Giving Thanks for Friends

Mike and I have so many things to be thankful for particularly this year. We continue to have wonderful experiences in France, plus, throughout the year we’ve had the opportunity to share those experiences with friends who have come to visit. Some friends were veteran travelers and others enjoyed their inaugural trip to Europe, but this week was the first time we had two friends visit who didn’t know each other before they arrived. None of us knew how that would work but, as it turned out, it was perfect. And I received yet another gift just in time for Thanksgiving – the joy of watching my two dear friends become friends with each other.

Dan arrived first. I’ve known Dan for years, first as a consultant, then as a co-worker, and ultimately as a friend. We’ve gone through several job and career changes together and through it all, he has been a constant source of inspiration and a voice of wisdom. Plus, he can fill the room with laughter!

Felicia arrived a couple of days later and stayed for a few days after Dan left. I have literally known Felicia all her life. Our mothers have been friends for decades. Although Felicia’s family lived in Chicago, we saw them regularly when they visited her grandparents in Smithville. Somewhere along the way, Felicia grew from being the youngest kid among our families into a wise and happy woman who also happens to be a successful designer in Chicago. While we’re not related, it feels like we are. Her mom, Kay, even let me see their basement!

And so, it was the four of us, me, Mike, Dan and Felicia, who spent Thanksgiving week together in Cotignac. We traveled through Provence together but it was the evenings sitting around the table next to the wood stove laughing and talking that will be my favorite memories of the week. It was so much fun to watch these two friends connect with each other, swap stories, exchange advice on life and love, and laugh long and loud.

Dan had not traveled in this part of France so we loaded he and Felicia in the car and hauled them through village after cute village. We went to a Marche de Noel (Christmas market) at Chateau de Berne outside Lorgue. We went once with Dan and again with Felicia. None of us bought much – well, except for food, of course – honey, chocolates, macaroons, and jam, but it was fun to see the people, hear the happy chattering in French, and soak up the festive atmosphere. Even the dogs were dressed for the occassion. Felicia had the added treat of going to the Christmas market in Flayosc. It was a tiny event filled with handmade crafts. I bought a cookbook assembled by the local grade school children. It has a watercolor cover with gold star stickers made by the children. The kids were selling them as a fund raiser for their ski trip. How could we pass that up? I discovered later that the book is filled with their moms' favorite French recipes. I think this may be a winner! There was another fund raiser at the entrance door just past the mulled wine. This one involved guessing the weight of a huge loaf of bread - like guessing how many M&Ms are in a jar. Mike took a shot but we haven't heard anything about our winnings. I think we'll have better luck with the recipe book!

When we collected Felicia at the airport, we drove to Cannes for a lunch overlooking the Mediterranean. It was a beautiful, sunny day and we sat outside soaking up the sun. We watched the wanna-be beautiful people stride by looking neither right nor left but clearly expecting the rest of us to watch them. We giggled at the women with orange hair, artificially puffed lips, and needle-thin 4” heeled boots (how do they walk in those?). We window shopped at the high-end stores along the promenade – Gucci, Chanel, Bulgari, Hermes. Sorry, no one received Christmas gifts from Cannes!

In a shopping extravaganza that was more our speed, we hit the market in Cotignac. The market is much smaller now and many of the souvenir vendors are gone for the season, but it is still our favorite weekly event. The market is busy but in a casual way. The locals are out early, carefully selecting chard and pumpkins while they visit with friends. It is a leisurely amble down the street buying as we go. We’ve been here long enough that we have our usual vendors who know us, so we are part of the neighborly ambiance, too. I love that. We loaded up on food – you’d think we had an army to feed! But it all looked so good there was no point in trying to resist. Plus, Felicia – who lived in Milan for six years – offered to make salads for both lunch and dinner (endive with egg for lunch, baby artichoke with parmesan reggiano for dinner). We ate VERY well!

With all the eating, we had to do some walking, too. Mike and I toured them through the sites of Cotignac – both in and around town. We walked over roots and rocks to the waterfall – always a beautiful stroll. It looks different this time of year; lit by more sun due to the now-bare trees. The chilly temperatures didn't stop us from a morning walk along Lake Carces, bundled up with hats and gloves, with hard, brown acorns crunching under foot. We choose a warmer excursion for the afternoon and drove through the beautiful gorge outside the village of Correns. We stopped to admire the unusual, moss-covered fountains in Barjols, too. They both exclaimed over the sites – which made us feel good. Dan particularly loved St Paul-de-Vence – a perched medieval village outside of Nice. We visited there the day we took him to Nice for his flight home. St. Paul is charming with its narrow winding streets that form concentric circles until you find your way to the church at the very top of the hill. In summer, the streets are so packed with tourists that you have to push your way through. This time of year it was blessedly empty. The shops were still open and proprietors were VERY happy to see us. Mike and I were there twice before, but we saw more this time than in any previous visit. It’s hard to see vistas and notice the details of the jumbled, stone buildings when you can’t see around the tour groups. While Dan continued his explorations of St. Paul, Mike, me, and Felicia went to the Foundation Maeght – a modern art museum outside the town walls set on a hill among the tall pine trees. Vistas of hazy hills are visible between the trees and provide a stunning backdrop for grand-scale sculptures.

