tree. The food was excellent including the strawberry mousse.


We also find that we're doing more local things. I wrote about the
concert before. This weekend we're going to a "cowboy soirée". Yep-
that's right. Boots, hats, country music & line dancing. The dancers
were at a kids "carnaval" this weekend so we saw their outfits - too
funny. The event is Saturday night and includes "apertifs & chili con
carne.". We'll provide a full report next week!


The last big differnce from vacationing is that we can take advantage of things
that take time. For example, I started French lessons this week.
It's definitely going to help. We worked on pronounciation so
maybe I can lose the Texas twang with my French accent! This is an
opportunity to learn the language that I am unlikely to have again.

So that's it - the big differences between living & vacationing.
Either one is a good choice.


PS : For those of you following the tire saga- it's over. The correct
tire was delivered & Mike took the car to Nice to have it put on. We
now have 4 matching tires!
But a new challenge has arrived. The hard drive on our computer
crashed. Thankfully Dell sent a new one to Mike's brother who will be
the delivery man next week when they come over. The only trick now is
to recover our files (including work on my book that I had not backed
up - stupid)from the last few days. We're hoping to retrieve the files. In the meantime, I wrote this blog on the iPhone - so please excuse the odd formating.

PSS: I have to brag on Mike. He worked the tire issue until it was taken care of and he was on the phone with Dell first thing this morning. He's been great with all these little challenges.