Most of the last three weeks have been countryside Provence yet we did break code and booked a boat outing, highly recommend.
We brought plenty of alcohol, obviously, should have packed a picnic as we had to buy sandwiches and chips from the gas station, not one of my best culinary feats.
Yeah, I did that
It was a ball, swimming in the Mediterranean an absolute highlight. Driving back that evening I thought I could live forever in the south of France, wishful thinking indeed.
Happy weekend everyone, tomorrow we start moving west, we’ll be stateside Monday. Third week of June is one of my favorite times of year, the long days feel endless.
I’m not much of a regimented beauty routine devotee, one of my things is washing my face at the kitchen sink with dish soap and then drying it with the towel that’s attached to my apron.
A few things that I do love are a black kohl eye pencil, black mascara, and a good eye makeup remover to take the whole smudge thing off with, dish soap doesn’t seem to work well for the eye area. I’ve tried several, and always come back to Chanel.
I also like to even out my skin tone with a good foundation as I’ve done a bit of damage from, I know it’s bad a life-long sun worshiper.
Getting out the door for travel is tough, getting out the door when you’re leaving for a month makes me completely scattered, and likely to overpack while also forgetting a few things.
The white bag? (similar one here) A gift from the husband. Whenever I carry this, I double wash my hands before and while using it and never put a pen of any kind in there, that would be disaster. I’m even careful with lipstick picking one that doesn’t have too much pigmentation because I’m always in a hurry and I would probably smudge on the bag.
These are my recent duty-free cosmetic pick-ups and they’ve been great.
Yesterday morning I broke a piece of baguette and smeared it with French butter and then soft ripe cheese and then topped it with local honey, it was sublime. I’m drinking small cups of espresso, forgoing the tall American coffee, and usually indulging again at half past three.
everyone helps for dinner in
Second son’s girlfriend says le vin rosé is like water, and you know how you’re supposed to get in eight full glasses of that.
on our way to town to gather supplieswe did have lunch at this Michelin star restaurant L’Aubergine
okay, so I took this photo, daily run to market
Booie asked me where the pantry is in the kitchen and I replied, ‘no pantry, we buy what we need and will use on the daily’.
petit déjeuneron the lawn for six
We started with a party of six, grew to eight and then ten, and now back to eight, and on Thursday we will be five. We’ve been gone three plus weeks now, on holiday with really nothing to do, simply enjoying one another’s company in this beautiful country of France. We are blessed, and the husband is the triple gold star.
prepping for dinner in
I’ve been cooking as most times we prefer staying in and accustoming myself with an electric cooktop and an oven I don’t understand, but that’s okay. Everything makes me think, even the every day run to the market where I have to navigate the carts, and the checkout.
The first half of the trip I was fairly disciplined with the workout routine and now as we’re getting ready to head home, I’m savoring every lazy hour of undriven bliss.
and the sun goes down
We’ve been eating and drinking in France, and that’s a very good thing. All photos here by Maxwell Collins, on Instagram @maxyny.
Now in Eygalières, and we’re settling in to life in the French countryside.
our very own gardenpool with a viewmorning coffee spotvery early morninghome base
First morning I took these photographs of the garden before anyone else was awake, and then did an hour of exercise, it was divine.
rolled neutralsbought a khaki green tablecloth and napkins in St. Remy and cut white roses from the garden.
Of course, I’m up to my usual, buying linens and candles, and these I picked up in nearby Saint Rémy. I was undecided between the khaki green or a very soft pink, and at the end chose the khaki, I guess if you look at my case of rolled clothes it all makes sense.
youngest of the bunch, she’s pretty good at speaking Frenchboth wearing a variation of florals
We are now a party of six and expected four more to come. Summer holiday in Provence, the light is absolutely brilliant.
Oh, packing and what to wear. A safe bet is a dress, and a sweater. I like to now wear a sneaker with a dress.
hotel lobby in Madrid Spain
It’s taken years to get here, wearing a sneaker with a dress, and now it feels right. This dress is a two-year-old, or is it three, DVF. The print sometimes makes me nervous, yet a black dress with a black sweater might be severe. The sneaker is by Golden Goose. I was first intrigued with this brand when in NYC while shopping at Barneys probably five years ago. Kind of loved the vintage look but at that time I always wanted new. Again, it’s taken years to get here too, wearing and loving something that looks and feels aged. Kind of think I better get used to that, hello wrinkled face.
I like to spend a lot of time on my feet and when traveling pack as light as possible. My clothes have to be multi-purpose. Footwear is the biggest deal, and I think a pair of boots in really any location is a good choice. I wear them on the plane and pull them out when the weather is cold or inclement or simply when I need to feel grounded.
A black V-neck sweater (first choice cashmere for softness and comfort) is a must have, I’ve been on the go for five days and this one has seen probably ten wears, maybe more, as sometimes it’s off and on all day long.
Black silk camisole takes up no space at all and can go it alone or be a layering piece.
writing and reading, in the abandoned garden, by the pond
Writing, as much as I can, has helped me navigate life and all of its intricacies. Blog posts here have been a creative outlet for several years and recently, as in the last four months, I’ve been taking pen to paper and writing things down in long-hand, three pages a day, having read Julia Cameron’sThe Artist’s Way.
In fact, my daughter Sarah and I have been working this program together, she is being steadfastly consistent, me fitting it in here and there. She has found the page to be a safe place, a place for her to explore her life-threatening experience with anxiety and depression.
We talk about writing together, and often share with each other some of our more intimate work. Writing has been therapeutic for us both, and for the next four nights we are sharing a room in the countryside of Spain practicing our craft.
Below is a short piece I wrote yesterday, after a long walk, one of my favorite things to do settle the mind, soothe the body.
The children were all playing in the garden while I prepared lunch. The boys digging holes, the oldest daughter doing whatever she does and the babe poking things with a stick, at the side of the small pond.
‘Lunch is ready’ I would call. Maybe I would bring it on a tray, and we would have a picnic. ‘Lunch is ready’ I would call again.
Everyone all immersed in the outside world while enclosed in a garden with a fish pond. Isn’t that how life should be?
Outside, enclosed, immersed. Years went by and the garden was abandoned, we all got busy.
And then she fell and fell hard. Not in the garden but outside in the world. She immobilized our family, our hearts stood still.
Doctors and pills and pills and doctors. Journals and writing and writing and journals.
guest cottage, in the meadow, while walking the hill
Time travel and a writing retreat and a walk up a hill in silence. She finds a spot at the corner of the pool, the only corner with sunshine, and then pokes things, and gradually stirs…
I’ve been educated entirely in the USA, most specifically New York state, and more specifically then that a public high school, and then State University of New York at Buffalo with three young babes in attendance at commencement. Now, at the almost age of 54, I have the opportunity for the very first time to […]
We’re prepping to leave town for a month, heading to a writing camp in Spain and then three weeks in France. I’ve known this trip was on the horizon, of course doing all kinds of stuff severely last minute and will for certain leave some things undone, whatever. Not much hotel action happening, my second […]
