Ventoux and Unctuous wines

For Carole and Claude’s last day with us, we opted for a nice breakfast of eggs etc. and a trip up the mountain to the peak of Mt. Ventoux. Earlier, we weren’t sure it was going to be clear enough, but the trip did not disappoint.

There were very few cyclists at the top today, which made those who reached the summit even more important. The trip down for us was a little anticlimactic, but eventually we found ourselves in Chateauneuf du Papes for yet another lunch at Verger les Papes. Last time here, we commented that the food had improved and today was no exception. Main course was duck with a dessert of fig tarte and lavender ice cream.

From there, we topped up the car’s fuel in Orange and headed back to Cairanne. Once there we visited, for the first time this year the Cave Belvedere. We found another nice white from Berthet Rayne. Carianne whites are to be described as unctuous - my word for the day - thanks Lynda Gardner.

Over the day we had become aware that Jim & Lynda Gardner were indeed here, in Cairanne. We also quickly discovered that they had been called back to Oregon for a legislative sitting that would cut their visit in Cairanne short by three weeks. So, we set out to connect for aperatifs, defined as multiple bottles of bubbly and wine. It was great to see them again and after several hours on the Pigeon terrace, we left them to finish their packing for a departure tomorrow.

The sun had long since set, but lingering colours lit the skies.

The final evening for Carole and Claude consisted of cards, wine and a finale of popcorn. Perfect -I thought!

Avignon

Today started and ended as a pristine summer day with amazing Provencal blue skies. We decided to give our guests a close up look at the old city of Avignon.

For Carole and Claude this meant visits to both the Pont St. Benezet (sur la pont d’Avignon) and the Palais des Papes, home of the popes in the 13th century. We accompanied them on the bridge because I felt it was necessary to dance and sing the song “Sur la Pont d’Avignon”.

We beat the crowds a bit today, but by the end of our stay in the mid-afternoon, Avignon was crawling with tourists.

We opted for lunch today at a cafe in the square below the Palais. It had great ambience in the shade of the grand edifice and pretty good salads and omelets.

Following our visit of downtown Avignon, we subjected Carole and Claude to the vastness of Auchan. As we always are, they were amazed at the huge selection of food products that North Americans never experience. The heat remained for the rest of the day and back at Chez Pigeon we enjoyed the terrace, with a late dinner of trout and some rather nice Alsace Reisling.

Return to Auberge la Tulerie and Gigondas

I think we may soon have a standing table on Sunday at Auberge la Tulerie, because we were back this week, with Carole and Claude this time, for another seven course delight.

I’ll save the play by play and just say that main course this week was rabbit and this place is a true French gem. Michelin will probably never find it, but that’s OK.

To deal with the after effects of the three hour lunch, we drove over to Gigondas for a hike through the upper town. This village continues to be photo op after photo op and since our last visit they’ve done a ton of work in favour of the tourists and made it even prettier.

Clearly there is some money in Gigondas.

During the walk the girls got a little frisky.

Actually it was too hot and not even the kitty was frisky.

You’ve got to love that the heat has returned on the day after the first day of autumn. We’ll take it!

Then it was back to Cairanne for a quiet remainder of the day on the terrace. Food was no longer a priority.

Peter Mayle Country

Before I get into today's exploits, I should mention that the 2013 Cotes du Rhone vendange appears to have started - whites only as of now. There is still minimal tractor traffic on the roads, but they're finally getting at it. Today's excursion took us over into the Luberon and the haunts of Peter Mayle who made this area famous and now tourist ridden - thanks Peter - with his A Year In Provence book and then TV mini series.

We had three stops in mind and began with a return visit to Roussillon.

We started with an walk in the ochre canyon and since the sun almost always shines here, it was a fabulous walk with incrdible views.

We then walked in the old village, discovered that our favourite lady painter, Francoise Valenti, doesn't work any more on the weekends and then continued to walk through the upper town and enjoy views of both valley and town.

On our way to stop number two, Gordes, we pulled into a little wooded picnic area and had the classic French picnic out of the back of the car.

Gordes was, as usual, crawling with tourists, but we stopped for the view of the town from the rock below town anyway and drove to the centre of town and quickly exited Gordes.

Final stop was Abbaye de Senaque, which appears to be a little less cared for - the lavender bushes anyway. This remarkable setting is still always a pleasure to behold.

We took the route home route through the Venesque Gorge and despite winding roads, found this an amazingly quick exit from the Luberon and before we knew it we were in Carpentras and then home. We were a little earlier today getting home and Claude managed to access his e-mail so everybody felt a little more connected. Saturday night was spent with a pork tenderloin dinner here, cards and camaraderie.

Les Grandes Sites de France

Today’s journey took us to the other side of the Rhone, an area we knew well from stays in Cavillargues. We have also done this itinerary with other company, so we knew there would be no disappointments.

First stop was L’Aven d’Orgnac, the first of our Grand Sites visited today. To be a Grand Site, you have to be one of most amazing attractions in all of France. These caves have been a hit with all previous company and today’s group were suitably impressed. Any photo I have taken here has never done the place justice, but I tried again. Dawn opted not to do the 700 stairs again, but Claude, Carole and I descended into the depths of this cave system open to the public which is only a fraction of the caves available here to certified spelunkers.

