Garage sale? – are you selling your garage?
Nutmeg loves the fact that the French language is descriptive in nature. Vide grenier literally translates into “empty attic”, in other words, a chance to rid your attic of used stuff. Now does that not make sense?
In France, as in North America, the vide grenier season begins in April and runs well through October. In some villages, there may even be more than one sale in a year – multiple occasions to empty that attic…
The official workweek in France is 35 hours. Then there is vacation time consisting of, 11 statutory holidays (jours fériés) and 5 weeks of personal vacation time. Minimum retirement age is currently 60, it will move to 62 in 2018. Does that sound like paradise?
Think again.
In a country such as France with a rich, complex history and endless stunning vistas, one is hard pressed to pick a favourite place. A friend suggested to Ginger and Nutmeg that a drive through the Haute Provence Vallée du Jabron, is well worth the effort. Nutmeg would like to thank their friend for the suggestion, as the valley is remarkable. The route starts just outside Sisteron (see photo below) and heads westward along the D946 through tiny hamlets. The following description, translated from the official website, is a beautiful portrayal of the valley:
From the Durance to the Luberon, from Mont Ventoux to Sisteron lives between the moon and the stars the Jabron Valley.
Giono is the mountain, the land of shepherds, lavender, olive trees …
A Kingdom of silence, a land of lights, of stars …
A valley where one finds the will to live.
August 2012 was scorching in Provence; late summer on the Mediterranean coast meant daytime temperatures of 35C. Summer crowds sweltered in the breathless, port of Marseille as they waited in queues for ferries to the nearby L’archipel du Frioul. The normally beautiful city skyline was filled with busy construction cranes. Drivers and pedestrians were equally frustrated with each other, as they crawled through gridlock, a maze of diversions, temporary hoarding and restricted views.
Nutmeg had booked a few nights in the port city. Ginger was speechless.
Ginger and Nutmeg wish you all a very happy holiday season.
Thanks for reading!
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Jingle bells swing and jingle bells ring
Snowing and blowing up bushels of fun
Now the jingle hop has begun
Jingle bell
jingle bell
jingle bell rock
Jingle bells chime in jingle bell time
Dancing and prancing in Jingle Bell Square
In the frosty air
What a bright time
it’s the right time
To rock the night away
Jingle bell time is a swell time
To go gliding in a one-horse sleigh
Giddy-up jingle horse
pick up your feet
Jingle around the clock
Mix and a-mingle in the jingling feet
That’s the jingle bell
That’s the jingle bell
That’s the jingle bell rock
The bi-annual movement of livestock between valleys and higher alpine pastures is a definitive marker of the changing seasons. Transhumance comes from Latin roots, trans ‘across‘ and humus ‘ground‘. There are forms of transhumance on almost every continent, which vary in timing, cultural influences and distances travelled. The practice of flock herding and nomadic migration has occurred naturally for centuries as a way to transfer livestock from one grazing ground to another. In order to escape, from heat (summer) or cold (winter) depending on the direction of the movement.
The potential list of must-see sights in the Languedoc are endless, so Nutmeg has chosen to highlight just three spots. All three locations are related in some way to water and created in entirely different eras.
The famous Canal du Midi is yet another UNESCO World Heritage Site (1994). The canal construction was started in 1667. It was not because the Romans had not thought of it before that, they had, and so had many others, including Leonardo da Vinci. However, no one had come up with a solution on how to supply the high points with water. Then along came Pierre Paul-Riquet, he was a long time resident of the Languedoc region, in 1662 he proposed his plan to Colbert the French Finance Minister, who served under Louis XIV. The project was finally approved in October 1666, construction started in January 1667. In all, it took 15 years to build and over 12,000 workers.
According to Nutmeg, the birds have it right, in autumn follow the warmth and go south.
A trip to the grocery store can be confusing. How do you choose between farm-raised, wild, organic, omega-3, free-range, local, grass-fed, pesticide-free and all natural?
And that is just for eggs.
For readers who know Ginger and Nutmeg well, the following statement will not be surprising.
When it comes to pairs dancing, Ginger insists that Nutmeg leads and Nutmeg insists that someone should!
Although, they both love to dance when it comes to the classic dances like waltz, tango, salsa they are frankly way out of their element.
