Provence Tamed and Wild
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Provence - La Peyriere - villa with pool

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Area around La Peyriere

ARTICLES:
My Provence-Tamed and Wild
My Provence-Mistral Wind of Wrath

FUN POEMS
:
Provence Tamed and Wild
Provence Mistral Wind of Wrath
Provence Info

Provence - Rousillon - view of ochre bluff

Provence - ancient stone village

Provence - morning mist on olive grove

Provence village - May sunshine

La Peyriere - wooded garden, stone villa

Provence hilltop village

la Peyriere - stone villa with pool - near Avignon, Mont Ventoux, Carpentras

Provence - Rousillon - view of ochre bluff

Provence - ancient stone village

Provence - morning mist on olive grove

Provence village - May sunshine

La Peyriere - wooded garden, stone villa

Provence hilltop village

la Peyriere - stone villa with pool - near Avignon, Mont Ventoux, Carpentras

Provence - Rousillon - view of ochre bluff

Provence - ancient stone village

Provence - morning mist on olive grove

Provence village - May sunshine

La Peyriere - wooded garden, stone villa

Provence hilltop village

la Peyriere - stone villa with pool - near Avignon, Mont Ventoux, Carpentras

Provence - Rousillon - view of ochre bluff

Provence - ancient stone village

Provence - morning mist on olive grove

Provence village - May sunshine

La Peyriere - wooded garden, stone villa

Provence hilltop village

la Peyriere - stone villa with pool - near Avignon, Mont Ventoux, Carpentras

Provence - Rousillon - view of ochre bluff

Provence - ancient stone village

Provence - morning mist on olive grove

Provence village - May sunshine

La Peyriere - wooded garden, stone villa

Provence hilltop village

la Peyriere - stone villa with pool - near Avignon, Mont Ventoux, Carpentras

Provence - Rousillon - view of ochre bluff

Provence - ancient stone village

Provence - morning mist on olive grove

Provence village - May sunshine

La Peyriere - wooded garden, stone villa

Provence hilltop village

la Peyriere - stone villa with pool - near Avignon, Mont Ventoux, Carpentras

     
 

Elsa - Creativity Emporium - words, stories, images, ideas, music

provence tamed and wild

provence tamed and wild
like the best of us
tamed is fine
but without wild
tamed lacks fire

provence - tamed and wild
tamed - sunday flea markets
provence tamed and wild
wild - some say the people are wild
or anyway not tamed
not fully tamed
the landscape has entered in

provence, tamed and wild
provence, tamed and wild
provence, tamed and wild
it goes through my mind
like the call of a vendor
hawking her splendors

what better splendor
than provence, tamed and wild
provence, tamed and wild
provence, tamed and wild
provence, tamed and wild

tame - the villages, cafes, ruins
wild - sometimes everyone goes wild
sometimes we're mild
mild, mild-mannered, easy-going
not showing the wild

but sometimes we're wild
like the untamed mistral
our untamed desires
sometimes we're wild for the tamed
for the villages and vineyards

provence, tamed and wild
provence, tamed and wild
wild - some of the drivers are wild
tamed - trees have been tamed
but given time grow wild
wild - the mistral, the canyons
tamed - the cafes, the vineyards

wild - our dreams and desires
wild?
or tame?
do we dream of peace
peace and quiet pleasures

provence, tamed and wild
provence, tamed and wild

van gogh
cezanne
provence tamed and wild
crazy trees bent in the wind
sunflowers hot in the sun
old men playing cards

is it in the cards
provence tamed and wild

easier to find the tame and the tamed
the wild slopes are quiet in provence
few people pass through

but count on it
it's not mild through and through

provence, tamed and wild
the romans marched through
provence, tamed and wild
the popes claimed it too
provence, tamed and wild
love has burned hot
love has turned mild
sometimes love has died
sometimes it's tamed and wild
sometimes it's just in novels
love stories
love songs

provence tamed and wild
like each person that comes
each person that stays
each person that passes
each person that whiles away the time
in provence tamed and wild

van gogh died here
never tamed
van gogh painted here
never tame

my parents came here
stayed a short while

many memories
more tame than wild

provence
my provence
provence tamed and wild


provence land of memories
provence land of dreams
provence - not one place
provence tamed and wild

provence, tamed and wild

provence, tamed and wild

Elsa
November 19, 2006

copyright © Elsa 2006
publishing house - FlufferDuff Impressions 2006

For more from Elsa, click here to visit
Elsa's Creativity Emporium -
a word story image idea music
all-round creativity emporium.

For an exploration of the meaning of home, click here -
In My Own, My Chosen Home.
What does it mean, to feel at home?
Part of Elsa's Creativity Emporium.

For those of you wondering, why so many repetitions,
is that the way you talk, the answer is no.
It has to do with search engines -
they like the main topic words
to be given over and over, in a certain ratio
(as in a recipe, add one egg for every two cups of flour). .

I do like - and write - all kinds of poetry.
So this is one way I've had some fun
while also doing my best to satisfy the web spiders.