After Dan left us for home, Felicia and I continued our art and architecture theme by driving to Marseille to see Le Corbusier’s Unite Habitation. Felicia discovered that the building was close by, and since neither of us had seen a Corbusier building “in person” we set off to explore. It was exciting to drive up to a building that we’d both seen in architecture books – Felicia more so than me. On the wall were the classic symbols of Corbusier. The “Corbusier man” guided his proportions so that all was designed for a human scale. The building, built in 1952, was clearly aging and in need of restoration but the forms retained their sculptural quality and the textures were still evident. Felicia is particularly drawn to textures so much so that we teased her for taking photos of manhole covers for their stamped-iron patterns. Even with the classic architecture, it was our constant chattering and laughter that I will remember most from our day together. We share a similar sense of humor and it was the perfect therapy to spend hours laughing. And, I’ll remember the snow. Yes – snow! It snowed in Provence. On our drive home, the vineyards were coated in a layer of white – a thin layer of white. The pine trees along the narrow road into Cotignac were lightly frosted as if for the holidays. It was unexpected and beautiful – and gone the next morning.

Of course, the highlight was Thanksgiving Day. The French don’t celebrate Thanksgiving so it was just us four who knew there was a special something in the air that day. For everyone else the special something in the air was the scent of truffles. It was the season’s first truffle market. It seems this part of France is the center of the truffle industry – if “industry” is what you call it. Truffles are harvested in the late fall and winter and auctioned in nearby Aups. We had no idea what to expect, where to go, or what time the market started. We headed for Aups mid-morning and arrived at exactly the right moment. A cluster of people were huddled around the small square in the center of Aups bundled up against the chilly air. They were politely listening to barely audible speakers–the local politicians and truffle association president – standing on a stone porch, using bad microphones, but providing the necessary preamble to officially open the market (some things are the same everywhere!). About a dozen little tables were set up around the square and on each sat a small scale and basket – both empty. Once the officials welcomed everyone and thank whomever needed thanking, they blew a shrill whistle and the place was suddenly hopping with activity. The truffle farmers poured bags of rough, dirty, black truffles into their baskets and buyers began frantically pawing over them. Piles of large and small truffles were carefully arranged on the scale as 50 Euro notes were whipped out. Every little table had a crowd around it. The truffles were going fast! We had to get in on the action. Mike and Felicia picked out a tiny truffle which turned out to be 6 Euros worth – so we got another one! With our two little bags of truffles in hand, we exited the market for the warmth of a brasserie, coffee and tea. The bags of truffles ended up in my purse so that each time I opened my bag the aroma of truffle rose up. They soon went into the trunk of the car! We browsed around the main street of Aups taking in yet another quaint village. Two local men out for their daily baguette accidently ended up in one of Felicia’s photos. They thought she was photographing them but and they wanted their picture with her. Nothing like a couple of “French kisses” to get Thanksgiving morning off to a good start!

Once we returned home and warmed up, we took a stroll through Cotignac to burn off some of the food we would be eating later. Mike stayed back to start preparations for dinner. He got the ball rolling but everyone got into the act. After a round of phone calls to all our family and friends, everyone ended up in our compact kitchen. Felicia had the honor of cleaning the truffle that would be used in her famous risotto. She stood in the kitchen stirring for 45 minutes and then personally grated the truffle onto each of our servings of risotto. It was superb! (Later in the week, she taught me to make her risotto with porcini mushrooms. Yum.) Dan helped me peel apples for dessert that we popped into the oven just as Mike took out the roasted duck. Wow. A fruit and nut stuffing, pumpkin puree, and broccoli rounded out our Thanksgiving in Provence.

Yes, we all went to bed that evening feeling stuffed from a wonderful meal, but, at least for me, I was even more full with feelings of happiness for the friendships that I enjoy, the richness that they bring into my life, and the wonder of love and laughter. It was indeed a Thanksgiving filled with thankfulness.

