I am back in France. I have a new grandson-number 7-I went skiing in Colorado, and I spent time with all of my children and other grandchildren. I had a wonderful time but it is still great to be back. I feel like France is home now. It was so nice to have blog entries from Emily. I usually stress a little about my blog when I’m not in France so this was a real treat for me. There will be some more from Emily from time to time. In the meantime, here is a meme I saw on another blog. There are a list of facts and the highlighted portions are the ones that are true for me.

Original source: The list is based on an exercise developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University. The exercise developers ask that if you participate in this blog game, you acknowledge their copyright.

Father went to college

Father finished college

Mother went to college

Mother finished college

Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor

Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers -I’m not sure what this means. My father owned various businesses as I was growing up, a Five and Dime, a clothing store, a drive-in movie theater. Does that make him that same class as a teacher? My mother was a stay on home mom-never worked, but she sure could shop.

Had more than 50 books in your childhood home-My mother read quite a bit but I don’t have a memory of books in our home. I came home with what I read from the library.

Had more than 500 books in your childhood home - see above

Were read children’s books by a parent -no, but I grew up to be a book lover anyway.

Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18 - piano lessons but I am really bad at playing.

Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18 -piano was it

The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively I guess so, except for the old part.

Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18 -not in my day. That wasn’t done when I was young.

Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs. My Dad paid for my college. I worked part time in a hamburger joint too and worked every summer for him in his clothing store.

Went to a private high school-nope, just public

Went to summer camp -church camp

Had a private tutor before you turned 18 -you must be kidding

Family vacations involved staying at hotels Does this count if we only did it once? We did the trip from hell from Arizona to California and up to Oregon. We spent most of the time in the car. My mother snuck her dog into the room, a little chihuahua, and I remember that one night the dog had diarrhea all over the place-probably why motels don’t like dogs in rooms.

Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18 Yes. Not only did my father own a clothing store but my Mom was a major shopper. We always looked well dressed.

Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down -yes, I had a used car that was always dying and that was hard to start, an old Renault. I learned to drive way before I was 16 with my father’s jeep so I’ve always been able to shift. My main memory, after getting my driver’s license, was stalling out every single time on a big hill when the light turned red.

There was original art in your house when you were a child -not a bit

Had a phone in your room before you turned 18 - The family only had one phone in my day. In fact I can remember when we talked to the operator to get a number called and our phone number was just three digits long. There were also party lines where, if your neighbor was talking, you had to wait your turn, or you could listen in to their conversation, which I never did of course.

You and your family lived in a single family house yes

Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home Yes, see above. We’ve always had a home, never rented.

You had your own room as a child - sometimes, I shared with my sister

Participated in an SAT/ACT prep course. They didn’t have those yet when I was in high school. I just took it cold. I think we were better prepared in those days anyway.

Had your own TV in your room in High School- only one TV in our house although we did have the first TV in the neighborhood when they came out. There were just two channels and it was only on a few hours a day.

Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College, Nope.

Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16 -Yes, flew from New Mexico to Texas as my mother’s family lived there. In those days, you dressed up with hat and gloves. I threw up on my first flight.

Went on a cruise with your family-nope

Went on more than one cruise with your family -never

Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up -no, my family was very uncultured. No museums, art, music or lectures. There was music if you count church music. My Dad taught himself the electric guitar and had a religious band. He even did a recording and, in the middle of it, you can hear me jabbering in the back ground as a baby. I wonder where that record is?

You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family - didn’t have a clue. Children weren’t involved in that sort of thing then.

Sideroads of Europe

Upper Les Baux by my guest blogger, Emily.

The ancient, crumbling citadel of Les Baux, high on a barren rock spur in the Alpilles mountains is a mysterious, magical, windswept place. In the middles ages, the lords of Les Baux were very powerful, and one - Viscount Raymond de Turenne - was known as “The Scourge of Provence.” He pillaged and terrorized the countryside and took delight in forcing unransomed prisoners to jump off the castle walls. Great guy! These days, things are considerably more calm and the view 650 feet below features olive groves and vineyards rather than broken bodies.

Upon entering the upper citadel area, one is walking on ground that’s been occupied for more than 1000 years, and was virtually impregnable for most of that time. The most recent remains date from the middle ages.

In our mind’s eye we could see the hustle and bustle of those far-away times as we explored the area. Plaques describing each point of interest are scattered throughout and there’s a very good audio tour on individual ear phones (included with admittance fee) which really added to the experience.

