Now that I’ve had time to go through my photographs, I thought I would include a few of the Abbaye de la Celle in Brignoles, where we will stay after our wedding in September.

Our rather tired looking Renault Clio with missing door trim looked right at home next to the Ferrari in the parking lot. I had to point out to the porter that the Ferrari wasn’t ours…

Aude clearly approves of her surroundings!

Frankly, he looks as shocked at his own behaviour as we were… After a few drinks, I was tempted to challenge him to a duel — until Aude suggested that we might not be welcomed back afterwards.

Hostellerie de l’Abbaye de la Celle

Aude poses in front of the fountain

Photo opportunities abound. Matt in front of the same fountain.

The reception room inside the old abbey.

Matt & Aude in the gardens

Matt on the lawn outside the hotel room

Aude on the lawn outside the hotel room

The hotel comes complete with old world charm. Or should that be olde worlde charme?

More old world charm. Or someone’s spent too much time at Pottery Barn…

Easter morning and I couldn’t sleep, probably a result of overindulgence the night before and the silly round pillows that the French seem to insist on. So I headed out to explore the town before sunrise.

My favourite discovery was a road named ‘Grand Rue’ – an alleyway winding through the town that was no more than 1.5m wide.

We went to Easter Mass at the Abbaye de la Celle, just beside the hotel and where we be getting married in September. We learned a few things about the abbey – most importantly, bring a sweater! It’s very cold inside.

We also met with priest who will be marrying us. He’s quite young and seems very friendly – he spent seven years in Mexico and a year in the US, and he’s quite excited to do some of the service in English. I must admit, I was a little taken aback when this monk, wearing his grey wool habit, pulled out a Palm Pilot to verify dates. Never let it be said that the Catholic Church is backwards, at least not technologically.