August 27, 2011 Through September 7, 2011


      Dave and Connor drove us to Saint Pancreas Station in London early this morning. With the exception of one detour in London the ride was easy and on time. Riding the Euro Rail was a new experience for us so it took some time for adjustments. Starting with knowing that you quai up only after your train posting lists it as open. Eager tourist that we are, we went straight to the gate and were denied entrance. Fortunately, the staff were able to assist us so we had a light bite to eat and got back in the queue so we could enter screening with all of our luggage, and on to the passport check, on to the lounge to wait for the gate to open. We were notified that we would leave from gate nine and we carted our luggage to our car, stowed the luggage and found our seats for Lille, France. The transfer at Lille was a challenge, as we had to go upstairs in the terminal to find our posting for the next train and then find the correct elevator for the platform, all of which we had twenty minutes. After taking the wrong elevator, down and back up, having a staff person blow us off, did find another who was reasuring and helped us to the right elevator and platform along with assuring us that we would make our train on time. We did make our train but the luggage became a problem to find room in the stowage area provided. We departed and I was a little frazzled by the transition. The trip was scheduled for five hours with stops at DeGaul Airport, Lyon, Avignon, and Aix en Provence. The country side through the trip was beautiful and varied the more south we traveled. We enjoyed the mountains in the south and found that as we approached Provence that the terrain was much more rocky. Avignon was a beautiful stop and we hope to visit there in the near future. Alison met us at the Aix station and greeted us with a gracious hospitality. Jean greeted us when we reached La Bastide des Jourdans and helped us with our luggage. We took a short tour of the house, garden and sat to have some water and talked about the house, car and neighbors, Alison and Jean packed their truck and said their good byes as they were off to stay with their son in Marsilles before flying to California.
  Sheila and I ate some quiche that Alison had prepared and walked through the village. There is a small Fete going on this weekend, so there were young childrens rides in the square and a band stand, along with some carinval food and game vendors across the road. Sheila and I have consistently visited places on our trips and at least four times there have been local fairs occuring in the villiage.

8/28/2011

We were able to sleep in and take an easy morning exploring the house and getting a light breakfast. I decided to walk around the village to become somewhat oriented. The narrow street beside our house wraps down past the town square and through more homes abutting the street and there are narrow corners and roads that come out on the north end of the village. It helped me to figure out the driving directions from our garage on our road. I stopped at the Vival to shop for some supplies and when I checked out I asked if anyone spoke English. A woman said she did a very little and asked if I was Sip? I said, no I am Skip and she introduced herself as Iwona who is also our cleaning aid during the week. I asked her for some eggs and she handed them to me and I said Merci and was on my way home.  
 
    We left in the afternoon to go shopping. However, with the travel we forgot that this was Sunday, meaning most of the stores were closed. We drove around Petrius and decided to head north and took a turn to St.-Martin-de-le-Brasque, through La Motte-d'Aigues, Sannes and on to Cucuron. There were a lot of people on this Sunday afternoon in the town center and parking was very difficult. We did not locate the restrauant "La Petite Maison" that we will attend for our cooking class. However, we now know it's general location, and it is at the foot of the Grand Luberon Mountain. We drove back the way we came and went north of our town to find the location of the Golf de Luberon to set up a tie time. It is an interesting terrain and will be an interesting challenge on Wednesday.   We returned home to La Bastide and went to see the petanque tournament that our neighbor Jean Henri told us about earlier. The play was quite intense, but it did appear to us that it was a divided competition between the men and women. We checked out the street vendors with casino games and a food stand. The fresh made churos were delicious, and later we dined at home with a pizza from our local pizza shop. We are looking at maps and starting to formulate plans of what to do in the next week prior to our trip to the Alps.
   
8/29/2011
     We are still adjusting to our awaking in the mornings. With the exception of the morning doves it is very quite and the shutter do an effective job of blocking out the light. The relaxed nature of the morning gave us time to consider some travel, do the laundry, catch up on emails and ease ourselves into the day.  We ventured north today and visited the town of Manosque to do our shopping. It is a cute entrance into the town and we found the market easily. When we finished we stopped at a cafe across the street for a coffee for me and a crossiant for Sheila. It is amazing to me that everyday I open the French phrase book and look up words and phrases that I hope to use each day. However, when I went to order my mind seems to go blank and I struggle to remember even saying Merci. When I got outside I took out the book and was surprised that I had used the right phrase, yet I am not sure is was the proper pronounciation.  
     On our way home I decided to visit the village of Pierrevert which is another hill top town. We managed to arrive around one and found that the afternoon shut down was in effect. We did find a nice winery and we will return to explore more when the town is awake and active. When we got home Sheila decided to check out our pool above our garden and I found that our laundry was dry and took it in. We will be looking forward to getting more pictures so you will be able to see what we are enjoying in terms of our traveling.
    Thanks to Melinda's comment, I suddenly realized I have not shared much about our home in Bastide. It is somewhat like a town house, but very quaint. Their are circular stairs on each side of the house, one starting at our front door and going up three flights ending in a study on the top floor. Underneath the staircase at the entrance is a loo. From the entry to the left is our living room, next is the dinning room and the kitchen all facing the street. The staircase off the kitchen goes down to a small basement area, and then upstairs to the bath, bedroom, family room, and to the stairs on the other side of the house. As you come up from the kitchen, before you reach the bath room area is a room to the right of the stairs for storage and a washing room area beyond. There is a door that gives access to an outside deck which is very quaint and has a view of the road and views coming into town. Jumping back to the entrance way, when going up the stairs, just prior to the family room, there is a room to the right which is another bedroom with a shower at the end. Alison described the house as one with nook and crannies and this is a very apt description. The floors are tiled differently in the rooms, as are the stair cases. Most of the windows face the street with the exception of the shower in the second bedroom.
    Across the road is the garden and pool. The actual garden is tiered with almost four levels, complete with a vegetable garden with greens, strawberries, tomatoes and cherry tomatoes. The lowest tier has olive trees which are mature and producing a good quanity of green olives. On the upper tier is a shaded eating area with a grill and a wonderful lawn with more chairs and tables. We will get some pictures to help fill in the narrative.  
 
