Provence, France May 2014

This weekend was a total surprise and I think Kirk wins the prize for being the most thoughtful and romantic!  I had no idea where we were going.  Kirk told me what to pack in my suitcase and we left for the airport.  At the airport, I learned we were flying into Marseille in the south of France.  Once we landed in Marseille, we took a bus to the train station where we hopped on a train to go further south and west.  On the train, Kirk finally told me where we were headed.....to Arles in Provence.  I am a big fan of the art of Vincent van Gogh and Arles is where he painted "Starry Night" and "Le Café La Nuit" which are two of my favorite paintings. 


We arrived on May 1st, which is Labor Day in most European countries.  There was a festival going on.  We checked into our hotel, which was a historic structure and was like going back in time to a country chateau.  It was so romantic! 


We wandered around the sleepy medieval town, along the meandering cobblestone streets and found a café to have lunch and some wine of course.  There was a medieval arena up the street and we bought tickets to attend the festival.  It was all in French, of course, but we enjoyed it very much.  There is a group called the Guardians, who dress in costume and perform on horseback and they entertained us in the arena for several hours.  We also got to see some bullfighting!  It was a wonderful day!


We spent the next couple of days relaxing, drinking wine and exploring the spots where van Gogh painted his paintings.  We took naps, had great pastries and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  Our last night there, we stumbled upon this little café, tucked into one of the winding side streets.  We ate outside and had what was arguably the best meal we have ever had (well, maybe tied with the Italian meal we had at Il Paradiso in Mallorca Spain).  We had foie gras, duck and the best desserts ever!!!  We enjoyed a very leisurely meal with wine and one of the little girls from the neighborhood became my new friend.  She was probably about 3 and her family was at the café next door so she was singing and dancing up and down the street.  She stopped at our table and started talking to us.  She was so cute!  Luckily, I could understand her 3 year old French enough to have a conversation with her! LOL


I am truly thankful that I have such a wonderful, thoughtful, romantic husband...even after 22 years, he still surprises me and we still have so much fun together. I am fortunate to have a job that allows us to travel and experience these adventures together.