Our last day with Jackie

Last night, as the sun was setting, Jackie and I drove to the river, west of town, for that memorable look back at Cairanne. The moon was almost full, so the combination of village, Mt. Ventoux and the moon were quite striking.

We chose two perspectives, with the second allowing us a peek at the Pigeon home. I’ve included two photos below, one that shows the village profile for scale and one that focuses on the Pigeon property.


When we awoke this morning, it became quickly apparent that today would not be a good day for a stroll in the vineyards. Our first clue was the popping of hunter’s rifles as they chased down all manner of ferocious rabbits and tiny tenacious game birds. There might be some sanglier (wild boar) out there but I’m guessing they can outsmart the hunters.

After enjoying the cool breeze on the terrace, we headed for lunch to the Hotel Montmirail in Vacqueras. This is one of our favourite haunts and on a beautiful day like today, eating on the patio was delightful. I’d have to say that although our bill was much less here – and we’ve started each meal with a glass of champagne – the quality of the food equaled the best.
Dawn & Jackie began with an eggplant bundle stuffed with vegetables and tied up with a zucchini flower – shown below.

I, on the underhand, had – take a guess – foie gras. I’m going to soon start quacking.
Dawn & Jackie had fish for their main course with a mustard sauce. I had tiny brochettes of slightly crisp lamb. My dish is shown below. Please note that with the lamb is one green bean sliced up, one half of a mushroom, one tiny slice of potato, one little mound of zucchini and one cherry tomato farci.

Dessert was an assortment of little delicacies from gateau to crème brulee.
On the way back to Carianne, we made a quick stop in Gigondas to check out wine for future purchases. The original village cave is under renovation, so they now have a spot beneath the post office.
Back in Cairanne, we discovered that the pizza truck is parked in the main square on Sundays, so dinner tonight was an easy prep. The pizza guy has twenty or so varieties of thin crust pizza, most with tomato base, but some with creme fraiche. We opted for pizzas to suit each of our tastes and as a result, we will have pizza for lunch for days to come.