Seeking Susan. But not Desperately, because that'd be weird.

Today was a great day. I didn't have to push out a baby, plus I got to meet another blogging friend in the flesh. This time it was the wonderful Susan from Australia who blogs at PatchworkNPlay.

Susan and her husband have been enjoying a fantastic trip through Spain and France and I was really chuffed they took time out to meet up with me in Aix-en-Provence this morning.

I arrived in town a little early, both to beat the traffic (summer gets a little crazy in Aix) and to have a little wander around before hand. You know how I love a wander.

The sales (les soldes) are on in Aix at the moment (held in July and January). I took this pic for the mister.

I wandered through a few flower stalls near L'Eglise de la Madeleine:

Took a quiet moment in L'Eglise du Saint-Esprit on the Rue Espariat:

Also wandered by the Hermes store. Check out the handbag collage:

Thread reels!

You can see the Palais de Justice reflected in the upper part of the window.

Susan rang before I did anything stupid (like actually go into the Hermes store) and we met up at the Tourism Office.

I love how the informal, almost confessional style of blogs means you feel you know the blogger as soon as you start talking. Susan and I sure did a lot of that (her hubby was very understanding), and she is just as warm, open and happy as her blog suggests.

I took them to a new café I hadn't tried before purely on the reasoning that any establishment cooling it's rosé in an ancient fountain in their courtyard should be good.

We only had coffee, but it was declared a resounding success. Especially the café crème, always a risky order. You can receive anything from an espresso shot diluted with a finger of cold milk to a bucket of cow juice with a coffee bean waved over it.

Delish café crème, as close to an Australian flat white as I've ever had in France.

After our coffee and a fair bit of chatting I took Susan to my preferred French fabric shop, La Victoire.

We are the ones with heads.

Quite restrained we were, only a metre each. Susan was mindful of her baggage allowance and I'm trying hard not to let my stash overflow the (large) shelf on which it is currently housed.

It was a fantastic morning - it's always wonderful to hear Australian accents again and it was a real treat to meet Susan and P 'for reals'.

I hope you enjoyed your day in Aix and all the best for your trip home!