Friday, 31 May 2013

.... And Weds Afternoon? Vaison-la-Romaine....

Back to J to navigate....... So where to? ..... Vaison-la-Romaine.....I leave you to decide which you would choose....






Wednesday Morning and Mont Ventoux....

So rise and shine, the rain has gone, the skies are blue and it's time to let K decide our destination.....

Where shall we go today K? (Ha! Now that I have brushed up my scouse accent I am practicing a future Thomas the Tank take over from Ringo...)

Ok! Lets head to Mont Ventoux! Should be nice and warm..... 1912m/6272ft

I was surprised to see how happy K was to see so many cyclists (he is a huge fan), apparently following in the footsteps of their tour-de-France heroes!  And despite seeing many of them pedaling pretty hard, initially in packs, then as the climb got steeper, in ones or twos, there were a LOT of cars at the peak with cycle racks AND cycles attached!  I drew my own conclusions, you can draw yours....

So a summary of the mornin?

To quote K:....."bloody brilliant.... Refreshingly exhilarating, when the mist clears .... Oh and as long as the melting ice doesn't whack you on the head"

And to quote J:..... "bloody freezing, can we go now?"






Catch up!

I know I said "don't blog after wine" but.... It's Friday afternoon, a sunny 22C/72F and well.... It's time for a catch up....

Let me take you back to Wednesday....

Thursday, 30 May 2013

What a Wash Out....

On Wednesday we set out to explore Avignon and in particular the very famous historical Gothic Palais Des Papes, dating back to the 1300's and once the centre of Papal power for over 70 years. Goodo, the heavens chose to open, not in a gesture of welcome as you might expect, but more the great flood variety and finding parking in a busy city was more stressful than a bad day in the office!

On arrival, we met our favorite car park attendant's daughter serving cafe au lait but determined we would not allow her to dim our good humour, we marched on through the pouring rain, paddling to shelter in the Palais.

.... It was such a good idea, another thousand people thought the same..... so off we set in search of a dry cafe while the masses did their thing...

A beer or two later, we returned to a smaller queue, albeit substantially wetter than when we first arrived!

As you walk around the bare and cold building, it is difficult to imagine how sumptuous it must once have been but perhaps worth a visit if only to say you've been there.

The town is a good place to top up on all the spares you forgot to pack and the pretty cobbled streets are easy to lose yourself in for a few hours!







Lunch? Escargot?

Le petit de jeuner?

Tuesday, 28 May 2013

Warm at last!! In Monterbes & Oppede-le-Vieux.....

..... The cold wind that has plagued us since our visit to Gordes has finally blown itself out.... today is warm and we are much restored from a day of R&R!! Life is perfect all round, so where to? How about Monterbes followed by lunch in Oppede-le-Vieux? Sounds good.....

We soon discovered Monterbes is a hidden gem and surely a well guarded local secret? Don't stop at the first little group of cafe's, keep on up the hill! The panoramic views are well worth a bit of a steep hill or two.... Near the top, we discovered a delightful restaurant, Maison De La Truffe et Du Vin.... So!! Abandoning our original intent, we decided we wouldn't let this opportunity pass us by....

Lunch was excellent, the views superb and our waiter? A totally nice guy....

Once more, relaxed and refreshed, we set off for Oppede-le-Vieux and met the first person in Provence who made us feel unwelcome... The car park attendant!

Despite Monsieur I-Don't-Like-Australian-Tourists, Oppede-le-Vieux was very beautiful, but on the whole, we preferred Monterbes, a village, with views second to none and like Lourmarin, makes people naturally welcome..... Not least because the car parking is easy! Ohhhhhh... And free!

On arrival in Provence, we read a recommendation to "make certain to visit the four villages: Oppede-le-Vieux, Gordes, Roussillon and Menerbes"..... After spending time in The Luberon, we would say: Menerbes, Roussillon and Lourmarin are unmissable, Oppede-le-Vieux is pretty but not the most welcoming and Gordes is only pretty from a distance.

In a different direction, Les Beaux-de-Provence and St Remy are a must....

Don't take our word for it though this is only our personal opinion, check it out for yourself..... And of course, there are lots of places we still haven't explored.... Yet! So keep watching....

PS: Pay-and-Display machines get my vote!









Monday, 27 May 2013

New friends and Le Jardin.....

