Vaison la Romain and Mount Ventoux

At breakfast this morning, Isabelle called over to Beaucastel and made an appointment for us for Friday morning. She also told us about her salsa classes she teaches and the discothèque that Philippe runs. She also told us about the wonderful market in Vaison la Romain today- so of course that was our very first stop of the day. On the drive to Vaison, we saw military planes doing maneuvers in the air above the fields. Poor David had to keep his eyes on the road but I stuck my head out the window to see the loops, formations and dives. Very Top Gun!

We arrived at the market in no time and it was the biggest market we had ever seen! It ran from the tree-lined center of town all the way to the medieval city on the hilltop! We weren’t able to see all of the market- there was just too much of it to cover. There were fresh eggs, chickens, pheasants, pigs, cheeses, jams, breads, soaps, clothes, meats, toys, fruits and vegetables, seafood, nuts, textiles- it went on and on! We purchased a tablecloth and some matching napkins for our home as well as a few items for dinner tonight (fresh pasta, tapenade, cheese, olive oil, garlic and strawberries) as well as a few small gifts for the family.




We stowed our things safely in the car and drove through the steep and winding but utterly breathtaking Mount Ventoux pass and past so many lavender fields.

We stopped to take pictures at the enormous Gorge de la Nesque.

Then we continued on to the village of Auzon where we had a quick lunch and tasted the wines at Domaine de Cascavel. We chatted with Leonora about our different tastes and purchased a bottle of Chardonnay to have that evening.
We continued on to the town of Mazan where we tasted some really delicious wines at Domaine de Grand Jacquet. The kind folks there (and their truffle hunting dog) were still pretty dirty from finishing up their grape harvest earlier that week, but were so nice to us and gave us all the time we needed. We got a bottle from them as well – something red- and then got back into the car for our last stop of the day.
We arrived in Carpentras just after their old Synagogue had closed. It had been established in 1367 and then rebuilt in the 1740’s. We took some pictures and walked around the town a bit before heading back to Orange.David and I put away the day’s purchases before he started preparing dinner and I sat down to write up our day. I didn’t get far though because I found a photo album documenting the renovation and construction of our B&B. It’s hard to believe this place ever looked like those pictures. It’s even harder to believe that something as intense as that construction project only took 3 years!
We had a really lovely dinner and had some of the strawberries for dessert. We lounged around and drank a bit more wine before trying out the hammam. David thought it was “really very steamy” but I thought it was the perfect thing for my still lingering cold.