Mornas

After a couple of cooler cloudy days, we are back to our Provencal splendour today. We've been hearing, as in other years, the braying of donkeys from the village. I guess the main reason for having donkeys is as pets and to ride - not sure what else they are good for. Today on our way to the market in Ste. Cecile to pick up a few veggies, we noticed that the donkeys have relocated to just below us. They do emit a tranquil gentleness, but I might be misreading that and they might be just living up to their reputation as stubborn.

We discovered if you get to Ste. Cecile market early, the parking is easier and the throngs not as pressing.

When we were driving home from Lyon earlier this week, we noticed an impressive fortress above a town close to us, right on both the autoroute and the TGV line. Despite the fact that Mornas is not far from us, we had never explored it, so today was the day.

After a short stroll through the narrow streets of Mornas - and from the next picture, you might think there is a donkey theme going on here today - we drove up as far as we could to the fortress, before we had to set out on foot.

The climb to the fortress was on a paved path that was easily a 20% grade - beautiful views but a gruelling ascent, especially for two "experienced" travellers. We had no intention of touring the fortress. We just wanted some exercise - check that off - and some vistas.

Given that we had never considered visiting Mornas in past years, today we were wondering what took us so long. From Mornas we continued a bit north to Mondragon, where we caught a road to the east across the hills back to Cairanne - another pretty drive and then another pretty lunch.