A Week with My Mom in France

Last week my mom came to see me in France and we had an amazing time exploring Provence. Provence is a mix of a million things that I love: fresh fruit and vegetables, great markets, ancient cities, so much beautiful nature, and great, friendly people. 

While we were in Arles (an ancient roman city) we happened to come across a HUGE market. It was probably 1 km long. And they have it every Saturday. It was the best market I've ever seen and we wanted to get everything--but we said we'd go back later and by the time we went back it was all cleared up!

Fresh spices

Fresh sausage

And so many other fresh things :) It's cherry season right now! 

Then we explored the roman ruins for a while--except they are aren't exactly ruins because people still use this colosseum for bullgames and its over 1500 years old!  

Mom hanging in Arles.

On Saturday evening we headed to the countryside to stay at this great Bed and Breakfast. It had a great view and it was great to be out in the country after a day in the city. 

In the evening we went to St. Remy (a little provencal town where the philosopher Nostradamus was born). 

Sunday we went to Avignon, where we did not danse on the bridge but we did see it. We also saw the popes' palace and walked around for a while. The river was beautiful.

And then --one of my very favourite parts-- in the evening we headed to the hilltop city Roussillon. It's built on an the biggest ochre deposit in the world! Crazy huh? All the buildings are orange and red which is not the typical style in this region. 

It was incredible. We even took a walk through the vineyards and orchards before dinner. We might have stollen a few cherries of the trees. 

Cities are nice but I don't think much beats the amazing and beautiful things God has created!

This is my favourite picture of my mom *ever*

And then Monday we found a beautiful hidden river called le Sorgue. We went kayaking on it and it was emerald green because of the clear, clear water and the green plants that grow in the water like bushes. 

And to end our trip, as we were driving back to Marseille we saw some lavender fields. #lifecomplete

Most of all it was wonderful to share all this with my mother who has provided me with so many wonderful experiences in my life. I was so happy to see these beautiful places with her and to make memories that will last forever. 

And in the end I realized that what I love the most when I travel isn't the museums or the ruins or even the history of a place. My favourite part of traveling is seeing the diversity of nature and then seeing how humans use it in different ways (to cook, to live, to build on, to farm...) 

So when I travel with Jenna in 9 days (AHH 9 days) we are going to be doing a lot of that! Can't wait!