Mas de Viales, Cavillargues, Gard, South of France from Sept. 8

The weather has been spectacular since we’ve arrived at the Mas – hot, sunny days and cool, good for sleeping, nights. Of course we could get this weather in Canada at this time of year as well. However, it’s not the south of France.
Proof that we’re slowing down is the picture below of Dawn. This is good! Spending daytimes here, you seek out shady spots and one of the great ones is our inner courtyard, which we really haven’t used since our visit with Tony & Jackie in the summer of 2002. It gives not only respite from sun but breeze as well.


Today’s only plan was to find an internet connection in Bagnols sur Ceze to post my blog and pick up e-mails. Heading to the Tourism Office, we found they had wi-fi for free. So now we know we can post regularly and in a nice environs, so for my regular readers, you can count on posts at least every other day.
Everybody that knows us, is at the very least, aware of our passion for France and our desire to be here as often as possible. The only drawback to being here for lengthy periods is below. C’est la vie!

Bagnols sur Ceze is not on any tourist map, but it is actually a very vibrant, historic town. They have a great Wednesday market along its narrow, twisted walking streets, but it’s actually nice being here on non-market days, with the significantly reduced congestion. We are fortunate to be so close to a town like this.
On the way back to the Mas, we made a stop at the Intermarche for a few more provisions – translated into wine and underwear. Since last here, they’ve totally renoed this store. Some things in France do change – but not many.



As I continue my blog, it’s now Tuesday and that would make it market day at Vaison la Romaine. This is a giant market that encompasses the entire old town and is almost more than one can explore. On the way to market we noticed that in some places, they’ve started Vendage and the grape laden wagons were making their way to the cooperatives. Nothing below the Mas yet, but it can’t be far off.

Vaison has amazing Roman roots with two very large excavated sites of the original Roman habitation. These days it has become a huge draw for English speaking tourists and this place seems to typify Chic. The remaining Roman bridge with a distant view of Mt. Ventoux brings out lots of cameras.

As for the market, it is a slow wander at best through the throngs and there is nothing you can’t get here. We did manage to browse purchaseless for a good hour before we came upon the linen merchant we frequent in Uzes. Then it was game over. I think we’ve already filled one suitcase. I have to say that we don’t seem to have our normal shopping stamina yet, so we sat down for lunch at one of many cafes and by the time we’d finished lunch, the market was over and most vendors had packed up and gone. This was about 2:00. The streets were, however, much easier to traverse, and being still lunch hour, all the shops were closed, which makes shopping really easy. On our way back to the Mas – about a 40 minute drive – we made a minor detour to pick up some wine in Gigondas – not a hardship.

Tomorrow – Wednesday – is market day in Bagnols, so we’ll kill two birds with one stone and post this chapter of the blog and pick up a few items we can’t exist without.