An always impressive point in the tour is what the guide called the organ - a formation of stalactites and stalagmites looking a lot like a pipe organ with an urn in the centre with the remains of Robert de Jolly, the explorer who found this cave in 1935.

We continued to descend to 121 metres below the surface where we were treated to a sound and light show - never boring.

We rejoined Dawn on the surface and headed to the Gorge of the Ardeche. The road is always fun to drive and has many memorable stops.

Then we made our way via Bagnols sur Ceze to the St. Sepulcher Chapel above the Mas de Viales where we stayed in Peter and Margaret’s previous place. I remembered a picnic table here and sure enough, it still existed and under the shade of the trees, we had a picnic lunch.

Then it was on the next Grand Site, Pont du Gard.

There is always pretty good tourist traffic here and today also had a bride and groom, using the backdrop for a spectacular photo shoot. The olive tree born in 908 is always a photo op.

It continues to amaze us that the Romans could pull off such incredible feats of engineering. We decided that there was always sufficient slave and prisoner labour to keep these projects going.

For dinner we walked down to the Tourne au Verre and had a great meal of everything from a shrimp cake and stuffed sweet pepper, to rabbit and tuna. We ate inside tonight, due to the wind I guess, because it didn’t get that cold. Then it was back to Chez Pigeon for cards and tea on the front terrace and maybe a bit more wine.

Nyons Market and Seguret

Another market day had arrived - this time Nyons. The wind was really howling today and in Cairanne it was a tad chilly. But, in Nyons, with their micro climate and the sun, it was quite lovely. When we talked to our table clothe guy, Lillian, he called Nyons Petit Nice, due to its unique climate.

We walked the classic route through town and ordered a Savoyarde pizza for lunch, which we picked up after visiting the Roman bridge.

Of course, we visited Vivianne and acquired more tomatoes. We greeted each other by first name. How nice! We discovered that she lives in Pont St. Esprit.

Pizza in hand, we went back to Chez Pigeon for lunch after which point we decided to head up to see Walter McKinlay at Domaine Mourchon in Seguret. He took us through a tasting of the entire wine selection of their domaine and we walked away with a few bottles.

Then we did the tourist walk through the Plus Beaux Village of Seguret.

There continues to be many photo opportunities despite the fact that there isn’t a sign of real life in Seguret.

Then it was the better part of another day gone and we settled back in at Chez Pigeon after a little detour to the picturesque cemetery of Cairanne. We spent the remainder of the sunny day on the terrace and had a nice meal at home of fresh pasta and veal, with a little starter of foie gras and Louis Sipp. Vive la France!

Let’s go wine tasting!

This morning marked the departure of Tony and Jackie. We sent them off with a good breakfast to a locale in the southern Dordodgne. Bon voyage!

Now it was time for us to start exploring wine, so off we went, to a domaine close to us that we’d never visited - La Presidente.

We were on our own at this winery that had a very cool tasting room adorned with a centre piece of grape vines and several modern works of art.

We set out on a quest for good Cotes du Rhone whites and actually found a good one here. Their white Chateauneuf du Pape which was good but a little out of our price point, especially after last night.

Next stop was Camille Cayran, our coop in Cairanne. Their wine seems to be getting better and better so of course, we left here with wine as well. We also took some time to visit the Parcours Sensoriel in the basement of the coop. This display is an excellent education on wine tasting and since we visited it the first time, it has been very well maintained.

After a lunch of leftovers back at Chez Pigeon, we headed off to do some grocery shopping in Orange, but took the scenic route past the Arc du Triomphe and the Theatre Ancien.

After some essential shopping - I think that means wine - we were heading home and then - just because we could - we detoured to Chateauneuf du Pape. Beaucastel was the first stop - for a photo - then via the fabulous estates of Mt. Redon and La Gardine to the town.

We ended up at the chateau and got the prerequisite photo overlooking the Rhone.

On the way back to Chez Pigeon, we had an interesting “Ozark” experience. We opted for the “straight route” along the narrow farm road to Cairanne from the Coteaux et Fourchette roundabout. This is a route that our GPS took us on to Cairanne years ago. It’s only 50 kmph and because it’s very narrow and rugged, you can’t go much faster. So low and behold, at the only real curve on the road, I came head on with a rugged off road vehicle driven by a surly Frenchman with a young girl in the passenger seat. We did not collide, but, he was totally pissed, for whatever reason and immediately turned around and started to follow us - closely. It became clear, along the route, that we were destined for a showdown, somewhere. As we hit the tiny roundabout below Cairanne, after about 4 kilometres of pursuit, he cut us off in a most aggressive manner - almost slammed us - and started to spew off about the nature of the small road we’d been on. I was contrite - what the hell! (Claude and Carole amazingly concur) and apologized, totally in English that we’d hit the curve at the same time. His little French girl copilot was in shock about the pursuit and wondered whether there might be a shoot out. He did have the hunter’s vest in the vehicle and had been probably been out hunting and likely drinking, but my English apology soothed him and we parted company. Hallelujah!! We spent the rest of the day on the terrace eating up the view and sucking up the wine.