French Cafe drinking in Blue

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When visiting the south of France put your habits and attitudes in your back pocket.  Absorb that which is around you with open eyes.  Take an entire afternoon at a cafe with a glass of wine.  Let the sun take its time to move over your head.  A friend of mine comes to France to "do" the cafes.  Why not?  Sure there is plenty to see and do in France, more than enough to fill a lifetime!  Though the beauty of visiting France is you can see it by simply being at a cafe.

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One difference between Americans and the French is that the French drink it in slowly.  They enjoy the moment of sitting at a cafe knowing it is good for the soul.  They know how to listen to the sound of the vines growing, and they don’t seem to mind when the mistral combs their hair. 

Photo:  Soaking in the view at Cadiere d’Azur, from the vantage point of one of its cafe.

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Breath in the blue until it soaks through you.  Coloring your days with a shade you never knew.

Photo: On the Route de Crete, Cassis.

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There are hidden secrets waiting for you.  Perched villages and fishing villages have a table waiting right on the water with your name written on it.

Photo: Two fishing villages face each other on opposite sides of Cap Brun.

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Fish soup,  grilled bread,  garlic,  roux and a glass of rose tempt you to stay all day.

Imagine this, check out this video my friend made… Piano playing on the Mediterranean.

Photo: One of my favorite places to have lunch Chez Bernard in Cap Brun, Toulon.

Rel

My friends, Rel and Diane did.  I met Rel through blogging.  He and his wife came to visit France.  They are pros at soaking it in.  We spent the day at this spot collecting sea glass and sipping wine.  The cafe (photos below and above,) are from our day sitting feasting on the scenery.

Photo: Taken at Cap Brun.  A ten minute walk off the beaten path.

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Chez Bernard,  Cap Brun, Toulon.  If we were any closer to the water would would have been in it.

Photos:  Time spent soaking in the seaside in Cassis, Toulon and Nice.



Comments

48 responses to “French Cafe drinking in Blue”

  1. Marie-Noëlle

    I want a bouillabaisse on that terrace with the piano playing on the water out there! NOW…
    thank you !

  2. Corey,
    Enjoying France under your tutelage was an experience of a life time! That day in Toulon was truly my dream of life in France come true. A postcard perfect day! Merci beaucoup ma cherie.
    rel

  3. Fabulous my sweet and adorable friend.
    I like the slow pace of life not full speed ahead.
    Smiles

  4. In a French cafe I can become a 1930s runaway writer/artist, whereas in an Italian cafe I have to be just me. Cafes are more important than architecture, but not more important than markets. A cafe in the middle of a market would be just IT.

  5. That is exactly what I did three years ago! I dream about it all now. When we return, I will ask you for suggestions . . .

  6. Paris Parfait

    You’re so right about the joys of France best being savoured slowly, like fine wine! Wonderful photos!

  7. You’ve just given me the perfect dose of what I needed.
    I feel better already!
    Thanks, Corey.

  8. Massilianana

    Oh Corey , those places you show – La Cadière , Cassis et la route des Crêtes – are so dear to me . Seen from so far away , they look even more magnifiques!! …I’ll have to experiment lunch chez Bernard (Toulon is not my favorite place , I admit).But I have a nice collection of sea glass , with blue glass , the rarest (not sure if this is very english but you see what I mean!).
    Thanks again for posting so much beauty.

  9. I love your BLOG!! In 2005 I survived Breast
    Cancer, turned 40, and celebrated my 20th
    Wedding Anniversary. My youngest daughter was
    six weeks old when I was diagnosed in 2004.
    My end of chemo/radiation, birthday, anniversary gift was my first trip to Paris…
    a twenty year old promise fulfiiled…lesson
    learned, there’s no time like the present.
    I arrived in the City Of Lights with a new found appreciation for life which allowed me
    to SOAK it IN. We barely took ten steps without a snack and a glass of rose.
    I remember every moment of my adventure and
    the darling waiter at Cafe’ de Flore who was sweet enough to score one of the round, outdoor table covers for me to use as the focal point for my ephemera collage when we returned home.
    When my love and I return to France, it will
    be the areas depicted in your photos for us,
    with blue sky backdrops for our “cafe/rose”
    adventures! Thank you for being my connection to my favorite four days ever.
    I share my morning coffee with you each day.

  10. Thanks for reminding me today why life here is good.

  11. thanks for sharing these beautiful photos and because of your blog i think i wanna be french =)… yeah i think we should enjoy our coffee and just soak it in

  12. Ahhh happiness, thank you I need this post this morning xoxoxo Clarice

  13. Corey! Outstanding post! Beautiful photos! I feel as though I’ve just taken a speed-of-light visit to France. I want to visit there so very much! I don’t think I would ever sleep for fear of missing something!

  14. I haven’t been in that area very much. I love the ocean and need to take some time to explore around there. Isn’t the color of the water fabulous?

  15. Well, I just want to be you! But I try to soak it all in, too. That’s how I me you, I guess : )
    Love the view from Cadiere d’Azur and the two older gents.
    D.

  16. You are so right, sometimes it is hard for me to sit and take it in….thinking I must see it all!!
    I hope to take this to heart…leave on Wed for our adventure in Spain and Morocco!

  17. I would give just about anything to be collecting sea glass and sipping wine at that spot! I love sea glass. I love wine. I could use some time to soak it in. I love this post. I’m going to go watch the video now.

