The stone merchant of Provence

A region steeped in fable and myth,
Provence is a cultural crossroads of European history.
A source of inspiration to artists,poets, architects, carvers and troubadours.
It is now an enviable refuge for the wealthy, the burdened, the adventurous and the fashionable.Jonathan Sinclair, the head honcho at Ancient Surfaces who has lived a sizable part of his youth and adolescence in France with his loving Continental family has also more recently lived between this region and New York for decades.
This mosaicked life has instilled in him a sense of ‘farmhouse’ ethics of love, labor, natural progression and respect for the Almighty.
His Provence is a striking contrast that is at times detached from the sheer touristic and romantic notion of the space.
Jonathan can go on for hours at a time Lovingly recounting vivid details of life in Provence, as he provides to friends and client alike a welcomed soberest to the typical rosé-tinted, romantic view of it being a perennially sunny destination for tourists.
“For me the true ‘Provençaux’ are the locals who have always lived a harder than presumed life as seen from the exterior looking in.
They were close to the land and the rhythms of the seasons, faithful to family, patrimony, parish and customs.
Folkloric dances, chants, and time honored homemade meals never calculated calories, fashion or fads into their equations.
” It is in this revelation that the true persona of the Provençal people comes to light; that’s how the truth of the region can de decoded and its fundamental style can be finally understood.
“My life between Provence and New York is much a study of Provençal culture and history as it is a memoir of my travels and life, a reflection of my childhood and youth that has made me the person I am today.” Someday in the future, I will have to document and archive my journey with a biography that is rich in life triumphant with love and hope.
The time will someday come for such a deep and soulful investigation into a way of life that remains very distinct from that of the other regions of France, Europe and the rest of the world.
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