Pumpkins near the house this morning (note the borie on the hill)
For us, another summer in Europe has come to an end.
We’ve watched the passing of summer in the land around us over the past five weeks. The sunflowers—vibrant and dancing when we arrived—are now dry and brown, bowing their heavy heads beneath the sun. The lavender that delighted in mid-July in masses of purple has been harvested. The grapes on the vines have turned from green to purple, awaiting their own harvesting time. And the pumpkins in the field down the road have grown daily, now filling the ground with their large orange globes.
We spent this last morning in a frenzy of packing and cleaning. My last day in Provence was much like my first—once again a French washerwoman, washing and drying sheets and towels for our friends’ return home. We made a quick trip up to the village to have breakfast at Henri and Rosa’s, then back to our work. There was too much to do and not enough time. We left the house half an hour later than planned, rounding the Luberon mountain one last time on our way to Marseille.
We checked into the Best Western hotel here at the Marseille Airport, and then returned our leased car nearby. We had dinner at the airport restaurant and walked back to our hotel. No rollaway beds are available after all, so the three of us will somehow spend this last night in a double room. We don’t have long to sleep, as we’ll take the 5 am shuttle to the airport for our 6:35 am flight to Paris. We’re interested—and a bit anxious—to see how travel has changed in the past few days. We have left all our wine behind and hope we can bring it home the next time. And we're still confused about whether we can bring our laptop computer as carry-on luggage tomorrow.
Kelly gets her braces off on Tuesday and starts back to school—8th grade—on Wednesday. Charley and I both have work projects on Wednesday. So we will quickly get back to our lives at home. We’re excited to see our little black cat Nicolette, our family, and friends.
In just a month Charley and I will be back in the Luberon. We’re looking forward to our first Luberon Experience groups, but we’ll miss being here with Kelly. We’re hoping to make a family trip to the Luberon for spring break next March, primarily to focus on our hiking guidebook. We would like to rent a sweet little house in the village near Henri's shop, owned by an American woman we met this summer.
Thanks so so much to all of you who have followed us on the "trail" this summer and especially for your comments and e-mails. We like hearing that we've reminded you of places you've enjoyed or inspired you to visit someplace new.
Au revoir et bonne nuit!
