A New Week

Well, the sounds coming from the street were very different this morning...no children's voices on their way to school so right away we suspected a holiday and went to the internet to see if we had missed something...but no..April 15th, today, is not a French holiday so back to the drawing board as to where the children were. While we were scouting out the pool for  Jamie and Audrey's visit I spoke to a lovely woman with children and found out that  everyone is on their Spring break... for two weeks...another clue should have been when Bruce arrived at our favorite boulangierie it was closed for a week  and .not just a day...so they must be going away somewhere.The special places like monuments and chateaus will be busier for the next two weeks for sure.
So here are the hat photos  ta da!!!

 

 

 

We are "rambling" as the English would say today or "randonnee" as the French call it in the Forest of Cedars near Menerbes... by the way the chicken was wonderful last evening for dinner...I can hardly wait for next Sunday to have another...  a bientot                                                                         

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some Ramblings From France

The market this morning was huge...likely because the weather was so glorious..at least 22 degrees by 1000...and the lighting amazing! Bruce and I went over about 1130....to find the roti poulet....normale not fermier....fermier is about double the price so I am assuming that it is free range!
On the way back Bruce realized his little barbershop he has been keeping his eye on for a haircut was open and so we went back so he could get a haircut!
What a spot..most days the seats are all taken as folks wait in line for a haircut...today just a young father and son...and the father was very particular and both were getting this cut we have seen quite a lot over here... Totally shaved up the back with a little round thatch on the top that is spiked with gel....both father and son... The back is shaved with a cream and straight razor and the top done with scissors and gel...quite the process...not Bruce though..he was pretty straight forward...anyway when the Father was done he jumped up and went to a nearby sink and washed his hair. And dried it with a towel... Close by there was a large mirror with a shelf with gels... He then fixed his hair as he wanted it.. Put on his baseball cap backwards... The thatch was protected and off he and his son went..oh yes he did pay.
The two young fellows in the shop about 30 years of age were friendly  the one working on Bruce's cut was trying hard to understand all Bruce's hand motions..a scissor cut..shaped around the ears.. And no thatch.... They then asked where we were from...Canada brought a light to their eyes and as most people say they said. It is very beautiful there... They then told us they were from Morocco...interesting..not France...anyway 10 euros later we left  happy as Bruce's hair looked great... We call these experiences "accueil".  I hope the IPad does not change that on me...in other words. Pleasant..with friendliness..Bon vivant... Some people and places have it while others could not care less about us or tourists or maybe life in general. But these lovely young men in the Phareon barbershop had it!
We are sticking close to "home" today...Bruce is making a lamb daube for tomorrow...we have the chicken for tonight...we are reading and will enjoy dinner on the  little patio off the third landing... I am watching how many tourists take pictures of the water wheel outside our door...certainly lots..
 Did buy a new sun hat and Bruce said it would look good on the north end of Anna Maria..quite fancy.. I have not forgot about the picture of Bruce in his new hat so maybe we will do them both.. And call it the hat blog..Au Revoir!!

Beautiful Fontaine de Vaucluse

On Wednesday we started to  visit some of the beautiful towns around L'Isle and the first was Fontaine de Vaucluse... the headwater for the Sorgue River. It starts out as the most quiet looking little spring/lake but it is reported to spew out the most water of any spring in all of Europe. The guide books tell you how much a year/day/ week/ minute but I cannot keep that info in my head. But what I can say is that it is absolutely beautiful! Well hey here is a picture.                                                              

Note the beautiful green/ turquoise colour. I wish I could show you the mountains surrounding this spring but my photo guy did not take those panoramic scenes...guess I will have to get more envolved in the shoot. Lots of folks like Jacques Cousteau have done dives down to try to determine the depth and the number of underground streams feeding the spring but have only managed to get to about 308 meters... but did note lots of streams. As the  water flows down toward the Village it picks up steam and hey it actually made steam and ran water wheels  used for making paper... and cloth.. and all sorts of things ..but alas that kind of power is obsolete...go figure and now it is just a beautiful place to visit with lots of tour buses all trying to turn the small round about in the  the center ville... wow that is fun to watch.. the germans seem to be the best at manipulating through small spaces.           

