Mimi & Jacques’ Bon Voyage

St. Andiol & Saint-Rémy-de-Provence June 21

On this first day of summer we spent beaucoup time in nearby Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, a charming little town in the heart of Provence.

Before getting there I was wondering what happened to make our car so filthy dirty.

It was Saharan rain…filthy, sandy rain covered the car when it rained overnight. When I saw all cars looked like ours I figured it out.

Saint-Rémy-de-Provence has a bustling farmers market every Wednesday.

Food? Take your pick! Local candy and mountains of it.

Dried sausage of every kind.

Olives and garlic tapenades.

Herbs to spice up your foods. And my personal favorite: merguez sausage. Lucky me I got to eat it twice in three days😋

While some went to a restaurant the Hollanders and I ate our street food.

And then there was the yummy bread and cookies that some really liked!

For others like Rayna and Mimi there was shopping to be had.

And lavender to contemplate- the season is just underway.

Even a little local French folk music as a foreshadowing of a night full of music we were going to experience in just a few hours.

But, as the day quickly warmed into the 90s it was time to return for pool and chill time. And our French and American second wave was going to arrive late afternoon.

A swing upon arrival for Vera.

And our cousins Brigitte and Jeannot arrived with boxes of sparkling Vouvray from their home in the Loire.

I learned about a tradition I did not know about. Fête de la musique. This has become big in France every June 21 to welcome summer. Every town in France has live free music and some towns go big on it.

We ventured back to St. Remy to experience it. Suzanne and family along with Rayna, Brigitte and Jeannot all made our way there for an incredible musical experience while the new American arrivals recovered from jet lag as they just arrived.

Talk about an eclectic selection of music! We had front row seats to a great night of entertainment and had a meal watching at a town square. They served up some local Rosé wine, too.

While we didn’t come all this way to hear American country music we watched some boot scootin’ boogy à la française!

Next act was some amazing street ballet like I’ve never seen from a guy who must have had zero fat content. And damn could he impress. So could his accompaniment of what must have been his students. Check him out!

Some locals had their best choir voices ready and must have practiced all year for this.

The seductive African music and dancing may have been my favorite of all night.

Ok, maybe second favorite after these two showstoppers - Eliza and Ferris! Take a bow❤️👏👏👏

Some cool jazz helped bring some chill on this warm summer evening.

And finally as we were leaving town, some classic rock that made me wanna play some air guitar 🎸!

Already I’m looking forward toward returning to France and making sure it includes Fêtes de la Musique and a June 21 date as part of the visit.

Tomorrow we visit Avignon and dodge some expected rain along the way. A toute à l’heure and a wish for everybody to enjoy happy summer experiences. Au revoir from Provence. 🇫🇷