La vie provincial

I’m finally getting around to blogging my adventures in France from the first week in April.  I left Galicia and headed to beautiful Provence to visit family friends in the little village of Malaucene.  I have been so lucky this past year that we have had so many friends and relatives in Europe that I have had the opportunity to visit!  When Kevan and Jennifer picked me up at the airport, they warned me that Malaucene doesn’t have any exciting nightlife or amazing shopping, but there were a lot of great walks to take in the mountains and by the nearby cherry fields.  Perfect!  I try to avoid shopping too much in Spain since I want to use my paychecks to travel, and I wanted a break from the Spanish late night schedule.  I don’t know how the Spaniards manage to have dinner at around 10 and then get up early the next morning for work, I find it a little exhausting!  We arrived at their home, a beautiful old farmhouse surrounded by cherry fields, and had lunch in their garden. After lunch, we hiked in the nearby hills.  The views were amazing!  We ended up coming to a little pond, which not only was quite picturesque but also was of religious importance.  From 1309-1376 the Popes resided in Avignon, France instead of in Rome.  The water source of this pond was the source of drinking water for the French Popes.  I tried some of the water, it was deliciously refreshing and just in time for Easter!  After our nice walk we had a delicious dinner complete with wonderful French wine and sat in front of the fire.  It was the perfect end to my first day in Provence.

The view from our walk

Drinking the Pope water

The next morning I woke up to the wonderful smell of coffee.  I went downstairs and was treated to a homemade café au lait (unlike in Switzerland, I got café with my lait this time) and homemade granola with fruit and yogurt.  I should probably mention that they are pretty gourmet cooks and everything I ate that week was delicious!  I also got a few mini cooking lessons, it was perfect for me!  After breakfast I pored over their beautiful cookbooks while they caught up with some emails. Then Jennifer and I went for walk along the country roads along the cherry fields in bloom and I saw some adorable farmhouses, all complete with shutters most of which were painted my absolute favorite shade of blue.  After lunch, we drove up Mount Ventoux.  The road on Mont Ventoux is part of the tour de France most years and as we drove along we saw some serious bike riders zipping along.  When we got to the ski resorts closer to the top we got out of the car and walked along.  The views were amazing, apparently on a really clear day you can see all the way to the French Alps, we had a cloudier day so we couldn’t see that far.  We still had great views and I was even able to see a few mountain goats from quite a distance.  After our hike we drove to the nearby bout du monde, which means the end of the world.  It’s the end of the valley in the area, and it was pretty neat to see.  After all of our hiking we had yet another delicious meal which we enjoyed in front of the fire.

One of the precious homes

View from Mount Ventoux

Market in Vaison La Romaine

On Tuesday, after another satisfying breakfast we drove to nearby Vaison La Romaine.  The city has many old Roman ruins (another Roman ruin site I can check off) as well as a market every Tuesday.  The market was bustling, there were fruits and vegetables, there were kitchen accessories, there was pottery, there were fabrics and flowers and ribbon. Oh my.  I bought a set of patterned napkins for my eventual home, and I’m really excited to use them!  We also stopped at the cheese shop they go to in Vaison La Romaine, which in the past few years was recognized as the best cheese shop in France, and I can attest that it was some of the best cheese I have ever had!  Later in the afternoon Jennifer and I went for walk near the bout du monde at the Roman quarry which was used to build the city in Vaison in the time of the Romans.  It’s amazing to think that they hauled those stones a good 25 miles.  That night for dinner I had my first ever lamb, and I loved it!  I had always said in the past I couldn’t eat any meat that had been a cute animal so lambs, rabbits and duck were out (sorry chicken, pigs and cows).  Well, Wednesday night we had duck for dinner and it was also delicious so I think I’ll have to lose that mantra.   My last day was very relaxing.  I read through some more cookbooks and we went for a walk through the little village of Sante Marguerite.  It was the perfect way to end my relaxing vacation and it gave me enough energy to last through the next miserable 24 hours of travelling.  More on that later…

View from the Quarry

Village of Sante Marguerite