Out and About in Provence

I never knew how magical the autumn could be. Each day I’m thrilled to feel the change of season. The air has a hint of musty leaves and wood smoke, and leaves drift off the trees casually – like lazy confetti. The linden tree on our patio was covered with bright yellow leaves when we left for Austria. When we returned there was a thick carpet of yellow on the patio that rustled as we tried to push open the back door. The once tree-shaded patio is now flooded with sunlight giving us a full view of the valley beyond and its changing colors.

Fall has been such a stunning surprise that I wondered why I hadn't noticed it before. Then I realized that if I were at home I would be commuting to work in the dark, sitting inside a sealed building all day, and commuting home in the dark. That’s a sure recipe for missing fall! Now, I see each day as a gift.

And we’ve been taking advantage of those gifts over the last several weeks through an assortment of activities. For example, we have been to several movies. That’s not normally noteworthy except that here each time seems to offer something new. Mike and I drove to Aix-en-Provence for an outing to get my hair cut and see “The Social Network” at an English speaking cinema. We loved the movie and the other five people seemed to like it, too. It wasn’t exactly packed! Going to the movie is a different experience in France in part because the French don’t eat in the theater. They sell very small containers of popcorn and candy but it’s not a focal point of the experience. It’s kinda nice. Oh – and they were putting up Christmas lights. We’re looking forward to our next trip to Aix (Harry Potter) so we can see the city lit for the holidays.

As I continue to learn French, I decided that I should see a French movie. There’s a very small theater in Cotignac which is on the second floor of the Le Grainage, the local meeting hall. Des Hommes and Des Dieux was showing. If you’re not familiar, this movie won one of the top awards at the Cannes Film Festival this year. The dialog seemed slow paced so I decided to give it a try. The movie was playing at 9PM on a rainy Sunday night. So, in one of my less astute moments, I reasoned that no one would be going to this particular screening….a foreign film, on a Sunday night, late, and in the rain. Well – first of all, this is NOT a foreign film in France! Plus, it turns out that the movie is a national hit. I arrived a few minutes before the start to find it completely sold out. Even on my second try and arriving early I only barely got a seat on the front row. The film was very well done and the dialog (of which I could follow a little) was not necessary to the plot, thankfully. There was NO food of any sort in the Cotignac theater, and you could have heard a pin drop during the screening.

The theater in Cotignac is very nice. It is small with plush, red, upholstered seats and a pleasant young man selling tickets at the door. He also runs the projector. Mike and I went there to see The Town – in English with French subtitles. The audience included me and Mike, Catherine (my French teacher), Irene and a friend of theirs. We were chatting away so much so that the projector guy had to ask us to quiet down so he could start the film.

Lastly, I went to see Eat, Pray, Love – in French. It was not crowded at all – but, this time I didn’t do so well. The dialog was very fast and was essential to understanding the message. Luckily I read the book and could follow along but it was clear that I have a long way to go to understand a movie in French. I'm just sure it was a good experience for me!

We’ve been doing a lot of walking now that the weather has cooled down. We made an excursion to the Calanques, the cliffs outside of Cassis on the coast. We visited there with Bobbie and Robert and saw the Calanques by boat, but this time we wanted to walk the trail that skirts the water. It was a beautiful fall day with a clear blue sky. The trail plunges and climbs along the white rocky cliffs. The water has cut dramatic formations into the cliff face so that there was an ever changing vista. The hike was more like a scramble over rocks and boulders, large and small, rough and smooth. And when we reached the overlook, it was worth every step! Sheer, vertical, white rock faces drop straight into the blue Mediterranean. White sailboats and tourist boats puttered along below looking up as we looked down. Birds swooped into their nests inside the rock face and bent green pine trees provided a delicate fragrance and softness to the rocky scene. Families and kids were everywhere out for a walk on a pretty day in France. We hope to go back - with a picnic this time - to soak it up one more time.

Along with the change in season there’s been a change in the available foods, too. We discovered, for example, that we have a pomegranate tree in the back yard! We saw the trees around town but it took a while for us to realize that we were seeing pomegranates. I’ve only seen them stacked up at Whole Foods. Unfortunately, by the time I scrambled up to our tree the fruit was dry and had split. Oh well. Then we noticed trees with large, round, orange fruit - like shiny oranges. The fruit was easy to see since the leaves had fallen and these orange globes were left. It looked like a Halloween tree. They were persimmons. Persimmons! What does one do with a persimmon? You eat it. We bought one at the market and it was very yummy! I’m looking forward to the next one. And rose hips were the other thing we noticed on one of our walks. I'm sure we have them in Annapolis, but here they jumped out at us with their bright red color against the blue sky. It looked like a precursor for Christmas.

