We wandered down from the campsite into Malaucène that morning around 9am since the weekly Wednesday market. This was actually the first full-fledged market we'd managed to hit since arriving in Europe so we decided to enjoy it. We started on one end of the main street, worked our way up it, and then down the other side. We had so much fun just poking in and out of stalls, sampling cheeses and looking at the various food, clothing and artisan stands. There was beautiful pottery being sold that I would have loved to pick up but resisted due to its fragility. We picked up fresh figs that looked really juicy and they proved to be delicious. When we got to one end of the street, there were a couple of bike shops and Rod had been looking for a new riding shorts so he went in to peruse. I went to a different bike store and happened upon a Mt. Ventoux shirt that was very clever and so I just had to get it (I hadn’t bought the pottery so I figured I could afford the shirt). I wore the shirt out of the store only to find that I had lost sight of the others. So I wandered down a bit through the market and eventually ran into them – it was quite busy and the market was at least a hundred meters long with three sets of stalls and lots of people milling about.

Rod and Megs were at a stand selling ham and salami and we ended up with some really expensive, but delicious meats for lunches and salads for the next few days. Rod also suggested we pick up a sharpening stone for our knives so we got one of those, too. On the way out of the market, we happened on a stand selling savoury pastries. Rod had a chicken curry pastry, while Megs and I settled on a pastry with pesto, sundried tomatoes and fresh basil on top. As soon as we bit into the first bite, we were hooked. The pastry just melted away and the pesto and tomato combination was spiced just perfectly. And the smell of the fresh basil as you bit into that topped it all off. Not to mention that it looked so colorful it was appealing to look at! We could have eaten a couple of the pastries without any problem but decided to show some restraint. Looking at the pictures now and writing about it, I’m getting hungry and would go back to that market if we knew that vendor would be there!

We got back to camp around 10:30, packed up and headed off towards Pont en Royans, which was on our way to our eventual destination of Beaune. We were planning on dropping off Rod and Tan near Beaune at which point they would go onto Venice and eventually back to Davos before heading off back to Canada. Once we had dropped them off, we were planning on heading into the Berner Oberland to go hiking and explore the region. The drive to Pont en Royans took us through the Vercors National Park which turned out to be one of the most scenic drives we’ve had to date! As we approached the Vercors region, we could see the mountain range towering in front of us. We began our ascent up the mountain road and were soon granted with some sweeping views of the plains below. We stopped for a few photo ops along the way and one place of particular note where we pulled over was right after we had come through a tunnel. We were at Col de la Bataille (not sure what battle it was referring to). The wind was howling and as I jumped out of the van to get pictures, I had to lean into the wind to walk up to the viewpoint. There was a small hill which seemed to have a path leading to the top so I decided to go up it. It was a steep and slippery climb up and I was using my hands to clamber up the hillside in a few places. The view from the top was pretty amazing but it was way too windy and cold to linger up there. I got a few photos and a short video and then made my way back down.

If we thought that had been a great viewpoint, we were in for a real treat about twenty minutes after that stop. The narrow, windy road was literally carved into the side of the cliff face and it was a sheer drop to the valley floor below. As we drove, we went through tunnels that bored right through the rock face and around blind corners that hung out over the edge, where the road was just wide enough for a single car. There were only a few pullouts so Rod, Tan and I got out of the car and just walked from one pullout till the next. Megs even stopped the car at a pullout and walked partway, too. It had been cloudy most of the day and the sun was breaking through, lighting up the mountains opposite us in a warm, golden light which made everything seem even that more impressive. I could have been there all afternoon taking photos but we had to get going. We piled back into the van and began the descent to the valley floor. Tan and I both thought this would have been a great climb to do on the bike but we didn’t have time for it. When we were off the mountain, we hit walnut tree groves which we later learned were a specialty of the region. We had a bit of trouble locating our campsite as it wasn’t clearly marked and we actually ended driving a few kilometers out of Pont-en-Royans before deciding we were headed in the wrong direction. We turned back around and this time drove through Pont-en-Royans and found the campsite on the outer edge of town. We were one of only three campers there so we had our choice of emplacement. It was a beautiful campsite located right on the river’s edge, well shaded by trees and there was a walking path along the river into town. On the way through town, we had spotted a bakery and we didn’t have any bread for the evening or next morning so I hopped on my bike and a few minutes later was deciding what treats to get. No, I hadn’t forgotten I had come for bread but Tanya was determined to have as many patisseries as possible during their limited time here so I was on the hunt for some treats for dessert. The bakery was about to close so my choices were limited and I got the citron tart and the chocolate and walnut tart. I cycled back to camp with the pastries secure in box, slung off my handlebars. On the way back, I spotted a board outside a hotel with the evenings’ menu on it. I thought I better stop off in order to have done my due diligence. And good thing I stopped, because lo and behold, I had struck gold! Rod had been wanting to have escargot and grenouilles in France. Maybe it was fate, maybe just sheer luck, but both of them were on a single menu! These items are not very easily found and two find both on the same menu was definitely lucky. I pedalled back to camp quickly and relayed the good news. Rod didn’t blink an eye before deciding he wanted to check out the restaurant. I had already bought treats and they probably wouldn’t be very good tomorrow so we decided we should have it as an appetizer. They went down pretty easily and although I’m a chocolate fan, I have to say that the citron tart was tastier. We then walked into town along the river and checked out the menu. It looked good and although Megs and Tan weren’t interested in such exotic food, they were still able to find a menu that appealed to them. I went in and asked in my broken French if they had space for four people for tonight and they said to come back around 7pm. It was perfect for us as we had a chance to wander quickly through the rest of town and return for dinner.

Rod and I both went for the menu "Beau Rivage" which consisted of twelve escargots in butter and garlic as an appetizer. This was followed by a plate of cuisses de grenouilles (frogs legs) fried in herbs, garlic and butter. Next was the cheese course and a dessert of our choice….all for the very reasonable price of 29 euros! The restaurant, which was in a 3 start hotel, overlooked the river and had a very quaint and pleasant ambience inside. When our plate of escargot arrived, I wasn’t quite sure how to use the utensils provided but soon got the hang of it. Rod offered to show me how but I wasn’t new to the family! It took me a while to get through the first course and I was surprised how filling it was – I guess it’s all that rich butter. The grenouilles to follow was a definite highlight. I squeezed some fresh lemon over it and mopped up all the juices with the dinner rolls. Needless to say, there was only a pile of bones left over. Rod was enjoying every bit of the meal and decided he should rub it in to Braeden back home. So he took a picture and sent an SMS to Braed with a picture of our meal. We later got this reply back from Braed, “Looks like you ate a swamp!”. Clearly it had had the desired effect…

We had a variety of cheeses to choose from but based on my past experience in Briançon, I decided to play it safe and went for a mild, fresh cheese. It turned out it was very mild indeed, verging on being a really thick yoghurt and it was very tasty. For dessert, I chose the coconut cake served with a runny vanilla custard which rounded off the meal. For their main course, Megs had had a really tasty ravioli in a runny cream sauce (the ravioli is produced locally in a factory just outside of town) and Tanya had some kind of fish. As we were having dessert, Tanya spotted a cat in the restaurant and was quite surprised that they would allow animals in a restaurant. I remember having been surprised by this, too, the first time I had been in France. Once dessert was done, it was nearing ten o’clock and they were getting ready to close the restaurant down. We had been in there savouring our meals for nearly two hours. We were all stuffed and were very glad that the campsite was only a few minutes away as we waddled back to camp. It had been an epic day of fine French food, great views and excellent company - one that was going to be hard to top.