Leisurely Days in the Autumn Sun

I’m curled up on the sofa in front of a warm fire after a morning of rain that made a cool day feel even cooler. As I sit here with my glass of wine, I think about our last couple of weeks and our days in the sun.

While we’ve had to move our breakfasts and dinners inside now, lunch is still outside on the patio sitting in the warmth of the sun. Most of our days have been filled with sunshine which makes the yellow-tinged leaves glow. I’ve been delighted to discover that I enjoy being outside even in the cooler temperatures as long as I’m in the sun – so that’s where I stay.

Several times last week, we wandered into the village on a sunny afternoon to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee and tea. The Cours is strangely quiet with just the locals and the same dogs patrolling. Last market day, we loaded our baskets with fall produce, a pastry treat, and sat in the sun at our favorite spot, Paulette’s Café. Kids run and play while parents shop. Last week we particularly enjoyed watching a group of kids who appeared to be about eight years old. They were having a great time but a little five year old boy was struggling to be included. Finally, he simply crawled under a sign board and made it his personal fort. He was too cute.

And we took a day trip to Frejus. Frejus is an old Roman town established by Caesar in 49AD. It’s the oldest settlement close by. It used to be a port but now it is 8 km from the sea. Roman ruins are scattered about the town in a jumble – a wall here, a tower there, and the remains of an amphitheater that is today under restoration. After a stroll around town, a visit to the church and cloister (we are at the you’ve-seen-one-cloister- you’ve-seen-them-all stage), a visit to the amphitheater, and a marvelous lunch, we decided to drive the few kilometers to St. Raphael. We visited there on our honeymoon eleven years ago but hadn’t been back since. After parking the car we walked along the waterfront with the Med glistening bright blue. After soaking up the sun at a sidewalk café and relishing in our good fortune, we headed home.

The clear highlight of our days in the sun was our two night excursion to Hyeres and the Ile des Porquerolles. Hyeres has a history as a resort community in the 1800s particularly for the British; however, as people gravitated to beach communities, Hyeres lost favor since it is a couple of kilometers inland. Nonetheless, it has a tropical climate and is fringed with date palms and a wide variety of tropical plants. The roads leading into Hyeres are landscaped with palms and verbena that are still blooming profusely in large clumps of color. It was a lovely, sunny day and we enjoyed a lunch in a charming square before our walk around town. We visited the villa where Robert Louis Stevenson wrote “A Child’s Garden of Verses.” That brought back memories of my mother helping me memorize “The Swing” which I was still able to recite for Michael (all but the last stanza which I could never remember anyway). The villa was later purchased by the writer, Edith Wharton. Today, it is a public park available for strolling through the gardens that are extravagantly terraced along the steep hillside. The gardens are so large that we got a bit lost in our wanderings. Our walk took us up the hill (Mike says that every street is up) and through another botanical garden before heading back to the car. We were in time to catch the 15 minute ferry to Ile des Porquerolles late in the afternoon.

The minute we stepped off the ferry we were captivated. The island is very small (about 3 km by 10km) with no cars, covered in umbrella pine trees, and surrounded by blue-water coves. Crisp white sailboats were returning to the picturesque harbor. After rolling our luggage to the hotel, we found a warm, sunny spot at a friendly bar and stopped….just stopped. What could be better – sitting in the sun, with my husband, the sea sparkling behind him, sipping a kir, and almost no one else around. It was the perfect start to our weekend.

But when there is a new place to explore, sitting can only last so long – at least for me. I was up with the birds to watch the colors of the sun play across the harbor in the early morning. After breakfast we embarked on a walk to the point Langoustier. The island has 51 km of walking and biking trails and we tried about 17 kilometers of them. The trail to Langoustier was lovely. In addition to the umbrella pines which I love, there were these delightful shrubs with bell-shaped white flowers which perfumed the trail with sweetness. Some of the flowers had become green, then yellow, and then red berries about the size of large marbles. They had a pebbly texture and almost glowed with color. It looked like Christmas ornaments hanging from the bushes. Later we learned that they are arbrousier – a fruit that is not eaten here but is similar to an Asian fruit that is edible. As we walked, we were serenaded by twittering birds. As I tromped into the trees for a photo, I startled a large bird that, to my surprise, was a ring-necked pheasant! I could see the ring around his neck and the flicker of blue on his long tail feathers. How fun is that?! We saw several others on our walk that morning and learned to recognize their ruckus cries.

