Day 5, July 10
Got my first bike ride in before breakfast. Rode for about an hour, my first time since our ride to school day in May, so I took it easy. Surprisingly there was a lot of traffic on the roads, mostly Frenchmen in their small panel trucks speedily going to work. I did a big circle which went through the village of Villars where we ate dinner our first night. It's thrilling to be riding along and seeing vineyards and fields of lavender everywhere. My rental bike is just like my one at home, so I had no adjustments to make other than saddle height.
For a great video explanation about the Tour de France, check out the following website:
http://www.wimp.com/tourfrance/
Thanks to Noah for discovering this one...it's excellent.
After my ride I showered and got to the breakfast table around 9:15 AM. Today's menu included: fresh fruit cup, grapefruit juice, chocolate croissants, ratatouille omelets, & coffee. It was excellent.
Compared to new Aussie BFF's...I'm a real slug. Matt was up at 4 and rode to the top of Mont Ventoux and back today. The summit is about a 56 km ride from here, but it's a heck of a climb, about the same height as Mt. Washington, 1912 meters. (The altitude in St. Saturnin is 1093 meters.) The last 20 km up Mont Ventoux averages a 7.5% pitch. Matt called his wife, Emily, when he reached the summit just as we were having breakfast...."Please pass me another croissant!"
After breakfast we drove to Sault, the lavender capital of France, which is only 34 km from here. It's a narrow, windy road through the Luberon National Park dotted with tons of lavender fields. We stopped frequently for pictures. Our host Kevin told us, that just like New England, Provence has had a lot of rain this spring and all the growth is behind schedule, so much like the lupin at home, the lavender reaches peak at different times for different altitudes. Here in St. Saturnin les Apt, the lavender is close to peaking, but at the higher altitudes there's still a lot of green. Fortunately we'll be here long enough so we should see continual change every day.
It was market day in Sault, and Joni was very excited and focused when we arrived. I couldn't keep up with her as we walked from where we parked the car to the market stalls. I'm not a huge market fan, so I bought the French sports daily "l'Equipe", and had another croissant and coffee at at outdoor cafe. Joni shopped.
We agreed to meet up at for lunch at a restaurant called, L'Opichoun. The front side of restaurant which overlooked the main square and many of the market stalls in Sault was packed, but we were escorted into the basement and to an outdoor terrace which overlooked nothing but spectacular farm land. It was an amazing contrast to the hustle and bustle of market day. Joni had a multi cheese salad with assorted crudités and I had the cycliste menu (tagliatelle with mushrooms). Of course we had a 1/2 carafe of rose to compliment the meal. My menu include le dessert du jour, which was a custard with fresh cherries mixed in.
Speaking of cherries, our B&B is surrounded by cherry trees and they're ripe, so we are eating them right off the branch.
After lunch we headed southeast 24 km to the tiny village of Simiane-la-Rotonde, another picturesque hilltop village that is now primarily inhabited by very wealthy second home owners. Simiane is so small that it never makes any of the guide books, but we've visited Simiane every year. Beyond merely enjoying Simiane's beautiful stone streets and buildings, we have fallen in love with the hand made pottery from the only commercial business in this town. The potter is a single woman, who makes every piece herself. We have purchased a few pieces each year, and we now have six of everything. That should do it..we no longer need to come to France....JUST KIDDING...With our luck they'll soon be selling knock-offs of this pottery at the Christmas Tree shops...but for now it's unique!
We completed our circular tour of this part of the Luberon with a 25 km drive back to St. Saturnin. The last leg took us through the Colorado de Rustrel...an area that really looks like it's U.S. name sake.
For the 4th day in a row a thunder storm was rolling in from the east, but we got back to the B&B soon enough this time get in a swim before the lightening started. The pool water was delightful, much warmer than the Mediterranean. Our B&B is in the middle of a big valley, so you can see for miles in all directions. It was fun sitting in the pool, the air temp was 34 C, watching the storm approach. After my swim I've been sitting out on stone patio in front of our room, watching the storm and working on this blog. The rain finally started, nearly three hours after my short swim.
For dinner we drove 17 km north into the Plateau de Vaucluse, which is the range that runs east and west across Provence and parallel to the Luberon. The restaurant was at the top of the plateau, 1300 meters, in a windswept area that's in the middle of nowhere. On the way home we saw no cars, a black wild boar and two jumbo rabbits. The very modern, stylish bistrot is located on property that used to be a French/NATO missile base so there are silos all along the steep windy road that approached this spot. This was hardly the location that we would expect to have our best meal in France, but it was...and every table was full.
The amuse-bouche contained 8 different items. There were only three choices for your main dish: chicken, monkfish, or lamb...but to say it that way doesn't do justice to their preparations. All diners received the same four appetizers and the same three desserts. Each was incredible. Study the pictures and see if you can figure out all the items in each dish. The meal was truly beyond words.
You had me until the brains :) We were talking about you and your trip tonight as we were munching peanuts at the island.
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