Un Petit Voyage...and... An Award

Ohhhhh!! Don't ask me to explain anything about France or I'll blab your ears off!
The French teacher in me just can't be controlled! But here goes...
My friend CC Catherine at Catherine de thé Cups has tagged me with the 6th Picture Meme! Be sure to drop by to visit her blog! It's filled with beautiful photos of her tea cup collection and lots of information about tea and tea parties! Here are the rules:
1.Go to your Picture Folder on your computer or wherever you store your pictures.
2.Go to the 6th Folder, then pick the 6th picture in that folder.
3.Post that picture on your blog and the story that goes along with the picture.
4.Tag 6 other people that you know or don’t know to do the same thing and leave a comment on their blog or an e-mail letting them know you chose them.
So when I opened my 6th folder, I found this beautiful photo of Fontaine de Vaucluse, France! This is the view across the river basin of the restaurant where we had lunch.

We visited this picturesque medieval village during my retirement celebration /trip to France. It is a wonderful little collection of very old houses and shops nestled at the foot of a cliff and is best known for being at the the source of the Sorgue River in Provence.

You meander along a little path beside the river bank past numerous little spillways and rapids...

... to find the spring that feeds the Sorgue River....the largest spring in France and the fifth largest in the world! It is so deep that no one has ever found the bottom, not even with modern technology! But if nature is not your thing, don't worry!

There's plenty to do! There are wonderful old houses with interesting architecture! Can you see the bunches of grapes decorating this house? Remember that you can click on any picture to enlarge. And please do enlarge this one! This house is a visual feast! Be sure to check out the door knocker!

There is a very old church to explore which features this statue of Saint Véran defeating the dragon that lived in the spring. Aren't you glad he did, so you don't to have to worry about that?

There are the ruins of the château of the Bishops of Cavaillon perched on the hill above the village. You will find numerous museums as well...including one dedicated to the Italian poet Petrarch located in the home that he had here in the 1300's!

There is also a museum featuring a gorgeous collection santons, the French nativity figures of Provence. You may remember that I gave you a little peek inside of it in my post on santons.

There is even a working water-powered paper mill which still produces paper! I had to pose with this sign, being a gal who grew up in a paper mill town!

The water wheel powers these huge noisy hammers which pound the wood into pulp. It is then pressed and dried on large screens...making a paper similar to home-made paper. You can buy all sorts of pretty stationary and beautiful prints in the gift shop.

But my favorite purchase is this provençal table scarf that I keep on my breakfast room table! It came from a little shop there by the river that specializes in table linens, particularly those made by Souleïado. The word Souleïado in old Provençal means "a ray of sun shining through the clouds after a rain." Appropriate, isn't it?

I love the blue and yellow flowers! They always remind me of my visit to sunny Provence!

I think that so many of you have been tagged with this meme, that I will invite those of you who have not to try your hand at this! You might find a surprise waiting for you in your 6th folder!

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My friends Melissa at Melissa's Heart and Home and Ann at Life at Ann's Place have honored me with this wonderful award recognizing mothers and grandmothers! Please be sure to visit them because they are very special ladies with amazing blogs! I do qualify as both, but Melissa has assured me that my fur babies count, too, which is a good thing since I am the only mother my Baby Kitty has ever known, having been abandoned by his natural mother at birth! I would like to pass this award along to two wonderful women who are terrific mothers and grandmothers...

Barb at Grits and Glamour

Sweetie at Sweetie's World

They are inspiring examples of motherhood and grandmotherhood! If you have not visited their blogs, be sure to do so! You are in for a treat!