  18. Oh how I miss the smell of the sea!…uoooh and just to sit silently in a café drinking wine or coffee and to take in all around me…a perfect day 🙂 thank you corey.
    xx delphine

  19. so beautiful…thank you for this gift of a little vacation, this deep breath in the midst of my day…

  20. aahh la douce provence… elle m’attend!!

  21. Oh *siiiiiiigh* Corey. You should get paid by the French Government for this post! You will bring many to French cafe, I am SURE.
    🙂

  22. A great reminder to slow down, be open, and drink in the beauty of our world wherever we happen to be.

  23. gosh…corey, my idea of a perfect day would be in any of those places…if you add the wine & sea glass (+plus a great cup of morning coffee), i would surely believe i had died & gone to heaven!

  24. sigh – ONE day I will visit France. Until then, please know how much your blog brings me joy and takes me there in a wonderful, visual way. Thank you!!
    xo,
    Kim

  25. Corey,
    It is so hard for me to slow down and enjoy the moment. The first time I was in France (two years ago) I literally ran from one place to another. I had very little time in Cassis, but I loved that little sea town. The second time in France (this past May) I did slow down and enjoyed the moment with the wonderful French people. Rodger and I met several couples from Paris who made our time there very precious. We took time to sit and people watch at many cafes. Thanks for all of the beautiful photos…they make me “homesick” for France.
    Sharon

  26. wish i were there…sipping…blessings, rebecca

  27. Beautiful, Corey. It makes me feel like giving up my computer, taking a notebook and fountain pen and sitting scribbling all day at a cafe table.

  28. Corey,
    It sounds simply wonderful. I can’t wait to go to France and do that too!
    Love the pictures!
    Happy October!
    Rosemary

  29. Thank you for sharing your world!

  30. You’re making my mouth water with anticipation!! Can October be over fast enough?

  31. oh gosh, this is really making me want to a) sit in a cafe and soak things in, and b) go to france!!

  32. Corey – other than the coast I am on – there is no place on earth I would rather be than there in France, the homeland of my grandmother! Your words and photos have allowed me to escape there in my mind…waiting for the day I return! Thank YOU!

  33. The photos make me feel as though I am there soaking it all in – how I wish I really were (lucky Rel and wife!).
    Your friend’s video is magical – what water music! I’ve watched it twice, trying to catch the link they give at the end (and also, just because I really like it :), but I’m going to have to put my reading glasses on and watch it a third time – I’m not too sad about having to watch it again though, lol. Thank you for sharing it with us.

  34. ohhhh…. Toulon…
    I had a swim there once!

  35. Ahh, I’ve finally caught up with all your posts. I always feel soothed after reading here – not as much as I’d be after sitting at a French cafe, but close enough. 🙂

  36. Elaine L.

    It is so easy to slow down in the South of France. My husband and I sat on a bench outside a church, in a little village, and listened to choir practice.
    ~elaine~

  37. YES! I could picture myself in a cafe, eating the yummy fish soup, sweet roasted garlic on top of grilled baguettes, and a glass (or two) of rose. Ahhh…

  38. Such a beautiful area…I could certainly sit still long enough to soak that in :o)

  39. The French certainly know how to stop and enjoy life. Just soaking in the atmosphere around, sitting at cafes and enjoying the scenery…why can’t everyday be a holiday? Love your beautiful photographs especially the last one.

  40. I have enjoyed your view of France. It really does make me want to go! I’ve been to Paris once, but a bit more of France is definitely on the list of trips I’d still like to do!

  41. thanks for the reminder
    to move slowly
    and enjoy the day,
    enjoy the life
    where ever you are…
    🙂
    i slow down easy enough on holidays;
    i am now working on slowing down
    day-to-day
    for this is how to be in the moment,
    isn’t is?
    to sip instead of gulp everything down
    always…

  42. Corey, I love your blog so much. I know what you mean about the French way of taking the time to enjoy life. When I was there last year I couldn’t understand why the waiters at the cafes were so slow. We thought they were just giving us bad service because we were American. Now I understand and I promise to slow down and savor next time I visit. Best to you!
    Lisa
    _________________________________
    Lisa
    In France the French waiters will never come up to you and ask you to leave the table, or making any fuss if you stay at the table all day with a cup of coffee. Unless, his hours are up and he is going to go home, then and only then will he ask you if you need anything, and if you could pay your bill.
    In France they give you privacy and let you be as long as you like at the cafes.
    I

  43. Why IS it so hard to stop and smell the roses?
    It’s an art many of us have yet to discover or even see the merit of…
    I was walking with a new friend yesterday who wanted to stop and listen to the water in the fountain..it made a particularly soothing sound..My mind was dashing on to the next thing…but we’re almost at rue bla bla..we can come back..later…
    We came to another fountain and she said the water did not sound the same there.
    I could not hear either of them…
    Hmmmm….

  44. thank you for all the good links you had posted…I never know how to find a “quality” links when planning a trip.
    more please more 🙂

  45. I can picture hubby and me sailing in our boat, later tying off, settling in a cozy place outside under an umbrella in some quaint outdoor cafe, sipping a glass of wine and savoring the yummy bread, fruit, and cheese. Oh yes…
    By ancestry I am half French and it calls to me…come to France, enjoy life here…maybe someday…

  46. Hi Corey,
    I missed you 😉 If I promise to follow your advice in this post when I come…will you promise to show me all those beautiful spots!!!!! Please…I’ll be good!!
    xoxo
    Robin

  47. This is living to the fullest~what a great day this must have been!

  48. You are the best GO of Provence . You know what it means ??
    GO = Gentil organisateur in the Club Méditerrannée
    You know so much about Provence
    SEE YOU SOON

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