Slipping sideways

I kept thinking today of a line in the film "Enchanted April" where the characters are enjoying the sun of Italy in springtime and a description of time slipping sideways, that was how it felt today here in Provence.  We had planned to get up and go early south toward the Carmague, but were tired and slept in.  We sat outside, reading, listening to music and watching the clouds go by, the breeze waving through the cypress tress, and listening to the cicadas throbbing in the heat. 

I purposely have tried to avoid wearing my watch unless I leave our house, I want to remove myself from the strictures of time, the constant pressure of American living, time management, productivity, that we are all so aware of.  Few consider the value of just doing nothing, to unwrap our minds from it all.

 

This evening after cooking and eating dinner, we took a walk for a mile or so down a country lane outside our rental house to see if my son could catch the frogs we saw crawling on the road last night when we drove home from Molleges and a restaurant, Mas Du Capon.  But he had no luck.  Last night we ran over a few hopping across the road in the dark, but it could not be avoided with cars pressuring us from behind, anxious to return home late on a Saturday night.

Yesterday we drove to Apt, a historic town northeast of here which had a wonderfully complete Saturday town market, everything from meats, cheeses, spices, olive oils and fish to clothes, lingerie, and African art.  The market encompassed almost every street in the town, winding through each square, but seemed in shadows even in the heat of a sweltering Provence day.  

Many people, mostly local French, but some German and British tourists, inspecting and shopping, stopping for a leisurely lunch or drink.  

But today was none of that, just quiet, sleep, starting a new book (Elmore Leonard) and not knowing the time - a true luxury that costs nothing.