Evening saw us head back to our new found favourite restaurant, Le Jardin in Mallemort-en-Provence! Once again our hosts made us feel truly welcome, Murielle attempted to teach us French, any failure was entirely on our part, and fed us with yet more delicious food. Delicieux from the Kranka... Crankak...... (nope, just can't spell it) ... Let's settle for our meal was deliceux, from the peche aperitif to the strawberries & ice cream crepes.... And of course, everything in between....

Murielle uses all local produce, bought fresh every day at a local marche and it shows in the exquise flavours.... We chose to dine inside but if it hadn't been for the cold wind for the time of year, dining in the garden would have been exactly as portrayed in the latter part of the movie Chocolat starring Juliette Binoche.....

I feel we found a new friend in our hostess Murielle (that is Muri-"Elle" as in "Elle" Macpherson, most definitely NOT Murial!).  An awesome lady with lots of personality and a fabulous sense of humour!!! We hope to see you again before we leave.... And if not, then hopefully if and when we are fortunate enough to return....

Recommander....

Merci beaucoup Marielle and hubby...

Saturday in The Luberon.....

Another glorious day exploring The Luberon..... Past the chateau at Charleval and on to Cucuron, "the village is lively and busy all year round" but disappointed to say, they must have decided to have a day off....

.... Despite hundreds of cars there was little sign of people. We arrived just before 12 so perhaps everybody was in hiding on the traditional French lunch break of 12 to 3 or perhaps we were looking in the wrong places but we couldn't find any cafe's even for "deux cafe au lait...." so we returned to Lourmarin for a second visit.... This is shaping up as one of our favorite little towns.....

We relaxed in a lovely little cafe, L'Ormeau, ranked only 11 of 18 on Trip Advisor but we couldn't complain, our omelette's were light and tasty and the Leffe Beer and Vin Blanc weren't bad at all....

..... Enough to call the afternoon a very relaxing success ....








Sunday, 26 May 2013

Good and Bad .....

So to Friday, time's just flying.... I know we said we would avoid the coast, especially Nice and Cannes and especially this week filled with the rich and famous but how about a run in the general direction?

On Friday we set off for Cassis. The drive down on the auto-route was good... Tolls cost around 12€.... Then through lots of tiny little French streets and a pit stop for lunch at Le Castellet, then a walk along the sea front at Bandol all good, then on to Cassis. At this point my head exploded.... What was described as a tiny little French fishing village, away from the main tourist drag was bedlam!

K is doing an amazing job of negotiating these tiny streets! Cars parked everywhere, people keeping off pavements, it was the opposite of heaven! We just wanted out so quick.... Gemme out.....

We need a quiet relaxed day tomorrow......

Evening was MUCH better.... Happy!!! We headed to a local eatery, Le Jardin, described on their website, "not as a restaurant but rather a concept.... The idea being to spend quality time with the owners....." TICK!

There was no menu, there was a huge welcome and tres bon! Charmant! The food was traditional Provence fayre at its best, our hostess spoke Anglais like a native, the result of several years in Manchester and more than happy to help improve our woeful French and the end result? Two very happy diners booked again for Saturday!

They are only open Friday and Saturday evenings (or during the day), so best make hay while the sun shines as they say!!!





Friday, 24 May 2013

A Day To Remember! Le Baux-en-Provence and St Remy.....

We set off in search of Les Baux-de-Provence and St-Remy, yet more Beautiful French villages.... This time we managed to stay on track (mostly) and laughed a lot along the way....

Les Baux was interesting, a rocky little hilltop village reportedly the most visited in France and judging by the number of cars and coaches this claim was believable.... Parking was the chaotic experience we are quickly getting used to..... but eventually we found our way into the car park, knowing we would need 5€ in small change to ever get out!! We wandered around this litle hilly, rocky, historicl town with its close association to the Grimaldi family of  Grace Kelly and Monaco fame.

Aside from checking out the locality, we also needed to ok out the best way to get change.  When we asked, suddenly, nobody spoke a recognizable word! Eventually we spent enough odd amounts in shops to gather the required amount and headed back to the car for our next destination, St Remy.

We put the exit ticket in the machine and voila! The machine lifted the barrier free gratis! Dohhhh.... We didn't need to buy those delicious hand made biscuits after all! Pity we shall have to eat them all!

Our lunch stop in St Remy was excellent... Nice restaurant, L' Aile ou la Cuisine, set in the refectory of a fomer convent, staff spoke Anglais and then K had his little accident.... It was an accident but I cried laughing, just couldn't stop. K cut into his tomato and items from his plate went in two directions...... The roast potato was easily retrieved, it didn't travel far, but I wonder if the nice French gentleman has found the mushroom in his coat pocket yet?