Plan de la Retour

Julien and his family invited me back to Plan de la Tour for Easter weekend, so I hopped on a train Friday afternoon, changed once at Valence, and then arrived at Les Arcs Draguignans, where his step-father Gilbert was waiting. We really hit it off last time, thanks to a mutual interest in petanque and pastis, and after exchanging greetings (I fortunately remembered at the last moment that in southern France everyone kisses each other's cheeks) we were chattering away about the events of the past eight months. I enthusiastically greeted the rest of the family and we soon ate. The first of many, many meals over a surprisingly short weekend. I ate well and I slept well - it was a tranquil weekend in the Cote d'Azur, even if the beach Saturday morning was FREEZING. Gilbert had anticipated nice, sunny weather (like every day before, and every day after), but Saturday showed up cold and cloudy, and stayed that way as I sat shivering on the blustery beach reading Wuthering Heights. Wuthering indeed. Easter Day was spent at grandmother's house, in her backyard, in the most picturesque Provencal hilly setting imaginable, with five other relatives. We ate hard-boiled eggs, then "gigots" - delicious lamb - and "haricots blancs" - whitish beans, followed by potatoes, cheese, salad and some amazing artisanal bread. (When you get to a small village, everything's authentically 'artisanal!') I had to depart tragically early for my train, but I ate an enormous amount of sweet strawberries and was given a hefty chunk of Easter chocolate cake decorated with fine chocolate shavings and miniature colored eggs as I left. (I'd earlier explained how I often exchanged sweets and candies with my Italian and Swedish friends for healthy pasta and fish dinners, so, concerned that I'd go into withdrawal after eating so well and in interest of my continued survival, they instructed me to partition it out. I ate it all myself. Just kidding. Slightly.)

The Sweden trip next week is definitely happening. I'm now plotting excursions into the heart of France, as well as the western coast since there's a host of cities in those areas I'd love to visit, like Poitiers, Nantes, Tours, Orleans, Bourges and Bordeaux. The snowboarding season is practically over but rumors of the possibility of fresh snowfall have prevented me from returning my board and boots.

I have a few exciting pictures to post... but they'll have to wait since the library's closing and I won't be returning to the park bench any time soon because the last time I attempted "Wifi Sauvage," my laptop was almost stolen. Fortunately my grip on 4,500 pictures and some of the happiest memories of my life proved to be stronger than two not-so determined scooter-riding thieves. Whew.