On all sides of the high rock spur there are reproductions of medieval siege weaponry, such as catapults for slinging enormous rocks down on enemies and an apparatus for pouring boiling oil over the side of the cliffs. These guys didn’t mess around! AND, they claimed to trace their linage back to Balthazar, known far and wide as one of THE three kings of biblical fame.

The remains of the original castle and adjoining dwellings were carved into, out of and on top of the rock, and in its hey-day sheltered 4000 people - but not very comfortably. They did have a slanted field to catch fresh rain water, which drained into a cistern carved out of rock. Two sunken containers for storing olive oil still can be seen, and a pigionnier, but the highlights are the remains of two towers with sensational views, a chapel and a dungeon.

The stairway to the donjon is on the far left.

These stairs to the donjon (castle keep) are treacherous from centuries of wear, and the treads are very, very narrow and very, very steep. I passed on this experience - either out of cowardice or good-sense - but monsieur hauled himself all the way to the top and was rewarded with a spectacular view. (I would really hate to be up there when the mistral is blowing.) While waiting for him to rejoin me I thought about the noble women who were sequestered in this tiny enclave and wondered if their lives were that much better than those of the peasant women below; safer perhaps, better fed, more luxurious clothing to wear but I suspect they led fairly grim lives.

Sideroads of Europe

Shopping at Les Baux, by my visiting blogger, Emily.

Les Baux has something for everyone. Merchant after merchant in the lower village tempts shoppers with traditional Provencal merchandise, as well as everything from fine paintings to typical souvenir items and T-shirts. My favorites were the shop selling santons and the shop selling confections from all over France.

Santons (little saints) are small figurines that first were seen at the time of the Revolution. Churches were closed and there was no place to stage nativity scenes. Some clever guy, seeing a golden opportunity, decided to make clay figures of people from the bible painted in bright colors and to sell them inexpensively so that every household could create its own nativity scene. That went so well that he then created figures dressed in the local costumes of people found in a typical village to add to the scene: the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker, even the village idiot! And, voila!, a new industry was born. People collected the characters and added more each year to their nativity scenes. The craze reached a height in the 1800’s, which is why most santons wear clothes of that period. There still is a Santons Fair held each year in Marseilles.

This guy is in trouble!

This colorful shop sells specialty sweets and confections from all over France. (it’s part of a chain -at least there are two because this is the outside of the one I saw in Uzes.)

The long two-sided row of cookies, which can be bought by the kilo or by “the each,” stretches the length of the shop.

The olives you see piled in baskets actually are chocolates, disguised as olives. They are beautiful: each little “olive” is a work of art. The packaging is almost too pretty to open.

Although I’m not fond of candied fruit, this is pretty enough to buy just to look at.

These little sachets of marzipan make a nice gift.

Les Baux is an extraordinary place. No wonder it’s been designated an historic monument by the French government and is second only to to Mont St. Michel in Normandy
as the most visited site outside of Paris.

Sideroads of Europe

I am in Texas where I met my newest grandson, Benjamin James, weighing in at 8 pounds 8 ounces. My daughter had to have a c-section but both are doing well.

Emily, my guest blogger, visits les Baux.

The lower village of Les Baux actually requires a rather steep climb, and it’s the lucky person who’s there at a quiet time of year and is able to drive and park almost at the entrance gate. It’s a vibrant, small, medieval town which depends entirely on tourism and is filled with many shops and cafes, most found along a narrow cobblestone street with one or two short side streets and the square, Place St. Vincent.

The remains of this Renaissance window once was a Protestant chapel and may have been where Huguenots worshiped. Carved into the window you can see the words, Post tenebras lux - “After the shadow comes the light.”

I can’t remember exactly what this tower was but I like the bird gargoyles around the top. It may be a campanile, the lantern of the dead, on one side of the church.

The Eglise St. Vincent is a 12th century church partially carved out of bedrock. It houses the town’s traditional Provencal processional chariot.

In old Provence it was the tradition on Christmas Eve to put a newborn lamb in a cart, symbolizing the newborn Christ child. The cart, surrounded by candles, was then pulled in a processional through town to the church for the celebration at midnight of the Christmas mass. This still is done in Les Baux.

