With the thought of that Marseille traditional soaps have been made for about 600 years, I couldn’t resist taking a photo of those really wonderful vintage soap posters I found in a French medieval village.

The traditional Marseille soap is made from vegetable oils and it grew so popular that it in 1913 the production had reached 180,000 tons (!) and already in 1924 there were 132 soapmaking companies in the Marseille and Salon areas.

Traditionally, the soap is made by mixing sea water from the Mediterranean Sea, olive oil, and the alkaline chemicals soda ash (sodium carbonate) and lye (sodium hydroxide) together in a large cauldron (usually making about 8 tons). This mixture is then heated for several days, stirred constantly.

The mixture is then allowed to sit, and once ready, it is poured into the mould, and allowed to set slightly. Whilst still soft, it is cut into bars and stamped, and left to completely harden. The whole process can take up to a month from the start before the soap is ready to use.

Source: Wikipedia

You can read more about the traditional Marseille soap history at Marseille Tourisme.

Today there are only a few remaining soap factories around Marseille and some soaps has palm oil instead of olive oil, but still very nice soaps so it’s no surprise that this is one of the things the many tourists are buying there.

I would find it very interesting to take a traditionally Marseille made soap and a modern one from our stores to a lab to be able to really compare the content…

Lifecruiser ♥ Vintage Marseille Posters
 

Earlier posts in this serie:

French beach leach
Bloggers toast in France
Bloggers finally meet in France after three years of blogging
French blogger host lost
Start Fart of France Trip
Marseille Air Lair Stare
Pastis in Provence Southern France
Photographer beholder but not older
Connect Hotel Skavsta Airport
 

When we were in Southern France in August we did of course also visit a beach since the weather was absolutely gorgeous. So one of the first days we did head for Bandol….

This big bay has a lot to offer, several different sand beaches – of course very crowded and you better get there early if you want to find somewhere to park your car.

For us it was like heaven to take a swim in the Sea a hot day like this. I believe Anna was one of the first to get ready….

Yep, definitely Beach Babe 2009. Just check in her bikini. I say no more. But who could beach hunk 2009 be then?

We spotted him out to catch the waves. OK, not really any waves but it sounded good, didn’t it? *giggles*

Another one that was very excited of the chance to get her very first dip in the Mediterranean Sea was Diane.

Who by the way, turned out to be almost like a pro-snorkler…. in the water all the time. Maybe she were looking out for the Navy Seal’s to land in the French beaches…. *giggles*

For us Nordic people, the sunny weather and nice temperature in the Sea isn’t anything we’re exactly spoiled with, so of course we had the most wonderful time there.

If I tell you that last week we had about 2 hours of sun in the whole week here in Stockholm and it’s about the same so far this week, you’ll understand…

No wonder I’m dreaming back to that day… *sigh*

My own beach hunk was the photographer, so I won’t share him with you all.

The wonderful person that brought us all there (and into her home) is Claudie. Once again I want to thank her for their hospitality and patience with us all.

Lifecruiser ♥ French Beach Friends
 

Earlier posts in this serie:

Bloggers toast in France
Bloggers finally meet in France after three years of blogging
French blogger host lost
Start Fart of France Trip
Marseille Air Lair Stare
Pastis in Provence Southern France
Photographer beholder but not older
Connect Hotel Skavsta Airport
 

One of the many higlights of our trip in southern France in August, were of course when we bloggers got to make a toast in real life with the gigglewater we had been pretending to drink together at our cyber cruise parties during the three years we’ve been blogging together.

Pierre, Mrs Lifecruiser, Claudie, Renny and Tor.
Southern France, August 2009

The missing faces in this photo are behind their cameras: Mr Lifecruiser, Diane and Anna. This had to be well documented – almost as a historic happening…. lol

No wonder the happy faces and giggling, it’s not every day you get to drink with such good friends and the very best Champagne brand there is!

.. only problem was that they only had one bottle in the store, so we really had to share the drops verrrrrry carefully… *giggles*

Today we have another reason to make a bloggers toast, so I’ll fill up the glasses for you all and hope that you’ll follow me in this toast!

A toast for Renny, who’s birthday is today and is planning another blog gathering nex year in August in Oslo, Norway.

Hop over and congratulate him and see what he wishes as a birthday gift – it’s something very special!

Cheers!

Lifecruiser ♥ France
 

Earlier posts in this serie:

Bloggers finally meet in France after three years of blogging
French blogger host lost
Start Fart of France Trip
Marseille Air Lair Stare
Pastis in Provence Southern France
Photographer beholder but not older
Connect Hotel Skavsta Airport