Mas de Viales, Cavillargues, Gard, South of France from Sept. 10

Although it rained over night, it’s another torch of a day today. First, we were off to the Bagnols Tourism Office to post my blog and then on to the marche. A circus has come to town and so the market was displaced in several locations. We bought sun-dried tomatoes at my favourite stall in Bagnols, but my tomato lady was not present. Quel domage! Maybe next week. Also, due to the circus, Dawn’s favourite linen merchant was not present. Once again, maybe next week. Every walk through this town affords architectural treats like this doorway below.

Thursday, although it was not market day, we winded our way out of the Tave Valley and made for Uzes, probably the prettiest and most historic of our nearby towns. In actual fact, this town is best visited on non-market days, because at least then you can appreciate it’s buildings, shops and squares without the throngs. We are always drawn to the centre of town, The Places des Arbres, with it’s aging plane trees, central fountain and


best of all, the arcades that surround the square. The arcades are home to many cafes that spill out into the Places des Arbres, as well as many specialty shops, like a truffle shop that sold all manner of products with even the slightest whiff of truffle in them. We actually noticed the earthy smell of truffles as we entered the shop, but resisted making any purchases, principally due to the high cost associated with anything “truffle”. Since there’s notorious scamming in the truffle market, how does one, other the true afficianado, know whether or not they’re getting the real thing.


Despite one past unpleasantry- like Dawn’s wallet being stolen here – Uzes remains one of our favourite destinations. It’s a very touristy spot, but it has a warm,
authentic charm.
From Uzes, we made our way to the Mistral Auchan south of Avignon for some more provisions. This is nothing like the massive Auchan north of Avignon. It’s actually easy to find your way around this store. As a small example of why we love shopping in grocery stores in France, we found for dinner, a packaged trio of duck servings – kebabs, fillets and sausages. Our plan is to have those for dinner with some fresh pesto pasta and salad.
From Avignon south, we made our way north along the Rhone and along the walls of the great city and of course under the Pont d’Avignon – Pont St. Benezet. What a fabulously historic and picturesque city this is! There were one of two tourists wandering about as well. Our next destination was Chateauneuf du Pape and this time NOT for a pass through

Chateauneuf is the undisputed crown jewel of the Cotes du Rhone wines. The problem here, as always, is to choose from the approximate 100 distributors. We did have a little help from a book we brought with us outlining the best wines of France. The chateau shown below – Chateau Mousset - was not on our list, but we could not resist driving up to it. Most of the even high-end producers of Chateauneuf, look nothing like this place. The common denominator is the rocks, in which grow all of the grapes here.

Chateauneuf itself was pretty quiet since the Vendage has begun and people are actually working – not a good time to get a tour of a winery. We purchased a couple of wines that were ready to drink. Chateauneuf is one of those places where the wine must age to appreciate its grandeur. At this point I haven’t any specific plans to bring wine home with me – the new “no fluids in your carry-on” has put the damper on that. But, either of today’s purchases – a 2004 Chateau la Nerthe white and a 2001 Galet des Papes veille vignes red – would be worthy candidates for export.

We took an opportunity to sit by the fountain in the main square that flows with Chateauneuf during its wine festival in late July. Way back in 2002, when we were here for that festival, we simply held our glasses beneath the fountain. Quel dommage! As we sat, a huge grape harvester rolled through town, dwarfing all other vehicles and proof once again that Vendage is under way.

Arriving back at the Mas in late afternoon, it was still very warm, but a storm was impending. So we had only a little time to sit at the table overlooking the vineyards, before we had to retreat to the interior for the evening and listen to rain pound on the tile roof. And it rained. We were worried about the state of lower roads. But, we were busy preparing our duck treats! C’est la vie! Tomorrow Cairanne.