A perfect walk in the January sunshine

The fabulous weather continues and whilst temperatures at night have been falling to minus 6, by day we are warmed by clear skies and bright sunshine.

We took a walk today, starting at home, walking to the village and up to the chateau which is at the head of the village.Here is the view, above to the South East and below over  the Church in the village.

We are walking with Eero, our Finnish friend, and about to make that important decision - which route do we take!

All of our properties are equipped with maps  for hikes and walking. 

The routes vary in length and difficulty. There are plenty for all ages and fitness!

Most importantly they are well marked and quite easy to follow (with Eero leading!)

This is the chateau at the top of Saint Saturnin, but from the West, and a view we have not seen before in 6 years! With the Luberon behind it is stunning.

 A slightly wider perpective.

We stumbled across a rather cute tiny Borie.

And a slightly larger one!

We also came across this site of stone statues - some one has been before us!

This picnic table must warrant best view in France! 

Just to confirm I was there!

One of the many stone and wood structures you will come across.

This 11KM walk took us less than three hours door  to door and is certainly to be recommended.

If you enjoy walking, Hiking or cycling we are perfectly situated.

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lunch out in January

Many of our regular visitors have met Karen's Mum Joan who has just spent New Year with us and staying as always to celebrate her birthday on the 8th.

And being such a beautiful January day we headed off to the coast, stopping briefly on route at the famous Gordes viewing platform where there are spectacular views over the Luberon valley.

Cassis is about two hours drive from home, and it was a hive of activity.

In fact, absolutely buzzing!

A more tranquil view of the boats in the harbour.

We had a really good casual lunch in this restaurant, Le Perroquet, great service and open all afternoon for lunch, quite unusual in France.

First one of the day!

The ladies considering whether to dip their toes in the sea!

Cassis has a very active Boules club which you can watch in the warm winter sun.

Slightly later in the day, pre lunch drinks have changed to afternoon tea or Rose!

On the beach in January!

It really is a fabulous time of the year to holiday in Provence!

The housing market

With all the euro gloom around it is re assuring to learn that the housing market is showing signs of continued activity.

This much photographed  house in the centre of the village has just changed hands,

it dates to 1542 and as well as going up 3 levels from the street it goes down 3 levels beneath with evidence of animal shelters, hiding places and possibly a tunnel to neighbouring houses.

Weather, weather, weather!

It is well known the brits love to talk about the weather!

And so here are some statistics to help you decide when is best for your holiday.

Remember though, no two years may be the same!

July had some unusually cool nights.

Our rainfall, 36% of our rain fell in November, in fact much of that on one day! The total for the year was 515 mm compared  to the 800 mm that fell in the South of England in 2011!

A New Year begins - but lets just look back a moment!

Here we are on November 19th, our Olives having already been picked , we had the time free to go walking in the warm Autumn sunshine.

My sister Gillian is a regular visitor and helper!

Marion, who works with my sister and her husband Kevin, have stayed in  Le Chene, Les Cypres and our gites and now come for Olive picking in November.

After a 10 kilometre walk to Travignon, a deserted village we deserved our beer!

And so after a year full of clients and friends visiting we take a break to Egypt for a nile cruise.

This is something Karen had wanted to do as part of her 'special' birthday year celebrations.

We started in Cairo, which despite the problems was an amazing city and of course first visit was to the Pyramids.

The scenery is quite mind blowing!

Our home for the week cruising the Nile, the Amber.

We travelled with Bales who we cannot recommend strongly enough!

One of the many temples we visited.

At Luxor Temple

Hot air ballooning over the Valley of the Kings

Incredible views.

Another temple!

It was a seriously good trip and one we would really recommend.

We were back in Provence for Christmas, Martin was here, the weather was perfect, we even played boules on Christmas day!

I recall I won!

We visited Marseille , again another sunny day, December 27th!

The Christmas markets were full of stalls selling the very popular Santons, enabling you to create your own Nativity scene

Meanwhile at home we have been enjoying amazing sun rises

and equally breathtaking sun rise!

Best of all lunch out side in December.

So if you are looking to escape a cloudy UK or Northern Europe why not spend winter in Provence

arguably even better than summer!

Blue skies, warm sunshine, peace and quiet.Bliss.

We wish you a happy new Year .