Just another afternoon in Provence. I’m here for a week, as part of my Easter holidays. While I love Paris, I also love this region. It’s good to get out of the city. 
The rain finally stopped and the sky cleared, giving us a few hours of sunshine yesterday afternoon. We spent it hiking around the village of Evenos, which consists of a few houses, a church, a 2-table “restaurant”, and the ruins of a 12th-century fort. Wild boar roam the gorges nearby, but the only animals we ran into were the chickens and geese of the little French baba who runs the tiny restaurant. She told us stories of the war, when German soldiers came to hunt down the Resistance fighters hiding out in the caves that surround the village; of wealthy foreigners who are buying up all the nearby properties, and then complaining that they don’t like having to hear roosters crow every day; of tourist hunters who come on to her property and start shooting willy-nilly… This little 85-year old outlived all 5 of her children, and now occupies herself with tending to her business, her flock of birds, and her many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She told us her stories for almost an hour, and probably would have continued for longer if it hadn’t been time to lock up the birds for the night.
Today the rain is back; so far it looks like it might be an “in-day”, which is fine by me. The sound and scent of the rain is soothing and relaxing, and I don’t mind just curling up under a blanket, by the fireplace, with a book…
