At last

All the years we’ve been coming to Provence, living in Provence, we have never been here when the lavender has been in flower. So we see postcards and pictures and paintings of places we know so well and yet we have never seen them when lavender adds the colour of Provence to them.

So at last we are here at the right time. We are here with our daughter and son-in-law to show them ‘our’ bit of Provence, and I get to see the lavender.

Astonishing journey. We set off from St Pancras at 7.19am and by 2pm we were in Avignon. Our daughter had booked us in posh seats, so we got breakfast and lunch served to us. All we had to do was sit back in comfortable seats, read our books and papers, plan our few days here . . . and watch the world go by.

We did have a bit of a wait at the car hire place, but as recompense we were upgraded free of charge to a Mercedes. Wow! Then it was tricky and slow getting out of Avignon, but Gordon managed the car and the traffic very well. Now here we are at Mas de la Tour, near Apt, and as we drove up we were greeted by this sight - an old Provençal building and lavender already. Not the hillsides full of it that I hope to see in the next few days, but it's a start.

And it's very hot indeed! A pool and a shady verandah . . . perfect.

(Just hoping I can find enough wifi to post this.)