Dreaming of France -- Old Haunts and Old Friends

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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?

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Dreaming of France -- France on a Sunny Day

Thank you for joining 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.
We set off from Aix en Provence toward Mont Sainte Victoire, planning to hike up the mountain. The instructions were a little unclear about where we could park and where the trail might start. Soon, we found ourselves in the small village of Vauvenargues.

We ended up parking near a church that had some hiking information on the door. No one answered the door, but a priest wandered out and we asked him for directions. 

Luckily, while we were stopped, we spotted this sky-blue Citroen. 

We also got a lovely view of Picasso's house. Picasso moved near Mont Sainte Victoire after being inspired by Cezanne's paintings of the mountain. 

I hope you have sunshine, or at least some inspiration today. 

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Dreaming of France -- Heating Up

Thank you for joining 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.

Here we are in the heat of summer, and it reminded me of a hot time we had in France last year.
We usually visit France in the spring or fall, avoiding crowds, but in southern France, it can get plenty warm even in the spring.
The one hot day on our last visit, was the day we decided to hike up Mont Ste. Victoire near Aix en Provence.

From here, the top of the mountain seems so far away.

We had some trouble finding the beginning of the trail, but eventually we
saw a sign that assured us we were headed to the cross on top of the mountain.

The entry to the path goes over a dam.

Once up on the mountain, we could see the nuclear power plant in the distance. 

Although we hiked over very rocky ground for a couple of hours, we  never quite made it to the cross at the top. Some people were doing mountain running. They raced past us jumping from rock to rock. Amazing.

Getting closer.

As close as we got before we climbed back down the mountain. 

Next time, we'll take  more water and food, and we'll start earlier to make sure we reach the summit.
And after we finished our hike up Mont Sainte Victoire, we stopped for ice cream, of course.

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Dreaming of France -- Hiking

Thank you for joining 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.

My husband and I went hiking this weekend, and it reminded me of the last time we hiked -- in France.
While staying in Aix en Provence, we drove out to Mont Ste. Victoire. From far away, it looks like a massive, imposing rock.

Up close, it looks even more intimidating. 

The climb was really difficult, yet we were passed by people 

who were trail running from rock to rock up and down the mountain.  

This lake reflecting the mountain felt peaceful and cool as we began the ascent. 

I've been on a  number of mountains, but the top of this one 

seemed to get farther and farther away as we climbed. 

Here's a shot of my husband hiking up the mountain ahead of me. The trail became much more treacherous as we scrambled up rocks. 

We never reached the top, but that's my fault. I wimped out. 

 Nice view though. Definitely worth the hike. I'll try again another time.
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Dreaming of France -- Blue Skies

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.

It's especially poignant in the fall as I see planes race across the painfully blue sky. I want to be on that plane jetting toward France. I can imagine the sky is equally sharp in the south of France. After all, so many artists are drawn there to paint because of the light.

When we visited in March, gray clouds muffled the brilliance of the sky, but we still got to stand and admire the scenery that Paul Cezanne recreated on his canvases. 

Up the road above Aix en Provence, Cezanne's studio is preserved. 

And farther up the road is a lookout with recreations of Cezanne's paintings so we could look at the paintings and at the mountain that Cezanne captured.

Here's one of Cezanne's paintings. 

And here's the view from the lookout. Of course, the scenery has changed greatly since Cezanne painted there. 

But I need to show a beautiful blue sky, so here's a picture that my friend Leah took in Nice. 

And here's another one that shows the sky and the beach. 

Hope you're wishing on planes flying across beautiful clear skies too. 

Thanks for playing along with Dreaming of France.