Adjacent to the main church is the Chapel of Penitents Blancs. Its frescoes of the Nativity, painted by local artist Yves Bryer in 1974, “prove” the local legend that Jesus was born in Les Baux. Notice in the Nativity scene the background of the Alpilles, and at the top - seen in the second photograph - medieval men watching in wonder. In the next fresco, the shepherds watch their sheep by night and stare in amazement at the wondrous star. The last photo is the fresco over the front alter in the little chapel. Probably this legend began because the lords of Les Baux claimed to be descendants of the Magi king, Balthazar. However, it also may have been simply a device for the medieval church to make local people feel closer to biblical stories.

Sideroads of Europe

Emily, my guest blogger, continues:

L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, built on a series of canals by the Sorgue river in the Vaucluse section of the Luberon, once was a large industrial area.

The eight moss-covered water wheels scattered throughout the town once were used in silk factories and olive mills. Today, they add a unique charm to the town.

There is a major outdoor market on Sundays, featuring scores of antique dealers lining the streets and canals with their goods of every description, as well as large numbers of permanent dealers in regular shops. I wish we were able to buy some of the marvelous furniture and have it shipped home but alas, with the dollar so depressed we only can enjoy looking. I do love seeing the brightly colored carousels in all of the larger towns such as the one in L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue; they are permanent fixtures and part of their charm are the decorations that encircle each merry-go-round with paintings of regional scenes. Fields of lavender and grazing sheep! There were paintings on the other side of the carousel picturing the water wheels.

After jostling through multitudes of shoppers for hours, at the moment the market closed the crowd dispersed like magic, and we happily stopped at a quintessential French cafe across from the cathedral - appropriately named Cafe de France - for a much needed jolt of caffeine. As I perused the carte, a gust of wind swept my broad-brim straw hat off my head and it took off rolling down the street like a Victorian hoop! Tout de suite, men popped up all along the terrace of the cafe and along the street in an effort to subdue the wayward hat. (Linda’s hat, I might add.) After it had traveled for about a block, it finally was recaptured. I then knew why I never saw the French ladies in this land of the mistral sporting wide-brim straw hats…and why old photos show ladies wearing hats firmly tied under their chins!

This interesting shop was next door to the cafe.

A boulangerie in L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue.

Sideroads of Europe

Guest blogger, Emily, continues on her adventures:

Garbage disposals are not in evidence in France, but recycling is in. As we head out to explore, we carry our bagged garbage and recyclables in the trunk of the car up the steep hill to the neighborhood containers. We’re regular shoppers at Hyper-U in the town of Pertuis, about 20 min. from the house (a huge “big box” store rather like a Wal-Mart, with the best prices in the area) and have the plan down pat: croutons next to the smoked salmon, and bread next to the cordless drills and office supplies, where else? Shoppers must bring their own reusable bags and bag their own groceries. All of the other shoppers are very kind about helping me locate things when I need help, often taking me by the hand and personally escorting me to the correct aisle, sharing tips about which brand is best or how best to cook a particular cut of meat. We occasionally pick up something at a small market just for the fun of it, or at one of the numerous outdoor markets; there is one somewhere every day. The first day I was at Hyper-U, I noticed the name tag on the lady who was checking my groceries: “Mireille.” I was stoked and told her that Mireille was the name of the heroine in my French in Action language course, and that everyone had to learn the correct pronunciation of the name in order to pass the course. She was delighted, as were the other ladies in my queue, and astonished as well that Mireille is not a common name in the states.

One afternoon after leaving Hyper-U, we finally detoured up the hill to check out a small town we always wondered about as we passed it on our way home, Grambois. We thought it might be rather new. Well, it was…in the year 1100! There was nothing going on and not a soul to be seen, with the exception of a curious little white cat who followed us everywhere.

I love this old iron boulangerie sign hanging high on the ancient stone wall. The belfry in the church also is an iron filigree design, typical of Provence. This is because of the strong mistral winds that would topple a solid tower.

In the square, surrounded by the church, the mairie, and centered with the the village fountain, scenes in two movies have been filmed: Pagnol’s The Glory of my Father and The Chateau of My Mother. You can see the backside of a red “deux chevaux,” in the street adjoining the square.

Note the little white cat in the lower corner, nestled in the greenery.

The church, “Notre-Dame de Beauvoir,” is an 11th century Romanesque design but the square is too small to be able to get back for a full length photo.

Sideroads of Europe