Domaine la Procureuse: Les Agates! Travel Marathon through France: April 2023
So a little bit about Les Agates in Provence: the place where I travel to in my quiet time, eyes closed, so that I can hyper focus on forgotten details of my childhood, in order to paint a very detailed memory in my mind about those sweet years of my youth. I’ve been told that I have amazing recollection of my early years, and I think it’s because this is where I go to regain calm and serenity, and there are scenes that I have recreated in my mind that date back to when I was two years old.
I had a great childhood, surrounded by people who loved me perfectly. And for that I am thankful; realizing not everyone has such a privilege.
Here are some of my most treasured humans from my past.
While I was born in Paris and spent the first years of my life as a Parisienne, my nomadic mother decided at one point that it would be good to move the family to the country, where we could soak up the sun and overdose on Vitamin D. She spent the first 18 years of her life in Morocco amid scorpions that she brought home as pets as a kid, and torrid heat, so it’s understandable that she missed the hot sun of the South.
My cousin recently told me the story of how my parents ended up with Les Agates, which I don’t doubt for an instance: my mother, having a proclivity to visit a particular voyante, Mme. Canivet, came back from a visit one day with the promise of “3 olive trees”: She would live in a house that had 3 olive trees.
When they were searching for a property, they came upon Les Agates, which had 3 olive trees along the driveway…. it was a done deal for my Mom; my father had no chance. Never mind that the house wasn’t livable and required significant work before we could move in. Turns out we had fun camping out in a trailer for a couple months while part of the house was renovated! And yes, I remember visiting the house with my parents before they made the purchase, and having fun with my siblings stepping on what seemed like millions of insects on the ground (it was an infestation!) as Mom and Dad chatted with the real estate agent.
We spent some nice years at that place.
Here’s a badly narrated tour of the main part of the house as it is today. When we lived there, many years ago, less than half of the house was completed. The wing where we stayed this trip was completely unfinished in my day; a ladder was actually required to get up to the second floor where we were. It was really nostalgic coming back to this house that holds so many dear memories for me. I found its energy calm and exactly the same as when I was a kid; although Pauline told us that it took her some work to get the energy back to what it used to be as the previous owners left a spirit of unrest and discord. Pauline and Mom would have gotten along for sure!
We never had to catch a school bus at the end of the long drive but it was great to learn how to ride a bike!
This is also the time my sister and I learned to dance and do aikido (we were very busy!)
AND…. it was also where we made the most exciting discovery (and by “we” I mean Alex)…. an old Beetle car (or a Citroën 2CV, I’m not really a car person so I’m not sure) in the middle of the wooded area off the driveway.
We learned from Pauline that the overgrown path of today was likely a road way back in the day. The car likely got stuck in gadoue, maybe as long as 60 or 70 years ago and never made it out, and the relic will remain there until eternity.
We had fun hiking around the beautiful property which still boasts almost 30 acres.
Besides the main villa, Les Agates also has three other smaller houses onsite. the first one was built by my father and is located close to the road at the end of the driveway, a traditional cottage with two bedrooms.
There are also two other buildings that were not there before: one small studio-sized structure that needs a complete redo, and another cottage down the hill, amongst the almond tree- lined path, a two-bedroom cottage.
My sister and I thoroughly enjoyed our trip down memory lane. It was really great to see how everything changed, and yet remained very much the same over the years. Steve also enjoyed sharing this experience with us. And all three of us entirely appreciated the hospitality of our host, Pauline, who was so kind and generous in letting us stay in her home, had breakfast ready for us every morning, and interesting conversation under the stars of Barjols. It could not have been done any better!
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