Day 4, July 9

I can't believe we have 10+ days left of vacation.  We've done so much and had such a great time.

Our first breakfast at Le Mas Perreal (LMP) even exceeded our expectations from last year.  Our first course was pureed Cavaillon melon served in a melon shell, followed by freshly squeezed OJ, coffee,  fresh croissants (the best we've had so far), then a very, very light waffle covered in peaches and whipped cream.  We ate outdoors and sat with an Australian couple, Matt & Emily, who were also here last year.  We really took our time enjoying breakfast and didn't leave the table until around 10 AM.

After breakfast, we drove to pick up my rental bike from Hubert Flechais' Luberon Biking in Velleron, which is about 40 km to the west.  Hubert is the coach of the French Olympic mountain bike team.  Unfortunately between my French and Hubert's English, we miscommunicated and Hubert brought my bike to our LMP.  So he wasn't at his shop when we I then had to call Kevin at LMP to confirm if Hubert put pedals on the bike.  Long story short, he didn't and I think I used up all the data on my French telephone plan straightening out that problem.

From Velleron we drove to Menerbes, about 28 km.  We had a lunch reservation in this town which is where Peter Mayle lived in 1989 when he wrote A Year in Provence.  It's another photo perfect hilltop village on the edge of Luberon range.  Joni's streak of selecting wonderful restaurant remained in tact:  she had beef tartare with salad and frites, and I had red tuna with a French version of a skinned Yukon gold potato.  We shared a small carafe of rose, and then indulged in desert; Joni's was a rice pudding the way the chef's grandmother made it with hazelnuts and raisins, l mine was a breading pudding with creme Anglaise and a rasberry sauce.

We burned some of those calories off by hiking up to Oppede-le-Vieux another hilltop village on the edge of the Luberon, only 5 km west of Menerbes.  By this time of the day, the temperature had climbed to 34 C, which is well over 93 F. Needless to say we were soaked and and exhausted, so we skipped the final ascension to the old church and a ruins of a chateau that overlook the village.  

The scenery was spectacular from both of these villages and I took lots and lots of photos.

We left OLV around 4 pm and drove back to Velleron to pick up my pedals from Hubert.  This time we connected.  We returned to St. Saturnin-les-Apt along the more picturesque route that took us through Gordes.  

For the third day in a row a thunder, lightening, and rain storm swept through the Luberon valley and our drive was highlighted by repeated lightening bolts.  The storm also brought and incredible drop in temperature too, now down to 16C/60F.  Too cold to swim!

For dinner tonight, we went simple.  We stayed in town and went to our host's favorite local   bar/restaurant, L'Estrade.  For us, we ate light, only salad, dessert, & coffee.  For salads, Joni's salad featured ham & paremesan cheese, whereas mine had crevettes (Maine size shrimp) and grapefruit.  Both salads included assorted chopped up or julienned veggies.  For dessert, Joni had clafoutis aux cerises and I had charlotte au chocolate.  The desserts were the best we've had on our trip so far!  

All and all, a great day en Provence.