Harvesting the Grapes

Monday, September 12, 2016
Aussois, Provence, France
Wonderful breakfast at Un Patio de Luberon, Stefan teased Charles that it was his last breakfast and Charles said I hope not. Met Kate, a wonderful gal from the states who works there, she met her French husband in San Fran at a bar called Emilie, and now lives in France with him and a daughter called Emilie.
Stopped at the small town of Bonnieux, La Coste and then headed to Menerbes where the Author Peter Mayles wrote the famous, A Year In Provence . Enroute we notice harvesters in the vineyards, the vineyards overrun the countryside here. We stop, the owner of the vineyard engages us in conversation for quite a while, Offering a tasting of the table grapes ,as It is the first pass of picking. His assistant is Maria and we start singing her west side story song...A lucky find, he then directs us to Oppede Le Vieux, an historical hill town. A steep climb up and up, the town is unique , it is made up of ruins and still populated. We Explore a bit and then head to Isle sir la Sorgue, "the Venice of Provence" . Huge wheels still frame its waterways. Lunch aside the river ,watched as a teenager was taken out of it for hypothermia, he'd been diving for coins and stayed too long in the cold, cold water. We drove down to one of its streams , tested the temp with our toes, and it was unbearably cold even on this very hot day.
Arrived at our next B and B, L'ilot de Bambou, decorated like Bali, unusual rooms, no a/c, but a pool, Charles and Annie jumped right in......
Tonight dined in a fabulous restaurant in the old centre, I had shrimp with an avocado purée, followed by scallops in a delicious sauce with mashed turnips, & decadent chocolate mousse . Walking back over the bridge we saw a Viking ship docked on the Rhone, on its top were people dancing to YMCA, we joined in on the bridge and began singing and yelling and dancing with the group while the music played on and on ...What fun, great finale to a full packed day
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Comments

Rosemarie
2016-09-12

Beautiful!

megan
2016-09-12

Truly beautiful! Did you have wine from the vineyard?

Linda Bastian
2016-09-13

Hello Mary Ann and Charles. My two favorite places in the world- France and Italy. I am loving your posts. I feel like I am on vacation with you-do you just not love these places?? What good be better?? Besides your dogs and grandchildren of course....

cindy
2016-09-13

so beautiful!!!!and the weather looks fabulous! Loving your Posts!

sclegend81
2016-09-22

Its amazing to see the process of making wine and how entailed it is. France usually wins every year for the best wine. I remember eating grapes off the vines in Napa Valley and I couldn't believe how good they tasted.

2025-02-09

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