St Remy

Today is Sunday. We have one full day here so we made the most of it. Breakfast was served at 8am so we made sure we were ready to jump in the car before we sat down to a VERY scrumptious breakfast of granola, croissants, fruit, orange juice and cafe au lait. Then we were off, first to a Market/flea market (antiquing) and then to the lavender fields. The market was amazing, I've never seen anything...no wait, the Alaska State fair on a sunny, non-school day...INSANE! I finally burnt to a crisp, Se la vie! It had to happen sometime. There was so much color and noise and movement! Linens, legumes, jewelry, clothes, trinkets, you name it, it was there. Even a box with a baby pig and rabbits they were wanting you to buy food to feed them! (seriously, everything!) It was a little overwhelming...especially the antiquing, everything was old, and I mean nothing was less than 100 years old! And most of it was over 100 Euro...it was fun to look through the old furnature, linens, crystal, paintings, books, etc. So much to see, so little time. We ventured on to another town (I'll fill in the blanks later when I remember) that was older than anything we have seen yet and built into cliff. It was awesome and got everyone excited! We drove onto the lavender fields only to be surprised at how they were mountain pastures and just small funny shaped fields here and there. The abbey was absolutely stunning just like in the pictures but not at all in the setting you assume...when they say fields, you just don't picture the drive to victory bible camp and end up tucked in a closed valley. Lots of fun pics later we headed to explore that fun village on a cliff, only to find pay parking, being cheap some of us jumped out, while others drove to a different angle and parked in a no parking zone with the rest of the tourists...LOL! So French! We got some ice cream (glace) and headed home (missing the McDonald's!). Back at the hotel we hurriedly got ready for the next venture. Back in the car we drove to the insane asylum where Van Gough spent his final year before taking his life. He lived there for one year and 8 days and painted over 150 canvases and did over 100 sketches! (the beginning of art therapy?) It is still a working hospital. Walking across the street we saw some Roman Ruins that were built around Christ's time. Very cool. THEN WE WENT TO DINNER...(it's 7:30pm, we haven't eaten-minus glace-since 8:30pm)...10:30pm we still haven't gotten the bill...I have to the bathroom but there isn't one...Evie is vacillating between crying and sleeping...we are all so tiered from the fun day that even finding our way home is a challenge. (oh, and I keep loosing stuff!) Arriving home I take a cold shower, felt so good on my burn, and we all went to bed, well, I'm there as soon as I post this! Tomorrow Coleen Brenna Mom and Nana are taking a cooking class offered here at the hotel. I am personally going to sleep in, run some errands for mom and pack. If there is time, I would love to see the excavated roman ruins but I am headed to Italy so we'll see. Tomorrow I have to say goodbye to the family...I'm not ready