Merry Month of May

another photo of tulips in our yard

I love the month of May. It means getting rid of cumbersome, heavy clothes in favor of easier-to-wear light ones. It’s usually sunny and there’s no more risk of frost (except for very rare occasions when you have hail) so it’s quite ideal to do some gardening (hence my sporadic posts) or just lazing around under the sun. Many spring flowers are in full bloom and trees have grown back their leaves. You have daisies, dandelions and red poppies (if the weather is really good) in untamed and unkempt agricultural land. Or colza that colors the field with vibrant yellow against the blue sky and scattered green woods as natural barriers and resting places for birds and field hands. And of course, there are the lovely tulips. They look divine as they gently open to the warmth of the sun; gracefully sway with the cool spring breeze; and gallantly bow, humbly acknowledging man’s applause of their beauty and grace.

Then we have many holidays, prompting us to take a short vacation every weekend or every opportunity we get. In fact, we prefer taking vacations, even short ones in May rather than the official summer holiday months of July and August. Days are longer and there’s a high probability of clear, bright days. If you have some rain or a cold breeze, it doesn’t feel too disappointing; for after all, it’s still spring. It’s very frustrating when it’s supposed to be summer, and you have to spend your holidays with heavy showers and chilling gusts of wind (for the past several years, this happens to be the case).

And on the practical side, accomodations (and flight tickets if you’re going out of the country) are less expensive. Prices in July and August skyrocket up to around 4 - 5 times that of the cost in May. (This is a drawback when you have kids of school age. But I believe having fun and quality time with your kids is worth it :)). The added perk is that there are less tourists, so you can "click" your camera to your heart's content --- without having to wait for them to walk out of you camera frame *grins*.

So we’re off for another short holidays. This time in Perigord-Quercy, the region of foie gras and truffes (truffles), of medieval towns and fortresses, of gouffres (underground grottos) and prehistoric dwellings. À bientôt! (see you soon!)