alentine's ay urprise

I woke up on Valentine's Day to this card. Jonathan told me to pack clothes for overnight. I did! He had already arranged a sitter. Dont even ask about the 'Lance and Gwen' ... it's too mushy for words and will make you gggggrrrrroooooaaaannnnn :-)

A knock came at the door. I opened it and there stood a smiling delivery guy with a dozen of the best roses money could buy.

We hopped in the car and set out on the Autoroute. We passed this chateau along the way. Le Barroux.

After about an hour, I ended up in a B&B in one of my favorite villages -- Vaison la Romaine. Here I sit with our snack of bread, cheese, pears, herbed ham, wine and Swiss chocolates!

Jonathan called all of Provence from work to find a place with a fireplace in the room and finally found this one.
There was one candle already in the room ... I mentioned that we should have brought ours ... Jonathan said 'be right back' and came back with our Christmas candles ... he thought of everything, including music!

A real man (with a box of petroleum-based fire-starter blocks) can build a fire!
The owners didn't want the fireplace to be used and told Jonathan on the phone it was not working. He asked if it could be fixed and voilà, we had a fire!

My watch stopped just as we were getting ready to leave the hotel room. Jonathan said 'be right back' and brought back this beautiful watch he bought for me in Madrid! How perfect is that! Believe me, I started asking for EVERYTHING after that but he didn't say 'be right back' anymore <haha>

We stayed in the medieval village. This is the view of the chateau ruins from the bedroom window.

Rooftops and a pretty window decoration.

The view of a winding street from the other side.

The perfect ending to the perfect day so far ...

We walked around the old village while we were waiting for time to go to our special Valentine's dinner.

An unpruned Plane tree against the evening sky.

A pretty tile detail above a door.

Jonathan called this restaurant well in advance for reservations but they were already full. He talked them into adding an extra table just for us ...what a guy!

The menu signed by the chef.
Shrimp tempura, shrimp bisque, champagne
Foie gras marinated in a sweet wine, apple chutney, spiced bread
Lemon sorbet with a sweet berry liqueur
Rabbit tart with preserved tomatoes, heart-shaped bread
Salad with a goat's cheese crouton
Heart-shaped DESSERTS!

A nice, late breakfast the next morning listening to Carla Bruni. This whole disc is outstanding.

We set out to explore again, starting at the Sunday morning antiques market. Nah, no purchases.

I like the wrought iron signs like this one.

Our picnic at the chateau ruins. Can you believe we bought an Australian wine in France! It was good!

Christine, you guys make good wine mate -- and only 4 euros 60 per bottle for good imported wine!

My Valentine! Don't you wish he was yours ;-) Okay, that remark was for the ladies among you...

We bought this cake to have for dessert with our picnic but we were full so we brought it home. It was a pear/mousse thing.

An interesting mailbox. Can you tell the vine is painted? Well yeah, NOW you can!

A stone village house, weathered shutters, old grape vine and a fountain ... very traditionally Provençal.

An inviting street.

Jonathan with our picnic.

We went by the fountain again ...

Fountain detail.

A pretty courtyard behind our B&B.

Ancient arches around the old village. Maybe was an aqueduct to bring in water?

A roman bridge between the old village and the new village.

Can you name that mountain? Yay, you get an A! It's Mt. Ventoux, only from the north this time.

It was the most perfect Valentine's Day ever and I hope you enjoyed sharing it with me!