Dreaming of France -- Old Haunts and Old Friends

Please join this weekly meme. Grab a copy of the photo above and link back to An Accidental Blog. Share with the rest of us your passion for France. Did you read a good book set in France? See a movie? Take a photo in France? Have an adventure? Eat a fabulous meal or even just a pastry? Or if you're in France now, go ahead and lord it over the rest of us. We can take it.

Happy, but exhausted.
For the first time since I received my Fitbit for my birthday last year, I had a couple thousand steps in by the time I went to bed last  night. That's because I went to Aix en Provence and went to meet with my old friend Delana.
I met Delana from her blog. She was a 50-year-old woman who had gotten divorced and moved to France. It was supposed to be for a year, but she was hooked and hasn't gone back to Minnesota, eight years later.
Delana has lots of energy and many friends, so it's always fun to connect with her.

We spent the night at her apartment, and this morning, I went for a run in Aix en Provence. This was the first French city that ever felt like home to me. I walked along the Cours Mirabeau and it just felt like I belonged.
This morning, after only about four hours of sleep, I got up and headed out for a run.
Paul Cezanne, the painter, had his studio in Aix.

We always love to visit it. An artist's workshop is called an atelier, so we generally visit Cezanne's atelier.

 Today being Sunday, plus election day, plus early, I knew I couldn't go inside, but I wanted to run up the mountain so I could see Mont Ste. Victoire, one of Cezanne's favorite subjects.

He painted the mountain view over and over again as his eyesight got worse.
Copies of his paintings of Mont Ste Victoire are displayed from a gorgeous viewpoint.

The paintings are displayed here on this bluff, it you turn around, you can see the mountain. 

Here's my attempt at an artsy photo of Mont Sainte Victoire. 

My knees were a bit tender, so it wasn't the best run, but the views were spectacular. 

We visited a city that we liked a lot on Saturday morning, so it's still in the running for the place we could move. It's called Pezenas. Everyone kissed each other as they stopped for coffee. 

Do you think all this sunshine might be luring us like sirens?

Thanks for playing along with Dreaming of France. Please leave you link below and visit each other's blogs to share your love for France. 

Scenery

A blogging friend recently wrote about an art exhibit that included views out of windows.
That got me thinking of some of the scenes I've glimpsed and loved out of windows. I can't draw or paint, but I can share some photos with you.
Here's the view from an upstairs window at Monet's garden.

After the stay in Paris, we visited friends in Nantes. They have a gorgeous, rambling apartment with views of the cathedral. Imagine seeing that everyday. From the other side of the "flat" they can see the Nantes chateau. Quite a sight.

When Earl and I traveled to Chicago, we had a fabulous view out the window.

In March, the moon makes its way past my bedroom window and wakes me up with its bright rays.

I can't believe I don't have a picture out the front window of my house. The house is on a hill and the trees in the summer make me feel like I'm living in a tree house. I promise I'll take one soon.
Do you have a favorite view out of a window?