Pieces of Summer

After what seemed like a nomadic, sometimes chaotic spring/summer, our travel bags have finally been completely unpacked and placed into storage. Phew! Often, because of travel or circumstances, we were without internet access as well, and as much as we would all like to take ourselves off the grid from time to time, I found myself feeling isolated and lost without it. But we are now finally back in Vancouver, enjoying an unusually warm and sunny late summer.

The Seams French "staff" (that would be me), will be back on track shortly, with some new projects, some "in progress" work, and perhaps even unearthing some of those pieces that have been deeply buried in one closet or another.

In the meantime, I thought that I would share a little of our travels of this past July and August.

Montpellier is on the Mediterranean coast of France in the Languedoc region of France, and is surrounded by mountain ranges to three sides. Other then when driving to the beach, any other drive into the country takes us through one of these mountain ranges.The Pyranees are to the west, between Spain and France; to the east, in Provence, are the Alpilles; and to the north are the Cevennes and the larger Massif Central. The highway that took us to CERN in Switzerland (our first stop on this trip) wound it's way through the Luberon, the northern region of Provence, the area of France that Peter Mayle wrote about in his first book "A Year In Provence".

Ancient ruins of a fortress on the edge of a cliff in the Massif Central in the Luberon region.

CERN, (European Organization for Nuclear Research) on the French/Swiss border, near the city of Geneva, is a very large research facility for high energy physics and the birthplace of the "World Wide Web". A must-see for the serious "I love all things science" junkie on this road trip (that would not be me!!!)

This symbol marks the gateway to CERN.

And they mean that very seriously here!

Having escaped the "Big Bang" unscathed, we drove towards Burgundy through yet another mountain range, the Juras, on the Swiss/French border. Yodalaheehoo!

In Burgundy, we met friends in the town of Beaune, where the vineyards never tire of producing some of the worlds best wines, both white and red.

Beautifully maintained vineyards as far as the eye can see.

The last stop, before we headed back home to Montpellier, was in Lyon, where I paid homage to the gods of fibre at "Musee des Tissus".

The entrance courtyard at the museum.

Back in Montpellier there were serious gastronomic explorations that had to be undertaken. We were both up for the challenge.

"La Forge", in the town of Bédarieux, is one of our favourite restaurants.

Just outside of Montpellier is "Ma Maison", whose garden setting is as much a delight as the chef's creative menu choices.

For 3 of the last 5 years, the Tour de France bike race has come right through our neighbourhood.

This photo was taken at the end of our street.

Since our flight home to Vancouver was from Paris, we got there a few days early and enjoyed a few leisurely days of a Paris summer. We strolled up and down the tree lined streets, lingered in the heavily shaded parks and enjoyed watching the life of the city while sipping something or other in one of the many cafés.

Walking towards the Rodin gardens.

In the Rodin Gardens.

"The Burghers of Calais" by Auguste Rodin.

And then it was on to Vancouver. See you soon France!

Taken from our balcony the last night we were in Montpellier.