And s

o it goes down to the village .

And eventually arrives in our Village! We spent all afternoon in Vaucluse roaming the streets and pe0ple watching and of course going  up the hillside to the Fountaine.There were a number of fishers on the banks further down and we watched them and talked to camper folks in  a small  camping spot for these great camper vans that are so popular over here. The couple we spoke to was from England and they spend six months in France camping all over... the weather is so much better than back home they said..we can relate to that... as you can see it was a glorious day..leaves are coming on and lots of bushes etc in bloom.. forsythia out..violets..tulips.. and folks are starting to put out their balcony plants..we actually have herbs growing on our balcony here.  I wish I was better with this blogging...you can see that  I am now having touble with the font and as well I cannot seem to get back to the beginning of the line once I install a picture...plus this Acer is so small I am having problems seeing what I write...but I need to use it as the Ipad will not allow me to download pictures..oh dear a first world problem. The market on Thursday here in L.Isle was great and  Bruce bought himself a new hat...felt and black and Jim Ferguson would be proud! A step up from a cowboy hat.  I will get a picture in here soon. We got all our vegetables at the market and olives...oh my...so many to choose from.. Nyons is what I am buying... both green and black..sometimes with garlic and others with peppers and tomato.The strawberries are all out and we are having those every morning but you have to eat them up fast as they  turn very quickly. But people walk along the street eating them.. the gal in the gas booth the other day when we filled up was munching on  a box. We now have a favorite charcuterie and went there after the market to buy veal... I never buy veal at home.. it is so rare...these were veal cutlets and we had them last evening with onions and mushrooms...and new string beans..In the afternoon after the market and lunch we drove to our next village ...Vaison la Romaine to see the ancient Roman ruins... the largest collection in France...it was so amazing that we could not get all of it done in the PM and so went back again today Friday... here is a sample...in pictures.. i am stopping now as i must get ready for bed.. tomorrow for the wine lovers we are going to another Fetes up in Cairanne one of the Cote de Rhone Villages where lots of villages are supposed to be dislaying and having their wine to taste  Siguret, Roaix, Gigondas,Vacqueres.. I must learn them all....this time we are better prepared and have some producers we want to try..IF they are there but here are some pictures of the Roman ruins the amphi theater was amazing..I seem to be using that term alot ..4 BC to 6AD

Les Printemps du Chateauneuf du Pape

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The Entrance to the tasting and inside the Salon des Vins

