Is There a Pig in the Pool?

The sun seems to shine closer to the earth in Provence. I think it is so that it can smell the lavender fields. Southern France is envied for its soft sunlight that seems to shine warmer and creates specks of gold in the air in the late afternoon. Provence is also famous for its expansive lavender fields which unfortunately had already been harvested when we arrived in Bonnieux France last week.

Even though there was no lavender in the fields, the scent of it floated about on the air and filled the region with a sweet relaxing scent. Our backyard was filled with lavender that was slightly past its prime, but not past its peak of fragrance. That, along with the fresh rosemary and thyme from our garden filled our house with a scent so provincial that it made you weak at the knees. Our landlord told us that in the garden there were fresh herbs that we could use. I’m sure she regretted her decision when she came home to an empty garden. Ok, so we didn’t use all of her herbs, but we did put them on everything we ate. Josh looked so European in the kitchen vigorously chopping herbs, drizzling olive oil, and quite consistently running into Emily who was also cooking.

One of the main joys of our time in Bonnieux was our ability to cook our own food in a spacious, well stocked kitchen and eating the food in our backyard. Our yard was also supplied with a refreshing pool, which was a life saver. The heat and lack of AC here in Europe has been quite unexpected and has made each of us melt in our own time. Whereas the witch in The Wizard of Oz melted with water, it has quite the opposite effect on us.

We weren’t the only ones who enjoyed or pool. Our landlord warned us to always close the pool in the evening because otherwise we would have visitors. They say that wild boars will fall into the swimming pools in the night while they’re trying to get a drink! I wanted to leave the cover off just so that I could see the piggies doing the backstroke. Josh pointed out that if they warn you against such an occurrence that it means it must have happened before. Can you imagine the surprise when they came out for a lovely morning swim?

Our main purpose for visiting Bonnieux was to visit the vineyard where the movie A Good Year was filmed. We also visited a roman road built in the year 3 AD and did some shopping in the small hillside village.

We tried to enjoy the area but the heat of the sun and the dryness of the air always sent us running back to our pool. In the two days we were there I went swimming five times. I know that’s not much but I’ll take what I can get.

Bonniuex was not only relaxing but our house was also very well equipped for American tourists. None of us felt quite rested and ready to leave but as always, a new adventure was just around the bend! ~Anna

Sorry these blog posts are coming late! WiFi is spotty and our time doesn’t always allow for writing. We promise to post at least one blog about each location no matter how long it takes us to get them posted!