Market then Up

It was an absolutely pristine day today when we awoke and therefore there was no excuse for not winding up in Vaison once again for their Tuesday market. Most of the rest of Provence thought the same thing. With Brigitte accompanying us, it was fun to see the unique products and character of the market all over again.

It was once again a little warm to do much business at the "onesies for adults" booth. As always, it's fun to people watch and because of the clear conditions, Mt. Ventoux was visible beyond the river running through town.

Brigitte really got right into the spirit of market shopping.

After two and half hours at market, we started our drive up the valley towards the summit of Mt. Ventoux. Since Brigitte had never before taken this journey and since the weather conditions were perfect, we ruled that an ascent of Ventoux was mandatory. Half way up, we found a shady spot for a pique nique, French style out of the back of the car.

There were the usual crazy bikers littering the narrow road up, looking for the ultimate badge of honour, conquering by bike the Geant de Provence. This is a 20 km uphill climb with grades of up to 12%, so biking it is daunting to say the least. Driving it is daunting enough, but well worth the views at the top.

Any group we have ever taken up Ventoux must endure the obligatory photo stop a short way down from the summit.

One never tires of the views from the top and given that in on our last visit to Cairanne that we never saw the summit of Ventoux because of cloudy days, today's opportunity was a bonus! Our dinner tonight was a pork roast bonus - which means it wasn't really a pork roast, but rather a minced pork roast. We finished the day with Bite Me and in this case, Bill was the biter and the winner. Sorry girls!