Our walk took us past cozy coves of blue water edged by rocky cliffs – calanques – and the occasional beach. I don’t naturally gravitate to sailing but this is the perfect place to be a sailor. We hiked to the ruins of an old fort perched on a slender spit of land. It took little imagination to understand why this was a perfect spot for a fort. We stopped for a break along a narrow beach that was covered in a wall of seaweed. Apparently, the seaweed washes ashore this time of the year, piles up and forms a natural barrier against the erosion of the waves. My darling husband is always on the lookout for great photo ops. He's particuarly accomplished at searching for the best angle for photographing me. I hope he continues his search!

We continued our walk through the center of the island through pine needled-covered trails with pines bent to the wind into a snug cove surrounded by rocky calanques. Mike tried to coax a seagull into eating from his hand….when there was nothing to eat. The gull figured it out.

After lunch (and a nap), we rented bikes to explore the other part of the island. That’s when we learned that the economy of the island revolves around the ferry schedule. It was 4PM and the shop was closing at 4:45PM because that’s when the last ferry left. The nice young man allowed us to keep the bikes overnight and drop the key in the door slot the next morning – all without a deposit or credit card. There seems to be no end to the generosity of spirit and trusting nature of the local people.

So, with our bikes we set out for the other side of the island. The trail was perfect for mountain biking – a wide, flat, dirt road. The roads were shaded by eucalyptus trees with their shredded bark falling around them like a grass skirt. They made the air smell like a spa. We must have stopped six times in three kilometers. Around every bend was another beautiful cove with sail boats anchored peacefully. The scenes exuded restfulness.

We sat on a rock in the sun to absorb the tranquility. After returning and relaxing with another drink sitting in the sun at the bar, we returned to the hotel, had a light dinner and slept well.

I couldn’t resist exploring one final trail before we left on the morning ferry. I got up early and set out for the opposite side of the island for sunrise. The trail was dark and I had to pick my way carefully. As I got closer, a bright beam of light appeared – a lighthouse with its circling strobe. I reached the rocky cliffs as the sun was streaking the sky with blues, pinks and oranges with the colors reflected off of the cliffs. What an inspired start for the day. It was worth the early morning trek, but then, seeing Mother Nature at work is always worth it.

We returned to Cotignac in time for the quince festival. Yes, quince. Yes, a festival. For those who may not be familiar with quince, it looks like a large, yellowish green and very hard pear. The festival was a big production and included a big lunch and entertainment such as a strolling dixieland jazz band. (We've heard more dixieland in the last six months than we've heard in the last six years!) And they had a female vocalist who rolled her grand piano into the street and performed. As we walked past, she started into "Tonight, Tonight" from "West Side Story." This is Mike's favorite song...although, if you listen closely to the video you'll hear that he doesn't quite know all the words.

But quince was the star of the show. There were booths set up along the Cours with homemade quince pates, jellies, confitures (natural, with apple or ginger), cakes, tarts and pastries. There were even duck terrines with quince, quince and salmon toasts, quince paella, and foie gras topped with quince.

It reminded me of the Spam-o-rama in Austin with all things made from Spam. Or the scene in Forest Gump where his friend rattles off all the types of shrimp dishes. We sampled everything – and it was yummy – even better than Spam Bolognese! (I am not making this up.)

With all the enjoyment we’ve had soaking up the sun in Provence, a day by the fire is just fine. Although – I’ll still look forward to sun tomorrow!