Today is sunny and bright as the next two weeks are predicted to be... and why it is nice to be away from Nova Scotia this time of year...Bruce is out walking and I am in organization mode so doing a wash and just getting some of these bits and pieces finished.I am using the Acer as I wanted to download some pictures so bear with me as this machine often has a mind of its own!
 We have often been to Chateauneuf du Pape...where the vineyards creep right up to the backyards of the town and the beautiful chateaus and castles actually ring the backside. It is a wealthy area and the ruins of the old pope's summer palace dominate the horizon.When the popes used Avignon as their base, sometime in the 1300's, they came to Chateauneuf du Pape in the summer...  the palace was destroyed in the second world war except for an outer shell.
So this affair was an opportunity for producers to present their new wines and have the public also taste some older wines...but mostly it was the 2011 vintage which had actually only been in the bottle a  few weeks.
Try to imagine the excitement of walking into a room for the price of 7 euros which includes a tasting glass and being presented with 85 producers...exciting it was!....and not so crowded that you could not collect about each small cubicle and  receive your pour.That surprised me as I was thinking it might be an extremely popular event...but guess what?.. there is another one this coming weekend in Cairanne and guess who will be there?
Our wine bar guy Madian had told us about the Domaine de Marcoux the day before and that we should try their wine... two women --- sisters...one looks after the vineyard and the other the winemaking.Although they say the wine is made in the vineyard I had the distinct  feeling that  the winemaker was the star of this event... and their wines were amazing...big , bold , fruity, spicy, meaty ...with such a full mouth long finish...we bought a bottle to try at home in the quiet and then if we still like it will go back to the winery to send some home..Given the reports in the paper yesterday these guys may be out of business by 2050.
 And there were three winemakers from Paso Robles also tasting  this particular wine and complimenting the winemaker profusely. What surprised me is how much I liked the reds... even with ABV's of 15.5%...I found the whites too perfumy and floral... almost sickening...and besides I had to keep washing my glass out from the reds so it was easier to  to stick with them.
The big guys were not at this event... no Beaucastel and no Vieux Telegraphe... but there was Chateau Mont-Redon and le Vieux Donjon....we bought some of these and also some older vintages they had for consumption here... we do need to watch this buying thing as that is why we have a cellar in Beaune... anyway Jamie is coming and he will help us out I am sure.
We should have done more research re CNP wines but hey we did not know this was going on and had a day to get ready....we will be better for this coming weekend where there will be some CNP but also  wines from the area around Cairanne...Rasteau, Gigondas, Lirac, Tavel and more.
But before I move on let me tell you about the lunch served that day...as only the French can do....what fun! There were oysters ..6 for 5 Euros...then there was a Slow Food section which had booths of olives  oh so many kinds and tapenades and roasted tomatoes and peppers, then a bread booth, then a charcuterie section with all the pork procciuto-like products and fois gros every which way... and all the various strawberries which are coming on strong now... so what you could do was make a picnic of all or some of these products  and that was what people were doing..and bringing up bottles of wine form the Salon... and a fellow was going around opening up the bottles...we will know better for the next les Printemps...but then there was a hot section with a great set up of a fellow making  "frites" and another fellow doing veal...for 10 E.... and oh yes did I mention a cheese booth and a chocolatier for dessert.... what fun to watch everyone dig in to the food and laugh and drink and have a great time... and children everywhere...the NSLC would have been going crazy because people were actually allowed to buy the wine from the producers in the salon and bring it outside to these beautiful tents and windbreaks. and so went  the day at Chateauneuf du Pape.
And quickly on Monday we walked all day in Bonniex and Menerbes and Lacoste  beautiful hillside towns very close to each other in the Luberon...Peter Mayle country.... and Tuesday we went to Avignon to return the car and get another one... it was cheaper to have a whole new contract then extend the one we had... but we decided we really did need a car here...to get everywhere we wanted to go....when we wanted to go... Avignon for us was a bust though... 200,000 people..too big  plus everywhere I had planned to visit was closed...so after a wonderful little lunch we came home to L'Isle and vowed to leave Avignon for our departure day and that would be it. Today after lunch we are off to Fontaine de Vaucluse..where their is the largest spring in Europe...how far does that extend? and the source of the Sorgue River which makes up the canals around and through L"isle...we are working on trying all the boulangeries  in the town and determining which one we like the best.LG  and XX

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The Vineyards of Chateauneuf de Pape..no green yet but the sprouts are present and once it starts it comes on very quickly!

