My Love-Hate Relationship With France

So Monday we were off to Frontaine de Vaucluse...again...but this time not to see the incredible water source that feeds the Sorgue River but to spend some time at the Musee d'Histoire which is dedicated to the Resistance fighters during the second World War and depicts life in France under the Nazi occupation.I have read a lot about this horrible period of history ever since the owners of my apartment in Beaune back in 2007 took me on a hike back into the countryside to the site of a cave where 19 Resistance fighters lived and were shot by the Nazis! Someone had "ratted" on them. It was an incredibly moving spot and I was overcome with emotion especially reading their ages...18,19 22, years of age...so visiting this museum had been on my list.The first day we went it was closed...it was a Thursday...now why close a museum on Thursday?? So here we were going back again..Monday!It was open and we were there for 10 AM as they unlocked the doors...us and all the boisterous high school students...two hours in to the incredible displays we were asked to leave ..they close for lunch...and they had already let us stay 20 minutes longer than  permissable.Come back at 2PM.
So I love the long lunches and the race to the nearest restaurant of choice but I hate the interruption it gave to my learning and besides our plan had been to go home when we were finished..maybe another hour and enjoy lunch there.As it was, the town was soo packed we feared giving up our parking space and going home and then coming back....and there was more to see..so we stayed in the town for lunch which was pleasant as the day was beautiful...but it reminded me of the way restaurants organize their days off  as well as museums closures... you have to check everything.Restaurants can be closed Tuesday and Wednesday evenings..and lunch on Thursday.. thank heaveen we know the days of the week in French..but May to July the days can be totally different. At historic sites you have to read the hours carefully... not all of them close for lunch and the day of closure can be whatever. Tomorrow we are headed to Tavel and Lirac wine regions which make rose wines...the day is planned around the opening of the restaurant ..one picked by monsieur  Michelin...hopefully it will be sunny..but hey the restaurant will be open..oops I should not speak too soon..it is a holiday here...lots of May holidays.. two this week...May 1st last week....it could be closed...fingers crossed.

But the folks at theMuseum were very helpful...here is a picture of three beautiful huskies they looked after inside the front vestibule while the owners toured the museum.The Rhone River was very important to the Nazis and the area we are in here in Provence..the Vaucluse was a hotbed for Resistance fighters. Monday night I could hear the boots of the  Germans echoing on the streets while I slept...the displays were that real to me.

After Fontaine we roamed the small town of  Saumane with a chateau built by the Sade family...they seemd to have castles all over the place..well fortifications really... I loved this door.  The village is built right in to the rock and  has been there since the early 1400's.We left our car at the foot of the switch back road leading up and walked to the town...the French drivers just barrel down these very narrow roads like they dare you to hit them.. I know Bruce white knuclkles the steering wheel alot.

I love the gates and special things like this ancient kettle someone has set out by their gate. To me it said welcome..come in for tea... but the gates keep the French fortified inside...you never see their living space except if you walk by some day and the gates are open...we have only seen a few open and caught a glimpse of life... you can imagine though... the round bistro table and chairs...everyone has several at least... the pots of plants..cats sprawling in the sun..urns with trees..clothes drying on a clothes rack. There is a whole life behind those gates and big wooden doors that is hid from view.I guess it is somewhat like us having a back yard with the cedar fence.

I have often thought I would like to have a big gate  at home but then I think how welcomng is that...?I also love the shutters..especially the ones painted in the Iris blues... the iris" are all out now by the way...the apple blossoms and cherry blossoms all gone..in fact we stopped and looked at an olive tree yesterday and there are actual olives on them.

Is this place not beautiful?...but you are looking at the backside..which faces the river..we are across the river.. the Sorgue...so you are not seeing any gates..its flank is exposed, so to speak....it is on a walk we often take after dinner.. a quiet spot full of ducks right now with babies...

Anyway we are off to Gordes this afternoon and the Abbaye de Senanque...enjoy the pictures...!