And, of course, there are always the wines. We were in the Spar yesterday and the nice, young men invited us to the release of the Beaujolais Nouveau. It was our first invitation so we couldn’t refuse! We trotted down to the Spar in the late morning (how early can one drink red wine?) and the place was buzzing. There was a tent in front of the Spar with a large crowd of people. Everyone shows up for free wine! Plus they had meats, pate, and cheeses, too. Beaujolais was the centerpiece and there were four types to taste including the Georges Duboeuf that we have in the US. I tried them all and we bought a bottle of a type not available in the US. It was an investment of less than 4 euros! Mostly, it was fun to see everyone in such an excited mood. And the Spar guys were selling wine as fast as they could put out the bottles!

Our visit to the Spar wine tasting was on our way to lunch with our rental agent, Ruth. She took us to an authentic French restaurant which is also a bar which is also a tabac! They prepare one item each day and you eat whatever they have. We had roasted pork in a garlic sauce that was excellent. On our way there, we passed a vineyard that was filled with a herd of sheep busily mowing down the grass. There were beaucoup of cute, fuzzy lambs. They were running and romping with their transparent pink ears flopping. We watched them play until we were late for lunch!

While the fall weather has been a delight, we have also taken advantage of our proximity to the Mediterranean. The temperatures are usually warmer there with a greater likelihood of sun. So, on our way back from Milan we stopped for the night at Menton. Menton is barely over the border from Italy. We’ve seen it each of the six times we’ve driven to and from Italy. The landscape along the coast is very hilly with deep ravines that drop down to the coast amidst a backdrop of blue from the Med. Each time we droven by we wondered about the towns long the coast. They looked so charming from the Autoroute that runs high above the valley floor. Here was our chance to find out. We booked a little room in Menton and arrived very late with barely time for dinner and bed. But the next morning the sun was out and so was I. What a treat to run along the promenade by the water and climb the steep hill to the church that overlooks the village and harbor. Blue water, sunny skies, yellow-gold buildings and cozy sailboats tucked into the harbor….ideal. Mike and I spent the morning wandering through the streets and visiting the former summer palace of the Grimaldi (rulers of Monaco) family. It was a lovely little palace. I told Mike that if he was looking for a palace for me this one was just my size – Versailles was just too big. The summer palace is set among an extensive citrus garden. There was row after row of trees - lemons, clementines, mandarin oranges, limes, pomelos, grapefruit, with multiple varieties of each. As we learned, Menton is known for its lemons. They have an annual lemon festival in the late winter. Guess that’s one we’ll have to miss. After browsing their market and buying a sack full of clementines, we headed back to Cotignac.

We’re preparing now for our next guests who will join us for Thanksgiving. More to come on that. In the meantime we send all our love to our friends and family as you celebrate Thanksgiving across the pond. We’ll be thinking of you all!

Oh, the Mountains of Austria!

One of the things I love about traveling especially to new places is that you learn things about yourself that you would otherwise not realize. For example, I'm a summer girl who craves warm weather & yet I have discovered that I'm inexplicably drawn to the mountains. Their quiet inspiration makes me feel like soaring or, more practically, like walking and walking and walking. Was it Rogers or Hammerstein who wrote, “…the hills fill my heart with the sound of music, my heart want to sing every song it hears?” That’s the way I feel in the mountains. And it is somehow appropriate since Salzburg is the birthplace of Mozart, the home of the Von Trapps, and, thus, the setting for the Sound of Music.

And so I looked forward to our visit to Austria only to discover that Vienna is on a flat plain. Who knew? But not Salzburg! Salzburg has a backdrop of mountains as well as big hills in the middle of town. It's all very beautiful. We didn't expect to see the mountains as it was supposed to rain all the days we were visiting. Instead, after driving from Vienna in the rain we woke to sun peeking under the clouds to light up the mountain tops already streaked with snow. It cleared from there and we had sun every day - an unusual occurrence in rainy Salzburg. Weather karma was with us again!

We took advantage of the crisp, cool days by visiting the fortress high on the hill above town which provided stunning views of the mountains. Of course, Salzburg's trademark is the bounty of gorgeous, baroque churches each topped with graceful green domes. The churches and other monuments were built primarily by an archibishop (with 15 children) from the proceeds from the nearby salt deposits (which gave Salzburg its name). Siena and I particularly enjoyed strolling the pretty narrow streets filled with shops of traditional clothing- wools, knits, hats and scarves - and Christmas goodies. Siena took home delicate, hand-carved Christmas ornaments and I made off with a beautiful, handcrafted, wook jacket. Mike, not to be out done, bought a very fashion-conscious wool hat for 3 euros. He was irresitible!



