Bonnieux, jour deux

We just had to go back.  A small hill town, and the site of a wonderful family lunch last year, and we loved the market.  So back we came, and it was as wonderful as we remembered.  Plus we actually drove thru the upper town, so we saw some areas that we hadn’t found last year, and were able to admire the views again…

No photos of the market, but lasting images of a quiet walk (we were there early again), an acoustic guitar player in the middle of the square (which kept everyone speaking just a little quieter than normal), and lots of locals kissing each other in greeting.  We purchased our last tablecloths and pottery, and then back to the estate for the warmest (hot) day of the week, and our last time to play by the pool.

Delightful to be here, but next time we need 2 weeks…

Markets

One of the best things about traveling in Provence is the local market.  The Sunday market at l’Isle sur la Sorgue isn’t necessarily the “Local” market, but it is an amazing one…  It was a lovely day, not too hot in the morning, and Troy & I took turns wandering the streets, Troy actually lost us at one point, and the girls & I hung out in a cafe for an hour reading books & watching the people walk by, Troy took photos,  while Alexandra ate bread.  Tous les enfants aiment le pain…

(don’t you just love these tomatoes!!) I could just go back there for days, the town is really interesting too!

Market day in Orvieto

The crowd of stands encompassed the Piazza del Popolo, and we found some great veggies for the grill, some odd cheese (that mom thought later was not cheese but goat lard), and beautiful flowers… All of the different shapes of the tomatoes were amazing! All of us wandering aimlessly – but the town was so small you couldn’t loose each other.

Salzburg Markets

Crazy busy.  That’s the only thing I can think of when I think of today.  There were people everywhere!!  The vendors were not the nicest (if you don’t want it touched don’t put it at a child’s eye level!!), and the average age of the shoppers was easily into the 60s if not 70s so things moved a little slower than we normally do. 

We did buy a couple of Nutcrackers for the girls, and some ornaments, but then it was lunchtime, and we really needed food & a Stiegl (beer) so we headed up the hill to the Stiegl Keller & the view of Salzburg.

Another Schloss, then to the markets!!

We set out for another castle in the Munich area today – Schloss Furstenreid.

However this is as close as we could get to it.  (and a side reminder to look up opening hours before taking a drive in Saturday traffic with Children)  The schloss is currently a private retreat center for the Archbishop of Munich, so no entrance for us noise makers.

So we drove over to the Christmas market at the Chinese tower in English Garden for a bit and found the bishop himself, Actually it is the feast of St Nicolaus on Dec 6th, and in Germany the children place their cleaned shoes or boots outside their door and he brings them sweets, and an orange, inside.  It’s a fun way of getting the festivities started, and I like the fact that the girls see an alternative, more religious side to Santa Claus.  This Saint was walking around in his full bishop regalia, and even shared his staff -very impressive!

Of course our girls were more impressed with the Playmobil Play hut – and it was a great place to warm up for a bit.  Not that cold here yet, but really damp.     And no visit to the tower would be complete without a ride on the carousel!

or two

Regensburg Christmas Market

Pre & post cleaning of the exterior of the Cathedral entrance.

We drove up to Regensburg on Sunday for the first weekend of Advent opening of the Christmas markets all over Germany. Kind of fun to be doing some kind of shopping on a Sunday, and not related to apartment anything at all!

It was a very quaint market, just once around the small parish church in the middle of town, but cute & great wooden toys. Also a couple of carousels that Sophia just had to ride, but they go really REALLY fast here (all the vehicles are fast in Germany) so she settled for riding the elephant just once. After that it was to a coffee bar/cafe to warm up for lunch & back to Munich for a lazy evening at home.

There also is a "romantic" christmas market near the palace (the one I remember watching dozens of times on Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous on all of those Friday night babysitting nights). But romance & cold, hungry 3 year olds don't do well together.

Saturday Market

Market Day in Antibes

The piles of spices in the food stalls and shopping baskets hanging from the walls.
Nana & Sophia picking out fresh strawberries! (Great for the champagne later)
Provencial aromatic Soaps, lavender is a favorite.
Play time with Papa on the trampoline in the park after lunch.

We spent a great morning at the Markets in Antibes. We were a little late, so we only had a few minutes in the clothing stalls (like anything fits americans anyway), and walked thru the old town to the enclosed food market. The smells of spices, stinky cheeses, flowers, fruits & vegetables is amazing, and probably overwhelming when it is 90, however we hit it on a cold & rainy day in the south of France so we were just able to smell with pleasure & not be assulted by them.

Lunch was from one of the better bakeries we found, and eaten at the play park where Sophia was finally able to work off some of her energy. It's amazing how much energy a 3 year old has.