The Rhone River

After leaving Burgundy we again took the A series highway south toward Lyon with the intention of getting off before Lyon and trying out some less busy back roads... We were headed to a town in the Northern Rhone wine area called Tournon.Somehow between Monsieur Michelin and Sally our GPS...we ended back on the main road and went right through Lyon...wow..tunnels and all and the Rhone flowed sometimes on our left and other times on our right. What a huge city Lyon is..thank heavens this was about 3PM... And not a big traffic hour.We emerged out the other side safely and continued on a slower D road south.The vines quickly came into sight..clinging to terraces on the side of very very steep hills...lots of rock.. And rock walls holding little ledges of soil in place. No tractors like the Star War contraptions you see in Burgundy on these hills...cultivation and picking must all be done by hand.I think what I noticed the most was the lack of beauty compared say to Burgundy, Champagne and Bordeaux.The towns were between the river and the steep hillside.. Actually quite a narrow space.The vineyards looked spectacular but there were no vistas like in the other wine areas or those rolling hills that gave a bowl shape to the vineyards. For lunch we had had a Demi bottle of a 2009 Jaboulet from St Joseph...I really enjoyed this red...it had a great nose and certainly one could smell and taste the meatiness which you are supposed to get in Northern Rhone wines...plus the peppery finish.Lots of black fruit. Our little hotel in Tournon was clean but small... And given that the town was quite bleak we stayed in and read..and with dinner had a very nice Demi bottle of 2010 Crozes Hermitage"Les Jalets" by Jaboulet again...this is a well respected producer of Northern Rhones and even in our little hotel he was proudly displayed. Considering how much I like white wine..crisps with little oak I am surprised at how much I am enjoying these Northern Rhone reds...the Syrah grape seems to be crisper? More acidic then in warmer climates like the US and Australia...maybe even further south in the Southern Rhone.Maybe also since they do not add Grenache they seem more acidic..less"bon bon" as they say here. Anyway Friday Morning we were headed to our New home for the next many weeks and were keen to get there as I spoke in the earlier blog. The house is really great! Spacious, well equipped and just a block or two from the main Place in L'Isle Sur La Sorgue...it is on many levels...the stairs are those circular type and somewhat narrow...the main floor is a sitting area and a bedroom... Then up the stairs half a turn to a bathroom.. Up a larger turn and you are at the kitchen and living room... Big window off the living room looks out on to the narrow street and one of the many canals that criss cross the town... To join up with the main Sorgue River which almost rings the town. Right in front of our house is a huge paddle wheel...always moving.. There are about 12 of them in all.. Continuing up the stairs you come to our bedroom and bath...but there is a few more stairs and voila a roof top patio...still a little chilly for that yet! So Saturday AM we were surprised to look out and see the street filled with fishermen..looking like they walked out of an Orvis catalogue...the French really do like to wear the "gear"...some were fishing flies but most were fishing minnows... But they were everywhere...fishing the little canals...which are very clean looking and also the bigger river around the town... But we never saw anyone with a fish...! We explored the town more on Saturday morning getting our bread and checking out the little charcuteries and epicieries...when lo and behold we came across a small wine bar Le 17 Place aux Vins and decided to .check out the Cave and before we knew it we were tasting wines and enjoying the repartee..if that is the word of the owner..young fellow named Madian.. We will go back there....and I will tell you more about this great little spot.. But this is enough...the next blog will be about a wine Fetes in Chateauneuf du Pape we went to today...yikes an abundance of riches!

Although we have been in France since Tuesday, we finally arrived at our vacation home in L'Isle Sur La Sorgue today.... three days on the road... not hard driving but eating restaurant meals and suitcase living was enough to remind me of why we like to rent a place and stay for weeks at a time.
Weather has been excellent...and has steadily warmed up from Paris to Provence...Paris was 0 when we landed... and Provence today was 16...every day has been sunny although we noticed a lot of smog in Champagne and Burgundy which disappeared when we  entered Provence territory..must be those Mistral winds.

