A Gastronomic Quest

As the sun began to rise over the Vaucluse, it looked fairly certain that we were going to have another smoking hot day. Along with the startling blue Provincial skies, this should equal a perfect day to take the trek to the summit of Mt. Ventoux. Since Jackie had never taken this trip, off we went.

We headed off fairly early to avoid the heat of the day and so did the entire biking population of France and perhaps Europe. There appeared to be an entire club of Cristal riders– wouldn’t you hate to be sponsored by an elite champagne house?

Anyway, other than the bikes, there weren’t a lot of cars so there was lots of parking at the summit.


The views were pristine, but without a 3D camera the whole perspective is lost unless you’ve been there.
Descending, bikers who were doing easily 80 kph were chasing us and it was hard to stay ahead of them. We also had the obligatory sheep-crossing stop, accompanied by a shepherd and three dogs.

When we reached the base town of Bedouin, we made a post office stop and then headed to Crillon la Brave, a village with a great view of Mt. Ventoux. Someday we will stay/eat here.

From there, we counted on the GPS to take us to lunch at the chateau in Rochegude. The restaurant is actually called Restaurant de la Roche Aigue, which is apparently the old name for Rochegude, meaning “rock on an angle”. Dawn was hoping for a patio lunch, but instead we ate in air-conditioned comfort. We did finally make it to the patio for coffee, shown below.


For first course, we all opted for fresh figs from the neighbouring village of Piolenc, accompanied by slices of smoked duck breast and basilic goat’s cheese.
Dawn’s main’s course was a filet of cod with Nyons olives, while Jackie & I had roasted guinea fowl breast in a wonderful sauce – je ne sais quoi.
For dessert, Jackie & Dawn had a warmed chocolate raspberry meringue with a fruit sorbet and I had strawberries in a balsamic-vinagre sauce.
Our wine for lunch was a Rochegude white, which was quite lovely.
This was a 39 Euro prix fixe and we came away feeling we had successfully chosen another excellent lunch spot, different from yesterday and yet despite their lack of Michelin accreditation, Rochegude was definitely worth the visit.
Since it was still early in the afternoon, we zipped back to Avignon for another shot at Auchan. The crowds were less crazy here today. We picked up a few essentials and headed back to Cairanne. We did take note of the Auchan rose wine selection, however, and considering that the majority of these wines were in the 3-5 Euro range, we were quite envious.

Back in Cairanne, the courtyard appeared to be the best place to escape the heat and this situation continued well into the evening.
Dinner tonight was veal burgers and sausages that we bought as a result of a demonstration at Auchan. They were very tasty.
And that, as they say, wraps it up for another day of fun and frolic!