Bob and Sandy Arrive!

The courtyard at our hotel in Gemenos.

Enjoying an aperitif before dinner.

Candles and tapestries complete the day.

I apologize to those who are waiting expectantly for news that the Heckmans arrived on schedule and for news of our travels since then. We’ve been on the go so much I haven’t had time to keep up and here it is Friday already. Now, with an hour or so to spare I'm going to try to condense the last few days and say the rest with pictures.

Yes, they arrived without incident at Nice on Tuesday, remarkably chipper considering they had flown from Dallas to Paris and on to Nice with no opportunity to de-compress. Tom and I had said our sad goodbyes to Bets after yet another lovely lunch and after collecting Sandy and Bob we set off at once for Gemenos.

Gemenos is a sweet little town not far from Aix en Provence which boasts a charming country inn where Tom and I stayed years ago. I had made reservations there because it’s not too far from Cannes and it would be a nice transition to our travels to the Dordogne. We got there around 5 and happily it was just as lovely as we remembered it. We put the stuff in the room, freshened a little and then met for a kir in the courtyard before dinner, which was a delightfully civilized affair in a beautiful French dining room.