So what have we been up to? We stopped in Champagne` at a shop in Hauteviller to buy some bubbly from a young fellow Mathieu Valarde whom we met a number of years ago and  who has a store called Au 36....He represents lots of the young producers in the area and sells to the public at the same price you would pay at the vineyard....saves you all te driving to each place.Plus when you taste the Champagne it is easy for me to say I do not like it to Mathieu whereas tasting with the winemaker it would be more difficult to say "not that one"
We have bought  Champagne now from Mathieu for three years and he knows our tastes... I love the blanc de blancs...that is Champagne made solely from the chardonnay grape. It is the acid that I love...must be from drinking all that Nova Scotia wine!
Anyway, we had a lovely afternnoon with Mathieu tasting Champagne and hearing about his new baby. Some producers we bought were....Palmer,Chiquet, Agrapar, Jacquesson, plus some wines from a group of young Champagne makers who have formed La Club....they like the way each other makes their product and therefore you are invited in to the Club....wines will be shipped home to NS and maybe will be there for the summer.
At the end of the tasting we were exhausted..having been up all night on the plane and after checking in to our very nice B&B we went insearch of dinner...we had forgotten though that good restaurants do not open until at least 7 and it was only 6 so we ended up in a not so great Brassiere and had apoor meal...home to bed we went and slpet like logs. The rule of thumb is not to go to bed when you arrive in Europe but try to get onto the time of that country as quickly as possible.
Wdnesday we headed for Burgundy via the Autoroute..now I have never been a fan of the a series highways in France but my old age must be mellowing me as it was actuallya breeze. I like how the trucks stay in the inside lane and only travel 90 km/hour. They will move in to the middle lane if they are passing a slower truck but only then.The outside lane... the third lane is for the fast guys..yikes.. the speed linit is 130km/hour but i am sure some are going faster than that!!The driver must always move in to the right hand lane if not passing...yo cannot hog the middle lane...all the movement actually keeps you alert!
In beaune we were looking for some  special candle holders called Rats de Cave and visiting some old haunts and a special restaurant called Le Ciboulette...we had a superb lunch here and a special bottle of St Aubin pinot 2009 from Domaine Roux Pere et Fils...
One of our missions in Burgundy was to visit St Aubin and taste some wines at their Cave.. sort of like a coopertive selling house for a number of winemakers. I had had wines from the winemaker Hubert Lamey and was ken to bring some home. St Aubin is a lesser known appelation and so better priced than thos in the Cote D'Or....but still great tasting. Lamy is well known for his chardonnays..my favorite. We tasted a number of his wines and settled on his plain Burgogne.
While there we tasted a number of other wines an and we  found this great pinot from Pernand-Vergelesses  and the Domaine P.Dubreuil-Fontaine Pere et Fils 2009 Premiere Cru... with a stiker that said it had won an award as the best wine by a female winemaker amongst the Burgundy female Winemakers group..yippee... you know how much I love to support female winemakers.
I am going to stop now... I have reread this and notied a number of spelling errors but I am using my small Acer compter and it is not allowing me to go back easily and correct them.. so please bear with me...it was also difficult getting on to the google site... all in French..funny how it knows where I am.
So many things to talk about... like how none of this travel ina foreign country scares me at all... even when we have no clue what people are saying to us...and we are in a line up getting off the freeway and have npo ticket...now how did we get on and not pick up a ticket... and then the machine will not take our money..eros.. and the voicebox..no one in the booth..is yelling at us...piece of cake... anyway a story for another day   i am off to my book.. The End of Your life Book Club....XX All

Bon Voyage Canada

 In two days we embark from Montreal to France....for a wonderful trip of almost 7 weeks...most of which will be spent in L'Isle Sur la Sorgue a small town a few kilometers outside Avignon. Using these final hours to pack...mostly attempting to determine which clothes are the best to take... in 7 weeks the temperature will change quite a bit...already it is about 17/65....in the daytime... but that can be sweater weather. Ahh, we really do not have many problems if that is all that is on our minds before we take off.
 I was just using Google Earth to check out the street where our apartment is located .. are there many Vespa's roaring up and down the Rue Jean Theophile? Well, actually, it is a one way street as  so many of these smaller French towns love to incorporate as a way to deal with the traffic...mostly tourists who are  determined to park opposite the Tourist Bureau in the heart of the town rather than walk a few blocks.
Anyway, this is just a small blog to get you the reader  ready to share in our adventures as we  take off ... Bon Voyage   !!