The Beginning of a Bucket List Trip

I don't know how some people do it, but they manage to blog and post to Facebook while they are away on vacation or away teaching. I am not able to manage that without feeling stressed. I want to soak up the new environment I am in and need time to decompress. I suspect others probably prepare blog posts ahead of time and then just add in details. In any case, I have been back from my bucket list trip to Provence for a week now, and have been working on cropping and re-sizing images, while I also had my sister visiting (so I had an extra week of vacation!).

My text is centred for this post because I simply cannot get it to align to the left!

We flew to Marseille on August 7, picked up our rental car, and headed to the countryside of the Petite Louberon. Our accommodations for the first week were in a lovely old "villa", that used to be a silk factory in the 18th century. It was situated about 2 km outside the village of Lacoste. La Bastide des Magnans has been restored to the period.

The lane way was lined with cyprus trees.

Our upstairs room had this wonderful little terrace. It was great to relax there at the end of the day, listen to the cicadas sing, and enjoy the view, the breeze,

and the sunsets. The stars were also stunning due to there being no light pollution at night.

The Village of Lacoste is old and charming with narrow, winding streets.

Both restaurants in the village hug the edge of the roadside and provide a beautiful view.

 

The main feature of the village is the castle where the Marquis de Sade once lived (yes the word "sadism" comes from his name). The castle is now owned by Pierre Cardin, along with 30 houses in the village. We managed to photograph it on a misty morning, giving it a decidedly eerie feeling.

Beautiful views from the castle.

Sculpture: "Arbre de la Vie" by Ettore Greco, 2010.