The house was built in the 1600's and they have spent the last five years or so lovingly restoring, updating, working on the grounds and creating a nice place for their children and grandchildren to spend time.
Staying in their house felt like a dream, not to mention their wonderful and welcoming hospitality. Here we got to experience a true French dinner. It started around 5 with tea in the greenhouse, then moved to an "aperitif" in front of the fire, then a starter, main course, vegetable course, cheese and dessert at the dining table all accompanied with three distinct types of wine. The whole dinner finished about midnight when we went to bed sleepy and satisfied with good food in our stomachs and conversations in our heads.
The next day we went with my parents in the car to visit some little villages in the area. Again, we were thankful and feeling a little spoiled to have a car for this part of our trip. No figuring out train tickets, no hopping on the wrong bus, no trekking with the backpacks...just dad to drive us around. ; )
Our first stop was a little village, part of it in ruins called Lacoste. We were told by our friends that the french fashion designer, Pierre Cardin, had actually bought the castle and was working to restore the whole village.
The castle at the top that he also restored:
The rest of the village:
The next stop was Bonnieux, a bit larger and in better shape than Lacoste.
The last stop was the village nearest to our friends house. Here are a few pictures:
Too soon it was time to leave and we somewhat reluctantly packed our bags, hoisted them on our backs and had one last easy car ride to the train station from my dad. We felt rested and relaxed after our wonderful time in the south of France, having felt that we had experienced what life was really like for the residents of this beautiful and peaceful area.
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