On our first stroll into the old town of Salzburg we came upon a charming, small market at the foot of a large, white church. The market stalls were filled with pretzels in all shapes and toppings, pastries, fruitcakes, and decorated gingerbread. Christmas wreaths of fresh greenery, berries, and pine cones were laid out for early holiday decorators. Siena surprised us with a gift of a wreath which is now hanging in our house in Cotignac.

Each morning I enjoyed beautiful walks and runs along the river and up the hills that overlook the city. There are large parks on the hilltops with paths meandering through the tall trees. This time of year, their leaves created a soft blanket of russet under my feet so thick that it almost obliterated the trails. The air was fresh and clean and smelled of leaves. I could see the mountains framed between tree trunks in the far distance. Those early mornings in the quiet, exploring by myself, are some of my favorite times.

It was good that I got some exercise each morning because our ambles through town and the churches, each more elaborate than the next, were interrupted with breaks for meals of sausage, sauerkraut, wiener schnitzel, wine, beer and, my favorite, pumpkin soup. Another treat was a cup of warm mulled wine sipped while winding our way thru the streets on a cool, fall afternoon. The young woman who sold the wine and grog was from Michigan!

Sculptures, large and small, are in each square and throughout the gardens. They included soaring fountains, spooky empty figures, a pegasus fountain to a circle of dwarfs in a delightful garden at Schloss Mirabell, the archibishop's palace. The last two can be seen in the Sound of Music. When conversation lagged, Mike tried engaging more suitable company! One square had a sculpture of Mozart - a popular subject in Austria. Mike & I toured his birthplace and saw his first violin and the clavichord where he composed many of his most well-known works.

After two days of exploring the narrow streets of Salzburg and the baroque churches, we tore ourselves away to get into the countryside. Mike, Wil and I visited the salt mines in a village outside of the city. We reached the mine by winding thru a tiny road in the foothills dotted with farmhouses. The salt deposits under the mountain have been mined since 500BC. The tunnels crisscrossed 600’ below the surface and wound between Austria & Germany with the border marked inside the tunnel. After dressing in protective - and fashionable - clothing we got to zip down the wooden slides that the miners used to get out after each day’s work. On the way back from our visit we drove thru the small village of Hallein where Franz Gruber wrote Silent Night. I remember as a kid in Smithville hearing the story of Silent Night and how it was written for guitar in some indistinct place in Europe. The place will no longer be indistinct. That’s the other thing about travel, it brings life to life.

That afternoon Mike and I went on the Sound of Music tour. It seemed a little kitschy but I'm glad Mike wanted to go(yes, I know all the words to all the songs). It was worth the trip to see the filming sites for the movie and see all of the Hollywood tricks. For example, the Captain's house was filmed using two different houses- one for the front with the long driveway and the other for the back which fronted on a charming lake. It was this later site where the kids and Maria fall off the boat into the lake. In addition to fun stories about the filming, we had an unexpected surprise. We were talking with two young men on the tour with us and discovered that one of them knew Smithville! In fact, he knew someone who lives in Smithville and whose name seemed to ring a bell for me. I told Mike that we would have to ask Mother and George if they knew him. Our new friend interrupted to say, “That wouldn’t be George Burns, would it?” How amazing is that – running into someone in Salzburg, Austria who knew George….although, knowing George , I shouldn’t be surprised at all! He knows everyone.

But back to the tour. One thing that surprised me was how closely the movie followed the real Von Trapp family story. The main exception occurred at the end of the movie when they hiked over the mountains to escape the Nazis. In reality Germany lies across the mountains from Salzburg. The real family took a train to Italy just hours before the Austrian border was closed. We are full of stories about the filming of the Sound of Music – just ask us! But we didn’t realize until we returned that this is the 40th anniversary of the movie. One of the best parts of the tour was the lovely Lake District with mountains rising behind peaceful towns, graceful church steeples framed by the blue water and the late afternoon sun glancing off the peaks. This area was the opening scene for the movie and, once again, it was the mountains that provided the ambiance.

The mountains were our constant companions on the drive back to Vienna the next afternoon. Unfortunately, they were our only companions. Wil came down with an illness and couldn't make the trip back. He was fine within a day or two and they are now safely back home.

While the trip didn't end the way any of us would have preferred, we'll all remember the richness of Salzburg framed by the beauty of the mountains.