A Perfect Day in Le Revest

After much rain (very unusual this time of year) the beautiful blue skies and sun have come to Southern France. Each day, I wake up, look at the sky and just breathe. This it what makes living here special. Few places that I have lived have this amazing blue sky, no clouds and not too hot yet, ability to make me feel wonderful. It was on a recent day just like the one described, that we had one of our most special days in France.

I am sure to our friends who live in a beautiful little village called Le Revest les Eaux it was a normal day, but for us it was almost magical. A quaint little village tucked up against the mountains, behind Mt. Faron, Le Revest is filled with little springs that pop up everywhere. Newer houses tumble down toward the old village, where a town square and fountain surrounded by trees greet visitors. Each year this little village has a featival honoring a different region in France. This year the honoree was Corsica, a small island south of France surrounded by the beautiful water of the Med. Our French friends, Sabine and Bernard, invited us to join them in their village for the festival. We would meet some of their friends, the children would play and we would eat and drink the foods and wine of Corse. It turned out to be a nearly perfect day.

The sun was shining, but the tree filled village was cool and shady. The three families gathered on a terrace and as the children sat and played, the adults planned the meal for the day, pizza for the children (not Corsican, but really how many kids want boar pate) and an assortment of foods from Corsica for the adults, salami, meats, cheeses, bread, soup and most importantly wine. Although our friends thought it was not as big a feast as other years, we enjoyed relaxing talking and getting to know everyone better.

After lunch, the older children took the younger children to play fair-style games, ride the carousel and play at the park. How wonderful for us to be able to relax knowing that the children were fine in this fabulous little town. Would we have let the children have this independence in the US...no. Because, let's face it, in the US, people do not give their children nearly the independence they do here. By 14, many French teenagers are headed by train to other towns to explore with their friends. Life seems so much more simple here and this may be what I miss the most when we leave.

As the children played, the adults headed up the hill through the old town. We were given the VIP tour of this beautiful village. We saw the church both of the other couples were married in. As Bernard is a mason, we enjoyed seeing the houses he has worked on and the ones he will soon be starting work on. We saw the lake that used to provide water to Toulon and I guess is now just a beautiful area to picnic and hike. We saw the medieval tower that tops the hill and has a gorgeous view. From many spots in this amazing town, you can see all the way to the ocean. From this point you can also see the historic pigeonnier (pigeon house), on the opposite hill, recently refurbished and quite beautiful although it no longer houses pigeons. We finished our stroll by checking out the vendors tables, looking at the jewelry and other things, were impressed by the man carving beautiful works of art out of stone and using the towns fountain to rinse it as he went, and finally, we joined the children at the playground before heading back to our friends house for drinks and a snack.

Yes, we spoke French and some English when necessary, but it was the first time here that I felt really comfortable in an all French setting. What a great accomplishment for me. And, one that would not have been possible if our hosts we not so willing and welcoming.

It was really a leisurely, wonderful day. Of course, it wouldn't be my family if there were not a few hiccups, one of the twin ducklings fell and scraped herself, the littlest duckling threw up after a few too many spins of the park merry-go-round etc. But all in all it was the perfect day. Many thanks to our friends for including us and showing us such a special place.