The Luberon

Here we are in the most beautiful part of the South of France, the Luberon.

It’s Sunday and we went to Isle sur la Sorgue market, in search of antiques. This trip my sense of direction has entirely failed me. It took three hours to drive here from the airport – probably a one hour drive. And today I couldn’t find antiques in the market although with small children and Kevin with no hat and a hot sun we weren’t in meandering mode.

Tis the most wonderful house we’ve found. I knew the photos weren’t doing it justice in the ad, so in a leap of faith I booked it, and oh my word, what a splendid place it is. It’s like a little boutique hotel with three bedrooms, each with their own bathroom, a kitchen table, a dining table, sofas and even air conditioning! And, on top of that even, a beautiful terrace with geraniums in pots, an outdoor kitchen with barbeque, another dining table, an outdoor fridge and lovely wrought iron comfy armchairs which we must move if it rains. Below the terrace is a pool – I looked and looked for a house with a pool with roman steps but just couldn’t find one and our pool has turned out to be very deep indeed. I can stand up in it on tip toes only.

The owners are lovely – the man is a retired fireman who built the place himself, and his wife is very sweet – she must have decorated it – the house truly has had somebody’s heart and soul go into the decorating. Dad’s room even has an amazing hand-beaten copper hand-basin on wrought iron pedestal.

So, in my diary I have a list of markets that are on each day, underlined are the prettiest ones, with help from our hosts, along with other recommendations such as the paper museum for the children at Fontaine de Vaucluse.

This is my favourite part of France – not that I know that many others. It’s the place I visit whenever I can. The Luberon with such pretty countryside – the place with cherry trees growing in fields along the roadsides. I always am so excited by unfenced fruit trees. The idea of being in a place where it’s ok to pick a handful of fruit on the way by. It reminds me of childhood when we picked blackberries on the East Cape on a long long Summer holiday when I was about seven. And of my childhood in Devonport when one could easily just pick a grapefruit over a fence to quench the thirst from a long Summer’s walk.

Today we went to a fruit shop after the market and filled one basket each for the girls. Melon, parsley, pears, apricots, strawberries, peaches, two bottles of Rosé, a baguette ancienne, a wonderful cheese to be eaten with quince jelly, garlic and pan au chocolate as a gift from the shop owner as we were leaving – for the girls. Which they ate whilst watching Peppa Pig on the laptop this afternoon.

I forgot my camera lead so it’s going to be instagram this trip!