Day 1 - Paryting in Bouzigues

The first day of Alex, Grom, and Julie’s visit was very low-key and relaxing. Max and Josey took Grom for a walking tour of Bouzigues while Mike and I went to pick up the rental car with Julie. They had quite a fun adventure, based on the descriptions.

Here are some great photos from our day!

We spent the afternoon at Mas du Novi, which is a great winery nearby our house. We’ve been to Mas du Novi twice before, and the woman who works there, Claudette, is terrific! She gave us a guided tour of the winery and the chapel that is part of the winery. This is where the novitiates used to train before being promoted to the nearby Abbey de Valmagne.

Here are some great pictures of the tour and wine tasting!

Julie with the French oak barrels - all full of wine! Grom and Josey sniffing wine aging in French oak barrels.

This is the chapel, which was built in the 1300s and refurbished by the current owners of the winery.

This is the creche in the chapel. It is similar to a nativity scene, and it is traditional to display the creche during Christmas time.

That evening, the Brun family came over for dinner. Sandra made her delectable homemade Quiche Lorraine. Mmmm! Please ignore Mike's butcher knife. :)

After lots of yummy food and wine, Alex gave Sandra a trial tattoo. Sandra will be vacationing in the US for 2 weeks in February, and she really, really wants to go to LA Ink to get a “Hollywood” tattoo! This was a test of size, script, etc.

We were all up too late, but we had a ton of fun! And we know that everyone liked each other because Sandra and Jean-Louis invited us all over for New Year’s Eve dinner!

Love to all!