Elsa

****

More a more serious exploration of Provence Tamed and Wild,
here is Philippe's My Provence - Tamed and Wild.

For another fun poem, here is Provence Mistral Wind of Wrath


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Provence - Tamed and Wild

Tame. The villages, cafes, ruins.
Wild. Sometimes everyone goes wild.
Like the untamed mistral.
And sometimes we're wild for the tamed.
Provence tamed and wild. Fun poem version.

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la Peyriere -
Provence villa avec piscine, au coeur de la Provence

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La Peyriere - Provence villa with pool
in the heart of Provence

Welcoming stone villa with large pool, 2-acre wooded property, lavender around the house, vineyards and olive groves just outside the property. Beautiful inside and out. Provence colors and decor - warm ochres, earthy reds, vibrant blues and yellows, plus many Provence antiques. Charm, warmth, peace, tranquility in this Vaucluse holiday house near Mont Ventoux, Carpentras, Avignon, Mazan and more.
Plus every modern comfort.


LA.PEYRIERE.
La Peyriere, Provence villa with pool, massive stone walls and large windows with blue shutters. This typical Vaucluse holiday house has a large pool. It's surrounded by flowering shrubs. Plus it has central heating (also electrical heaters) and full modern appliances. It's on a plateau on the foothills of Mt. Ventoux.

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3 UNITS - Provence villa with pool

Each unit with private entrance and private terrace
on a separate side of the stone house

 


La Peyriere - Provence villa with pool,
lg wooded property. Every comfort. 3 private units. Holiday vacation rental house -
Vaucluse, Avignon, Carpentras, Mont Ventoux.
Vineyards just outside the gate.

2 acre wooded property. Fully private units -
private terrace on separate side of the house.
Charm, tranquillity


Philippe
La Peyriere
in the heart of Provence

Tel: +33 6 74 19 36 12
or
Tel: +1 802 323-1030
(Skype online number)
or Skype: philippe-hvr

contact


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Philippe - Provence      Philippe - Provence

My Provence - Tamed and Wild

Provence is a land of contrasts where people and landscape are intimately related. A wonderful travel destination and a generous land that was born dry and rocky. Most people think of it as tame - small villages, vineyards, Roman ruins, cafes. Yes, that is Provence. But just a few minutes away is a Provence that has never been tamed, and probably never will be. A rugged Provence with steep slopes and a few narrow roads clinging to the edge of mountains. That is also my Provence.

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Provence is a land of contrasts where people and landscape are intimately related. A wonderful travel destination and a generous land that was born dry and rocky.

Sitting on the main plaza of a village and sipping a legendary pastis on the terrace of the local café, you face an arch celebrating an obscure Roman victory, admire a simple and rustic medieval church and look down a narrow street framed by historic houses painted in warn tones of ochre. The shade of a centennial tree gives you a welcoming protection. Too much to see to notice the carefully chosen potted flowers decorating the houses and the lilac trees and vines bent around entranceways.

As you sit quietly, let me share my thoughts with you. Whenever I think of Provence my memory loads a patchwork of images and impressions. Even though my home, my life, my family are in Quebec, part of my heart is in Provence where I spent a few years during my early childhood and my early teens. My years spent in Provence are just enough for me to understand it better than most foreigners but not enough to turn me into fully-fledged local. However, whenever I visit, it gives me the advantage of being able to be both a foreigner and an insider.

My parents are true locals. My brother lived and died in Provence. My partner Elsa and I own my family's house between Carpentras and Mazan. Our home is in the countryside, at the foothills of Mont Ventoux. Mature oak and pine trees protect the house from the Mistral. The property is quite large by French standards. It has a pool and is surrounded by vineyards. Open space all around and no immediate neighbor.

This traditional countryside house is quite different from what is experienced in our café du village. Within the boundary of the ancient fortified walls, the village is compact and the houses tall and narrow; protected by a gently slopped tiled roofed in the rich red and rusty tones of fired clay. Some of the tiles date back to the Middle Ages. When a house is demolished (which is almost unheard of) its roof tiles are reused.

Still sipping a pastis, next to us, the petanque players argue about how the last move should have been played. They will not discuss the next move - one can be wrong about the next move - but one is never wrong about the last move. Locals have learned that the past teaches lessons and that tomorrow is just a guess.

In the middle of the plaza a stone fountain still provides its share of fresh water. The polished stone around the fountain tells its age. The polish comes from use, not by design. It used to be the most important gathering place in the village. A reminder that not so long ago, houses did not have running water. Fountains in villages are not meant for beauty but to provide water to drink and wash. Water was carried from the fountain to one's home. Some villages have kept the antique 'lavoir', a community shelter with water basins in the middle and stone tables slopping down to the basins. The shelters were used to wash cloths. Shirts were washed and news was spread. Water was and is still rare. People save it. Villages were built where water could be found. Farms where built where water could flow to irrigate the fields.

I remember my mother watering plants with the bucket she used to clean the vegetables. Very little water went down the drain. Water is also expensive. Locals do not waste anything, money above all.

