Crillon le Brave

 Yesterday we had a violent thunderstorm roll through in the morning. Everything got a good soaking which I guess didn’t affect the farmers since picking was going on in earnest today.

In the afternoon we did some shopping from Vaison to Orange. 

Today we headed out just before noon to Crillon le Brave to dine at the Crillon Hotel’s La Table du Ventoux. This is one of two fabulous restaurants in this hotel, the other being La Madeleine, not quite a one star. We took the picturesque, winding route through Malaucene and Caromb , all of course in the foothills of Mt. Ventoux.

Our restaurant had views to Mt Ventoux with a beautifully shaded terrace. 

Their menu was tapas style with small dishes intended for sharing. We opened with a Tattinger rose champagne and ordered four dishes - scampi fritters; pig trotters with gerkin jelly; home made gnocchi in Parmesan sauce; and a chicken croc- monsieur with escargots.

All delicious. For dessert we had a Caromb fig tartlet and carmelized apple with peanut biscuit.

We were also successful in finding the other home we had briefly rented, right on the main street just below the hotel - our present location is better.

The road home through Beaumes de Venise was no less windy., but we arrived shortly after 3:00. Fab drive!! Equally fab meal!!!

All On Our Own

After a  great couple of weeks of company we are now on our own for the duration of our stay. We said good bye to Susan and Dave yesterday as they headed out to Marseilles for a high speed rail experience on the Eurostar to London.

To finish their stay we had lunch at our local Auberge de la Tuileries on Sunday. We also did a final market at Tullette on Monday before they did their necessary packing and departed.

Today it was market day again in Vaison. On the way to the market we sought out the Gites that we had booked when we were uncertain about Margaret's ability to travel. As it turns out, The Gites de Baye is a fabulous locale overlooking Vaison from the north. This is worth a try at a later date.

The second pic above is the view to Vaison with the chateau far right and the first of the pics was L'Olivier which was one of the two gites we had booked.

We finished off the day with some more market acquisitions and some staples from Intermarche.

Ardeche & Chateauneuf

Yesterday, we had an "at home day" while Susan & Dave headed out to the Ardeche.  They did L’Aven D’Ornac which is the most amazing natural cave we have ever seen. 

Then they went to the Chauvet Cave Exhibit which focuses on the ancient history of the area. No photos here.

Today we did a driving tour of ancient Orange and then on to Chateauneuf du Pape. We visited the castle ruins and then had a drink break immediately below the castle.

We finished the day with a wine tasting at  Chateau Mont Redon, one of the higher end Chateauneuf wineries. We were greeted in English by a lovely man who as it turns out was ex special forces for the French navy. Apparently the owners of the winery, which has been in the same Abeille-Fabre family since the 1920's, have made a point of hiring veterans, especially those suffering from PTSD. We had a wonderful tasting of 5 wines and walked away with a few prizes.

Nyons & Villedieu

Today, we once again drove over the bump to the next valley and drove  to Nyons for their market. Due to Dawn‘s lack of mobility, we have been using our Canadian disabled sticker to get better parking spots. Bonus!

Like all of our local markets, it was a little bit congested today in Nyons. But we all did a significant walk to the Roman bridge and back.

Following the market, we made our way to the hilltop village of Villedieu for lunch. We opted for a Cafe right on the main square that we have been to before, serving great food called Cafe du Centre - not high end but we like it anyway - Susan and I had their cheese burger featuring smoked duck breast, rosti potatoes and raclette cheese. It was huge but delicious!

New Company

Heating up

 Now that we are on our on, we don’t have a whole lot of interesting stuff that I can blog about, so I’ll just do a little pictorial study of our village.

Whites off to Paris

 It was only a partial week but I think we made the most of it with Sadie, Ella, Jessie & Chris. We got in 2 markets plus shopping in Avignon. Although we did eat out a few times, we also had some nice meals at Chez Pigeon and apparently knocked off a few wonderful wines.

As it heats up here, it is nice to have use of Lynda Gardner’s pool nextdoor yesterday and indeed for the rest of our stay. The girls certainly loved it as they also loved feline buddies Charlie & Odi who love walking the perimeter.

Today we delivered the Whites to the TGV station in Avignon - the right station this time and sadly we bid them adieu. 

Now they have one night in Paris before flying home tomorrow. Bon Voyage!

After Avignon we delivered our rental Citroen back to Marseilles and collected P&M’s BMW. We were home before 4:00 and enjoyed the provencal sun & wine - tough life.