We hear the next segment of Jacqueline Hughes's Journey to Sablet - thanks Jacqueline for sharing and for  the great pictures of your garden!

        The countdown until our visit to the village of Sablet in the Northern Vaucluse continues with eighteen weeks, give or take and hour or two, and counting, to go.  Our deposit is secured and we are now working on the transportation arrangements.  Being very independent, Dan and I enjoy renting a car wherever we travel and in keeping a close profile with the local residents, learn so much about the region, as well as the interesting personalities we meet along the way. 

                                   
                                                                      Roses and Lavender

        Simply because we desire to experience the TGV, French National Railroad, we're thinking of flying into Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris and connecting with the train there that will take is smoothly into Avignon, leaving us a short drive to Sablet.  Somehow even speeding swiftly through the French countryside via rail seems romantic to me.  I'm hopeless and incurable and can't possibly imagine myself any other way.  Fortunately, neither can Dan. 

                         
               Love To Read Out On My New Red Bench.  The Color Makes Me Happy!

        That's what you get for waking up in Paris....!  Did Dan say this to me oh, those may years ago on our first morning in France?  I remember standing out on our narrow balcony watching the sun rise with its brilliant glow shining through the half-moon filigree of wrought iron that seperated us from our neighbors.  I must have seemed trans-like to him as the morning breeze cleansed my soul and gently sifted through my hair and clothes at 6.03 A.M.   Sitting at petit dejeuner later I knew what he'd meant; my life would never be the same and, it never has been. 

                                    
                                                                                          Sunny Day Along The Stone Path.....

        That is why planning this trip to provence is so exhilarating for me over twenty years and several European trips later.  It's as though I were actually coming home.  Certainly having met Marianne, Michel and Pippa over the Internet, owners of beautiful homes in Sablet who chose to share thier 'joie de vivre' with all of us by renting these homes, a new facet of my 'French Experience' comes into play.  Dan and I will enjoy the luxury of being able to return home, at least it will be ours for the duration, each evening to cook, eat, drink, socialize and enjoy everything that the village of Sablet has to offer while  protecting us within her cool ancient stone walls.  In essence, I will be 'coming home.'

To Be Continued......