July vacation

Well, we're way behind on the posts, because we were off enjoying a most fabulous 3-week vacation.

It involved a week in a rental house in the Vaucluse with friends and family. There was a belle piscine, and bike rides and side trips to romantic, hilltop villages. There was Avignon and lots of encounters with people who care about potatoes.

Then there was a drive along the French and Italian coasts, all the way down to Rome, where we spent several wonderful days exploring, and stayed in a totally wonderful hotel. There were friends and good meals and lots of fun Italian words, like eco and certo and many grazies.
This was followed by a visit to the Amalfi Coast Music Festival, which we highly recommend to anyone with the slightest interest in music, beautiful landscapes, aqua waters, and amazing Greek and Roman sites.
That bit also included an adventurous trip to Capri, which involved some Bourne Identity driving moments in Naples, the arrival of a guardian angel in the form of a frumpy, middle-aged Italian woman, a brush with Paul McCartney, a lovely concert, dinner in a Capri villa, and bunking like old times in a 4-star hotel.
There were moments involving Pompeii and Puccinni and pizza  and Paestum and people, things, or creatures named Paul.
There was more time in Rome ranging from the Jewish quarter to the Vatican to pagan naked godly figures all around.
And then, there was more beautiful countryside, and Aix-en-Provence, with lunch on the Vieux Port in Marseilles and the TGV to Paris in just 3 hours.
And finally, there was Paris ...

Here are some photos: