Caveau du Pont D'Arc

In 1995 three speleologists (cave crawlers), Eliette Brunel-Deschamps, Christian Hilaire and Jean-Marie Chauvet, came upon previously undiscovered caves with fabulously intact cave drawings. They immediately knew that this was a special find, but it wasn't until extensive carbon dating was done by various impartial world experts, that they knew that this was the oldest preserved art in the world, dating back up to 36000 years. There are no typos in that last number. This art was from the Aurignacian period and was created by people looking, surprisingly, not unlike us. Concerned for the preservation of this find, the French government immediately took over the site and limited its access to scientists. They sealed up the original with a airtight lock and heavy duty security. Those who discovered the cave knew it must be somehow shared with the world and so, six years ago they devised a project to create a facsimile of the original cave for the public to visit. The original cave is situated above the previous course of the Ardeche River, before the Pont d'Arc which all tourists Ooo and Ahh over, opened up . The top of the Pont D'Arc is visible from the new facsimile site. After two and a half years of construction, the cave lookalike opened, just this spring. Having already visited the amazing Aven d'Ornac caves, which were real caves, we were anxious to see what the French had created. So, this morning we set off for Vallon Pont D'Arc in the Ardeche. Rather than take the extremely convoluted road along the Ardeche Gorge, Emily opted for a relatively straight path north of that route that took us right into the site. We arrived in plenty of time to first visit the museum with it's Disneyesque setup. Here we discovered a post ice age era of people and animals who lived in a harsh climate, temperatures never going above 15˚C and generally averaging between -20 and -30˚. And somehow, given their harsh battle to survive, these people created some truly astounding art work. They didn't live in the Chauvet cave, but treated it as a sacred place, sharing it with the cave bears who hibernated and slept there. There are no human traces here other than a few footsteps. Only the remains of bears, horses, deer and other fauna of the era litter the floor. All cave drawings are done in either ochre or charcoal and vary from basic palm prints to amazing bas relief sketches. We weren't allowed to take photos inside the site, so my drawing pics are those of posters. It is astounding what they were able to construct in two and a half years. I think we were all pretty much in awe of the art work, realizing that deeper in the cave, only torch light allowed them to create their works of art and this is where the really detailed paintings were found. We headed back towards Cairanne via the Ardeche Gorge, where we found a good stop to have a tailgate lunch. This drive never ceases to amaze and also terrorize with its severe switch backs and lack of guard rails. Our route home took us by the new home that Lilian Cebe, our market tablecloth merchant, was renovating. He gave us a warm welcome and a nice tour. His home is located just outside Travaillan, with superb views of the Dentells de Montmirail across the Plan de Dieu vineyards. We promised to come back when his project was complete. We got back to Chez Pigeon in time for some late day sun on the terrace. La vie est belle!!!

Vaison and Environs

Once again, I must say, if it's Tuesday, it must be Vaison la Romaine for what must be considered one of the best markets in Provence. Despite the overnight rain, it evolved into a beautiful morning for a stroll in an, as ever, congested Vaison market. Apparently most of this part of Provence feels the same way. We had no particular shopping list in mind, which can be dangerous. So, we purchased the items with which we were most enamoured and revisited our favourite vendors, like Vivian who has not only wonderful olives but the best sundried tomatoes in the world and Lilian who displayed more beautiful tablecloths and invited us to his place for a drink. We enjoyed our walk through the entire market, enjoying the cast of regular characters that make this market a must visit. By the time we finished our walk it was lunch time, so we set out to a restaurant we couldn't get into in Puymeras last year. Once again, we discovered that for Girocendre, Tuesdays are their closed day, so we took some pics and moved on. It started to look like today's route would be a circle as we headed for the next lunch possibility in Villedieu. We'd been to Maison Bleu with Peter and Margaret in the past, but since it was also closed, we ate in the square at the Cafe du Centre. Lunch under the trimmed plane trees was very enjoyable. Actually, the tree trimming dude was still at work on the last tree, but the ones above us were naked. The rest of the day was slow with a nice grilled lamb loin for dinner and a couple of games of Canasta - boys might have won today.

Tavel

For our first excursion from Cairanne, we chose a trip to the other side - the other side of the Rhone that is. Carole and Claude had never been to Lirac and Tavel before so we determined that the quickest way go on the A7 north to Orange Nord and then the A9 south for one exchange. This is definitely not the shortest route as the crow flies, but it is the fastest way and in around 40 minutes from Cairanne, we were in Tavel country - you defintely can't do it that quickly across country. After the autoroute, we first drove through St. Laurent des Arbres with its impressive chateau. Next village was Lirac, where we visited the Caves des Vins de Cru de Lirac where we picked up both roses and Lirac reds. Minutes down the road was the village of Tavel and in Tavel, their only wines are their world famous roses, although some Tavel producers may also make Lirac reds. Here we tasted at the Caveau Saint Vincent which represents 30 domaines. We had a very helpful man who spoke English and guided us through 3 roses, from dry to fruity, the first and third being what he considered the most complex of the Tavels. So, those are the ones that we bought. Then we retraced our autoroute journey and continued down to Avignon Nord (Le Pontet) for a major grocery shopping excursion. The Auchan here is 25000 square metres, so it's quite a walk, but we always have a great time here and came away with food for many unique French meals. This evening, we opted for a meal of rouget (red snapper). Of course the card games continue and the girls are currently one game up on the boys, but that's likely to be temporary. We continue to follow the progress of the Blue Jays as they head into their final week of regular season play, now having clinched a playoff spot. The games aren't telecast here, but we keep up to date with the MLB app.

Cairanne

Today was a recovery day from our 9 days on the road, therefore this entry will be brief. We did however take a nice walk out of Cairanne and up into the hills. We followed farmer's trails and went far enough up the hill to the north of the village to meet trails that basically went parallel to Cairanne, always keeping the village in view. Vendange is still underway, with some vineyards empty and some overflowing with fruit. The views in this area never disappoint and the 4.2 kilometre walk gave us some overdue exercise. Tonight we Facetimed with Canada which for Apple users is infinitely better than Skype. Then, we finished the day with a nice duck dinner and cards. La vie est belle!

Back to Cairanne

For our last morning on the Med, we enjoyed our breakfast on the balcony of our apartment to a rising hot sun. Last night as we played cards in the same spot, the views were magnificent. Today marked the end of of road trip visiting incredible locations from the Alsace to the Riviera and culminating with a roll up the autoroute to a most familiar Cairanne. The autoroute was heavy but not impossible as it can be in August and we were in Orange getting some groceries for tonight and tomorrow about 3 hours after leaving the Cap d'Esterel. It is now a very comfortable feeling entering Cairanne and Chez Pigeon was as picturesque as ever. We unpacked, got the dirty undies in the washer and had pizza and rose for lunch. Then after losing at Canasta, Claude and I took a walk about town. I've taken almost every picture form every angle possible in this village, so I set out to find some new views - never disappointing. We are in Cairanne now for 2 and 1/2 weeks and all is good. Go Blue Jays!

Frejus and St. Raphael

Today we awoke to yet another fabulous day on the Mediterranean. The plan for today was to not travel too far afield, so we opted for a walking tour of the town next to St. Raphael, Frejus. This town has a history featuring strong ties to the Roman Empire, but what is left of the Roman era is minimal and mostly partially restored ruins. Nevertheless, it was a nice, well-needed walk on a beautiful morning. The photos above show the main church, the arena, still in use for bull fights, an interesting doorway and painted road bollards, illustrating the artisanal nature of today's Frejus. For lunch we chose to head back to St. Raphael and find a restaurant along the harbour. Boy did we luck in! And along the way I upgraded the car. This is the land of the rich and famous, after all! We chose our restaurant for its selection of interesting fish and seafood. But shortly after we sat down, the proprietor brought glasses of champagne to the table, courtesy of the house. He ended up being quite the character, totally charming all who chose his restaurant. So both the host and food were winners. As our food arrived, so did the proprietor with bibs for the men, who he recognized as the ones who needed them. I had giant gambas (prawns) flambeed in pastis and Claude had sea bream. Dawn had a wonderful plate called Aioli with aioli and a myriad of delightful seafood delicacies and Carole opted for rouget (red snapper). After a quick shopping trip back at E LeClerc for evening and breakfast items, we were back to our apartment and Claude and I quickly pulled on the swim trunks and headed for the pool. The infinity pool ended up being a really deep swimming pool and although heated, it was refreshing. The girls shopped instead, but eventually joined us at the pool. I would definitely recommend this place and I'd return.