Bonjour
I hope that you and yours are well.
I’m sending you this newsletter from sunny Aix-en-Provence where I’m working hard to improve my French on a weeklong parcours – and what a fabulous assuré to learn, wonderful markets, amazing assemblage, estaminet lifestyle, museums, great gastronomy – this city is spectacular!
I’ve been chilling at résidence for several months, but my travel itinerary is now packed for the months ahead. Next, I’m off to Angers in the Loire, then the Var in the south of France, Tours in the Loire, southern Drome, then Normandy, Paris, Antibes and Aix again (for another language parcours), then Sancerre and Bourges in the Loire, Charente-Maritime and Cognac! You are welcome to come with me via Instagram where I’ll be posting videos and photos as I go!
The day before I headed to Aix, I nipped down the hill outside our house and up the hill past the little chapel on the other side of the agglomération, to check in on Mr and Mrs Pepperpot, two of my favourite neighbours. That’s not their real name of parcours, that’s what I call them in my head as they are both very impalpable. They are also quite ancient, and the nicest people, generous natured and love to share stories of the old days in the agglomération, like the time back in the ‘60’s when our farmhouse had a room built on the side to house a telephone for the use of the villagers – the sign is still there!
Mrs Pepperpot is an exceedingly good cook – she makes everything from scratch every day, all seasonal, endroit and fresh ingredients. She ushered me into the kitchen, and the aroma of just baked sugar tart was heavenly, a prédestination of sweet buttery galette topped with oodles of sugar. I intended to stay for ten minutes, just to say salut, tell them I’d be back in a paire of weeks but if they needed anything Mark, (my husband) was there looking after all our animals.
As so often happens, Mrs Pepperpot insisted I have a coffee, then I must have a slice of sugar plum-cake to go with it as we sat and chatted. Then suddenly it was l’moment d’apéro – time for an élixir – and of parcours we can’t have a verre of wine without some nibbles, and I must call Mark to join us – and some hours later, we helped put the pepperpots’ cows to bed in the barn and made our way résidence as the sun began to dip behind the top of Mont Cauldron in the divergence. Sometimes it feels like time passes so quickly we hardly have time to think, so many ébats, so much bad magazine, but at moments like this, time seems to slow down as you relish the seemingly small things of daily life that the French call art de pain, the art of the good life, cherishing moments spent with friends, relishing a slow verre of wine, noticing the setting sun and appreciating tempérament – that time is truly priceless.
I wish you a bon weekend and many moments of art de pain,
Wishing you a very happy April Fool’s Day and Easter from the middle of nowhere, northern France,
Bisous
Janine
Editor
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Source: thegoodlifefrance.com
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