Two years ago we renovated our house in Provence. Workers kept pieces of pipes and old taps in the hope they could someday be reused. Water is so rare and so needed to keep the farms going that a canal bringing water from the Alps was dug during the time of Napoleon to irrigate Provence. In Roman times and during the time the Popes resided in Provence, aqueducts were built, bridging wide valleys and rivers. The Pont du Gard is one of the best examples of Roman engineering and a popular attraction less than one hour away from Avignon. The village we are in is sitting on a hill and is protected by fortified walls that could not have resisted the efforts of a serious attacker. Carefully groomed vineyards, lavender fields and cherry trees cover the slope of the hill and surround the village. The small flat areas around the hill support wheat and sunflower fields.

Yet, in the distance, I can point to a range of hills harboring no village, no farm and no field. Just nature - part of its rocky flanks exposed. No one has clearly succeeded claiming the hill. Some have tried but left scattered ruins behind. A world of rocks, junipers, oak and pine trees filled with the musky scent of Provence. The jagged limestone crest is evidence of the erosion that has shaped the landscape into a piece of art. At sunset, the light turns the crest into a gold ribbon. A quiet and magic time to savor.

These hills are a shepherd's kingdom. A few shelters along the trails providing access to the hills were built and used by generations of shepherds to protect them. They are now a great place to rest, drink and have lunch. Do not treat yourself into a long conversation about the easy life people had in the old days. Life was hard, shepherds were alone for the entire four summer months, busy keeping sheep alive, selling milk for cheese production and miles away from all basic needs.

I am old enough to have seen the last shepherds of Provence. All of them were old; no one wanting to carry a trade of the past. They all looked alike with their long gray wool cape, large black felt hat, long beard, a sturdy walking stick and their faithful dog. walking slowly, sheep well controlled. I always wondered what tragedy turned a man into a lone shepherd.

These hills are a clear reminder that nature has not been completely tamed and that a good part of Provence is still untouched. A road and a few trails are the only concession to civilization. Patience, erosion or a forest fire will change its face.

This village is in the Provence I best know. In the heart of Provence - also called the Comtat Venaissin - presently the Vaucluse and Var administrative areas - east of the Rhone valley - surrounding Mont Ventoux.

People have settled in this part of Provence since the early times of humanity with the evidence of formal organization dating as far back as 3,000 BC. Generations after generations, people have carved it. They have left us an incredibly rich heritage filled with art and history. Provence is a mirror of who they were. I have a tremendous respect for that.

Yet part of Provence remains untamed, somehow economically useless but stunningly beautiful. As if civilization was unable to conquer its wild sides and its dryness. Truth is that now these areas are protected.

Local people are very proud of their roots. Provence was one of the first and most Romanized Roman province. It was settled by the Romans in the 2nd century BC. Roman ruins and vestiges can be found everywhere in Provence: roads, arches, bridges, aqueducts, remains of an entire city in Vaison la Romaine and almost intact amphitheaters in Nimes and Orange.

The influence of Provence peaked between the 12th and 14th century when Popes resided in Avignon. My Provence (also called in France the Comtat Venaissin) joined France in 1791. Until then it was part of the Pontifical states, not really governed and ferociously independent. Locals like to be left alone and free to do as they like - they view the administration as an imposed evil.

Avignon was the center of Papacy. The Palais des Papes (Popes' Palace) still presides over the center of the old part of the city. Perched on a hill overlooking the Rhone river, it looks more like a fortress than a palace - a witness of the fears of the Popes and the uncertainty of the times.

East of Avignon is Carpentras. The geographical center of Comtat Venaissin, Carpentras is host to the first synagogue built in France. A reminder that Jews were the bankers of the Popes. The synagogue still exists and can be visited.

Each Friday, Carpentras holds an open market. Street vendors literally cover with products every available space on the sidewalks. The weekly market is a tradition dating back to the 13th century. Since then each vendor claims very clearly and loudly he or she has the best salad or the tastiest cheese. Women are the most aggressive, often promising much more than they are willing to give. Every local male knows it but the words are pleasant and well chosen.

Carpentras' market is well known but similar markets are held in the oldest towns and villages of Provence. They were and still are the best outlet for local goods and help ensure the quality of products eaten in the towns and villages. Markets are a social event; locals dress up for the market. News is spread - it is the best way to know if uncle François is still limping - reputations are made and destroyed and Mireille has a chance to disappear in the crowd to talk to Marcel and be kissed.

copyright © Philippe Guerin, 2006
all rights reserved

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More on Provence - in My Provence - Mistral, The Wind of Wrath


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about Philippe:

I left Provence years ago. Settled in Quebec and forgot about Provence. Two years ago, I renovated our home in the heart of Provence and felt the area was reaching me deeply. Thus my need to share my experience and vision of Provence.

I also traveled extensively for my work and have always tried to understand the culture and people I visited. I never failed noticing that people and places form a rich ecosystem. That is the core of my words.

Bongo the dog

Bongo the dog
My dog Bongo


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