Today we got going very slowly but did head out to Vaison la Romaine before lunch to pick up some staples at the Intermarche. It was early afternoon before we headed out for a little drive to Gigondas and in particular the countryside of the Dentelles de Montmirail.
The Dentelles de Montmirail are a small chain of mountains in Provence located just to the south of Vaison-la-Romaine. They are foothills of Mont Ventoux, which is situated just to the east. Their name (dentelles means "lace") refers to the dramatically jagged shape of their peaks, formed by horizontal strata of Jurassic limestone being folded and forced into a nearly upright position and subsequently eroded into sharp-edged ridges and spikes. The highest peak of the Dentelles is St-Amand, at 734 m. The range, which is only about 8 km wide, is renowned for the walking and rock climbing opportunities that it offers. There were lots of those activities going on today, as it was not only Sunday, but the last weekend before children go back to school. Quel dommage!
We thought we'd try to find a route through the Dentelles by car from Gigondas to Beaumes de Venise, but as Dawn's dad would have said, "It wasn't punched through" - at least not for regular cars. So, we drove down to road to Vacqueras and drove up past one of our favourite lunch places, Chateau de Montmirail. From there, the road appeared pretty good, so we drove along it and before we knew it, we in the heart of the Dentelles - views abounding.
Although the roads up here are primarily for the farmers with vineyards on these slopes, there are lots of walkers trudging along and a few idiots in cars. The roads actually stayed pretty decent and before long we hit a paved section just above Domaine de Durban and Beaumes de Venise and before we knew it we popped out at Beaumes de Venise.
In around 15 minutes we were back in Cairanne, did some yard cleanup and moved to cocktail time.
For dinner this evening, we thought we'd try haute cuisine and visit the pizza truck that is supposed to be parked at the main square in Cairanne. It might have been a "fermature exceptionelle" or a regular holiday, but the pizza truck didn't show. Plan B - out of the fridge.
To sign off today, I've included what I consider to be the tourism shot of Cairanne, taken in the evening with Mt. Ventoux as the backdrop and Peter & Margaret's place on the right side.
The one below is identical to the one on the Cairanne brochure.
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