I'm back! Vacation part 1

Hello everyone! I'm back after 17 days in France and England. We had a good time, but I'm sure glad to be home. I will be posting our trip in several parts, so I hope you won't get too bored. I will start each post with where we stayed, then sights, food,and finally, things purchased in each location. Please remember to click on the photos,as some of them, especially the English countryside ones, are stunning to look at larger. So, are you ready to take a virtual trip to France and England?......The above photo is the auberge that we stayed in while we were visiting Pierre's mom and dad. It was in a small village called "Saint Felix" It was a very charming little town and the auberge was very comfy and had a stunning view from our room. I meant to add the photo, but I got carried away with posting Pierre's folks house instead.
This is the front yard of Jaquie and Michele's home,and these steps lead to the front of the house. It is always to nice to visit them and relax in the beautiful garden that Jaquie has created.
Walking through the door, you know that something tasty is waiting for you out on the patio.
Their very charming kitchen, where Michele creates wonderful food and treats.
This is their living room, it faces the kitchen. The door behind Nicole, is the way out to the garden. Their house is so charming.
I love the bright blue shutters on their house. This is the side of the yard going out to their patio area.
That's David's shoulder, sitting at the table. The table is under a covered area that is filled with beautiful plants growing all around
One of the beautiful trees in Jaquie's garden, you must click on this photo to see the cute little bee.
Jaquie and Michele
You always start with an aperitif; a few nuts and a coupe de Champagne!
Jaquie and Michele know that we love Cassoulet, so they special order it for lunch. I love The Cassoulet from that region of France. It has sausage from Toulouse, duck, gorgeous white beans and many other wonderful ingredients. Last time We were there, I bought one of those clay pots that you see in this picture. I can't believe we hauled that all through our trip.
Michele is a wonderful cook. He made this very tasty pear tart,and the next day made some homemade bread!
I just realized that I'm jumping a little bit ahead with this photo of the table cloth that I bought in Bordeaux. In a way it kind of fits this post, for the fact that all over where we were staying, you could see these beautiful red poppies. This tablecloth is all handmade from the area.
One of the things that Toulouse is best known for, is it's violets. I had to get some of these sugared violets for future baking decorations.
We wandered around the city of Toulouse on our second day there,and I bought this really neat craft book. In the future, I'll share some more photos of it perhaps.

Tomorrow I will post on a little bit more of Toulouse, where Nicole and Pierre stayed, because it was quite something, and truly deserves a post to itself, and a few more snaps of Jaquie and Michele's home etc.......stay tuned.