Charembeau an Incredible Place and Incredible People

September 2018 

Charembeau an Incredible Place with Incredible People

Do you recall almost 30 years ago reading the books ~  A year in Provence followed by Toujour Provence by Peter Mayle? I remember dreaming of having a second home in a derelict farmhouse next to a vineyard where I could bike to the market for morning croissants and cheese. After all my British cousin had moved to France to do exactly this and had opened a B&B for tourists in southern France. Should I have another career?  

As we bike past the lavender fields, layers of vines dripping with purple grapes, the Luberon mountains in the background, and stopping for a croissant, French bread or some amazing cheese with a cappuccino I ponder the idea of a gentler retirement away from Trumpism. 

I think how nice it is to only ponder whether I will find truffles or fresh tomatoes at the next meal or market, or view a beautiful sunset behind centuries old Roman ruins. Perhaps I dream we will run into Peter Mayle, now in his 70’s who lives in Menerbes one of the nearby villages. My French is incredibly rusty but I find I understand much more than I dare speak and love the cadence and emotional energy in the French chatter. At meals I notice an incredible choreographed dance in the way the French communicate with each other with energy and emotion and this fascinates me.  Can I learn to do this?

Meeting at Charembeau Hotel, Forcalquier

Charembeau Hotel

This is a different trip for us without a scheduled agenda or planned and reserved hotel reservations. I have just completed my yearly international Incredible Years meeting with 48 mentors for 4 days at the lovely country, family owned, Charembeau Hotel, an 18^thcentury farmhouse near Forcalquier, a village of 4000 people in Cote de Alps. I was exhausted with worries about people’s satisfaction and evaluations but pleased that most people seemed to enjoy this meditative spot and reconnecting with each other to talk about ways to help families and teachers. I rented the whole hotel, and it was the first time this family hotel had ever done that in 35 years of ownership. They also seemed pleased with the result and shared with me how difficult it was to change their usual habits of having single guests versus an entire group that didn’t leave the hotel to give them a break during the day.

Owner of Hotel 

 They provided incredible service to everyone with wonderful breakfasts and lunches of local foods, fresh flowers everywhere, always seeming happy to accommodate and help us with our break out presentation room needs. 

Jamila who helped me plan the meeting

I had overestimated the mentor interest for this meeting and when there were not enough rooms for everyone at the hotel, 16 people had to stay in the town of Forcalquier about 2 miles away. I knew this would be disappointing for them but hoped they would understand. This also created some issues regarding the size of the breakout rooms which were too small, but with some re-design and problem solving with my colleague and friend Jamila we managed to make it work.  

“C’est la vie” would be the French way of thinking about this. 

Incredible Years Mentor Group from Australia, Canada, Denmark, England, Holland, Northern Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, and United States

Forcalquier Village between Lure and Luberon mountain ranges

Entering Forcalquier

Biking: John arrived Friday afternoon in time for our final workshop celebration dinner in Forcalquier and we stayed on two more days for him to adjust to time change and for me to unwind from the event. We had no scheduled hotels or travel plan except for the last two nights in Carcassonne.  One day we took advantage of the e-bikes supplied by the hotel to explore the nearby roads and villages. The views of the Luberon mountain ranges were spectacular.  E-biking was definitely the way to go with the hills and narrow pathways and took us far further than we would have been able to go without the assisted power. 

Market Day: I love markets and Monday morning was the lively weekly market day in sleepy Forcalquier, a village of 4,000. The market filled the streets with hundreds of stalls in front of a 12^thcentury cathedral called Notre-Dame-du-Bouget and wrapped around side streets in a festive atmosphere. Even John didn’t seem to be in a hurry to escape this shopping adventure and sat waiting for me while I was amazed by the profusion of buttons and linens, hand made baby items and local produce.  

We enjoyed the sights and friendly atmosphere. The market seemed to have a mind boggling supply of choices of French linens as well as organic products with many kinds of cheeses, sausages, breads, oils, garlic  and herbs. And baskets galore. 

As I already had a suitcase of workshop materials, projector and puppets John reminded me I had no room to buy and take home more things as I already had 3 full suitcases of workshop materials and clothes!

One suitcase of puppets!

Nonetheless, I did succumb to buying herbs, nougat, lavender, a basket and of course some cute shoes (non gender related) for my impending grandchild. When I asked the vendor if I could get these herbs through customs and he replied, “maybe, maybe not”.  I loved walking the cobblestone streets lined with stone walls, colorful shutters and window plants and a square centered with a 16^thcentury fountain. 

So many possible pictures to take, how would I ever choose which ones to share? Already my portable computer is telling me it is too full!  I know that electronic modernization and efficiency is supposed to be progress and a long term goal but I did wonder if perhaps the movement towards “living in the moment” and enjoying the beauty of the present and past was perhaps an equally valued goal. 

Forcalquier side street with many plants by road way

Technically, Forcalquier is part of Provence, but is not included in Michelin’s guide to Provence or Rick Steve’s guide. However, Provence consists beyond the Luberon environment described by Peter Mayle and this market turned out to be the largest and most interesting market we visited in all of Provence. The market closed at 1:00 pm and I took John to the place where I had previously had tomato salad with my friend, Jamila. I had bragged to John how amazing the tomatoes were and had even showed him my picture of them so he was salivating. 

Unfortunately, these tomatoes were no longer on the menu.  Nonetheless he could choose from galette (crepe with cheese and jambon), or quiche, or croquet monsieur or croquet madame (grilled ham and cheese with egg on top).  After lunch the town returned to the sleepy state I had seen the week before. We returned to Charembeau for a visit with 2 mentor friends who stayed on after the workshop.