Provence!

If any place can transport you to another time, it's the Provence region of southeastern France.  It's romantic, wonderful, sensual, and my absolute favorite place to spend a little time:)  Today you'll see this place in winter and summer as you did with the Paris shots.  It's truly an incredible visit and you won't want to miss this stop on your adventures to France.

The Rocking Horse

Most countries sell stupid touristy stuff, but I found it quite the opposite in France where you'll find lovely fabrics, perfumes, wines and other licours.  The atmosphere around the place is timeless and you'll truly enjoy the walks during the day.

The above pic is taken outside the castle walls of Avignon, France.  It's actually outside the city.  This is a great place to stay for all your day trip fun!  The places are unique and OLD!  The restaurants are picturesque.  The food divine.  And the people are so friendly here!

This is a poor pic from our hotel in downtown Avignon and as you can see it's a place that's all about clowns. And quite frankly, clowns scare me!!  But it had a lot of interesting architecture and design.  Definitely a unique place to stay! 

I couldn't decide if I liked this place during winter or summer, but I have to say that driving through fields of lavender is pretty incredible.  The smells were some of my favorite.  Blues and yellows are popular provinicial colors that make great additions to any Southwestern homes and garden design. 

This is a place I'd go back again and again and again.......it's that amazing.

French Design/A European Look

Provence, France

Monaco

Welcome to France!! I went here back in 2004 and 2005. It was an incredible trip and I saw designs that were definitely unique to France....especially the styles from the region of Provence. Again these posts are just a little background about how I have formed my gardening style. The particular themes that stuck out for me here were the formal hedgings, water fountains,  stately parks, color uses...especially of light blue and yellow or red and yellow, and how little gardens were mixed in with older buildings.  The pictures above show several places in Paris, Avignon, Gourdes, Nice....note how everything blends together in an artistic fashion.  The French love presentation and it shows wherever you go. I pulled a lot of the old world charm ideas for my own place....it really gave me some creative ways to look at my own work around the garden.  I have to admit that I'm not there yet with those particular themes.....but I have started lavender on the property and it does REALLY well here in Tucson and of course, France is known for her lavender fields.....there is nothing like seeing those hazy violet fields swaying in the breeze....and the scent!!! I hope to add more lavender and geranium hanging pots around the property along with some of the French colors here and there.  On the bottom pic in dowtown Paris near the Louvre museum, there are wonderful French gardens all over the place.  Note how they are placed around near benches and doggy parks....yes it's true what they say about the French and their dogs....they GO everywhere with their furry friends including restaurants and changing rooms!! Absorb everything and see how they do it....it's great stuff. The French also love cicadas which is especially evident in Southern France. Until next time.....happy adventures.