We've done lots since leaving Cannes yesterday.  Our drive down the coast was rather uneventful (thankfully) and we had lunch at Les Murennes in La Mole, which is right outside of Bormes-les-Mimosas.  The restaurant was a simple one, but nonetheless delicious.  We found our house easily and met, Jock, the caretaker.  Jock very kindly showed us around and explained how to use the TV, Internet, and other important things.  He was very justifiably proud of the two acre garden that he tends.

The house is amazing.  It's huge and sits on more than two acres looking over the town.  The owners, who live downstairs and are professors at UCLA and are here only part of the year.  They rent the upstairs.  The apartment is not connected to the main house.  It has 3 bedrooms, a huge reception/lounge, a fantastic kitchen (very large for Europe) with modern appliances, two full baths, MANY outdoor eating/lounging areas, and killer views of the Mediterranean, which we can view from our THREE balconies.  As I am sure you have noticed, we LOVE this place and have already begun to think about when we can rent it again... next time for perhaps a month!  Last, but not least, a small kitten appears to be quite at home in the apartment and zips in when we leave the door open.  Speaking of open doors, the caretaker leaves the door to the main part of the house because as he says in his Scottish accent, "this place is quite safe".

We had dinner last night at La Pastourelle in Bormes.  Interestingly, we met the family who owns the restaurant back in the late 1990's.  Their baby boy is now all grown up and works at the restaurant.  I'm sure we will return there sometime during our week here.

This morning Skip and I got up (unfortunately not early enough) and took a much needed walk.  We only walked for about 45 minutes, but it was still a workout with all the hills.  After breakfast at home, Della, Lowell, Skip and I set out to purchase the groceries that we would need for the week.  We had a few adventures along the way that we will share later.  (Actually, it rained a bit and we were happy to do practical things.)

We didn't have lunch until later in the afternoon.  We stopped at the only restaurant open at that time in Bormes.  Everyone had sandwiches, but I had the charcuterie and it was GREAT.  Afterwards, we stopped by the National Petanque Tournament (boules).  The last time we were here we had hoped to see such a tournament, but were not able to do so.  Tomorrow are the finals and we will stop by.  The town is very crowded because of the tournament, and parking is at a premium.  However, we don't have to worry because we have PLENTY of parking on our 2 acre estate. (lol)

We are having a ball.  We've sampled tons of wine (Lowell is keeping with the wines... blends/varietals, etc.) and have had fabulous meals so far.  And by the way, no one is counting calories!!

PS- I've found that my iPhone French/English dictionaries are too hard to use and I couldn't find my pocket dictionary before we left home.  But, today I bought a great dictionary, even if it is a tad big for my purse.