 
 

    We enjoyed a light repast in the evening and read before calling it a day.


8/30/2011
   Each morning is issued in by the sounds of morning doves, well not just in the mornings. As a matter of fact most of the evening and waking parts of the night are met by the redundant call of the doves. At first thought quaint, now not so quaint; where is my slingshot when I need it! Not to hurt the doves, but to move them along to other eaves and windows.
  We are still exploring the map and where to go in the area.  An interesting fact is that Rick Steves and Michelin do not agree on areas in Provence.  Rick neglects to mention whole areas of the Luberon so we are attempting to narrow our focus and see what might be the most interesting to us.
   We drove to Petrius to the Hyper-U, an intriquing name for a market even in the US. It is like a Costco, although you do not have to buy the large packages and sizes.  We had decided that we would travel west to see some of the villages that had restaurants that were mentioned by Alison in her information at the house.   In most cases, driving has not been too difficult, until we run into road work and go to diverges.(sp.?) I have managed to make some of the diverges become circles so we get to try them twice
   Once we found the main road we found Lauris quite easily. We took a picture of the village which is on a ridge. We drove up into the town and parked and walked down Avenue Joseph Garnier to see some of the village.  We went up toward the Church and found that it had an interesting metal structure for a steeple.  
  Sheila and I agreed that it is not always useful for us to see the sights mid day as most of the village is closed. We certainly had the streets to ourselves which is great for driving and parking. We did find the Restaurant, Lou Pebre Dai which will be one of our spots to return to. Now if we can just make reservations by phone. I suspect it will take me writing my script before I call, and hope that I understand what they say in return. I have gotten use to my pocket phrase book, yet it is finding the right page in a hurry that is difficult. 
   We drove a little north to Lourmarin, which is noted to have been the home of Albert Camus. I must say that the beauty of the area is a surprise in terms of his bleak philosophy. The area that we drove through was quite new and we did not see the Chateau. We then went back through some of the villages we had seen before, but coming from a different direction; Cucuron, la Motte d'Aigues, St. Martin-le-Brasque and home.
   Dinner was prepared in house that evening and we had an early evening.   

8/31/2011

   I rose early to go the the Golf du Luberon. I arrived in plenty of time, while it was twenty minutes to tee time nothing was open.   For those of you who could care less about golf may skip on to the next section with no further delay.
   The Frence believe in serious natural hazzards, starting with the first hole with gullies mid fairway. I thought that this was a way to make sure the golfer was awake. Not so, as I appoached the sixth hole I was wondering which direction to hit and find a green. Looking at the score card I stood facing a huge ridge above me and then saw the flag beyond then only visible landing area, which was not very large at all. I hit my drive very high and hope, since this was a par three that I was somewhere near the green.  When I reached the green, straight uphill with my cart, I found that I was on the green on the back tier of two which was the pin placement for the day. A total blind shot and it rated a par. The back nine become more emblematic of of rough terrain. All in all it was an interesting round not losing many balls and scoring a 92 on the first time playing the course.
   Once back home, rested and ready to go we decided to head north to a town called Cereste. Our choices of travel were on a main roadway or up a small route winding through the Luberon mountains. Winding road won out and we ventured off to Virtolles.
 
The photos are on the road above the village and this was an interesting view of a notch that was to the west of the village. We went to Cereste because it was part of the Domitian Way and we hopped to see some Roman structures.  Once again our timing was outstanding, as we arrived with the town closed except for a small cafe, which closed when we left. We headed east to find the so-called Roman Bridge off of avenue du Pont-Romain and missed the turn and headed on to explore the area.  We went north to a small town of Reillanne, which oddly enough was a hill top village with a church and steeple high up on the hill. We returned to the main road and decided to go to Manoque for some food and exploration. It took me a while to find our route as we passed the same grain storage tower from three different directions. Finally we found our way to Manoque and went to the town center to have a Jambon et Fromage sanwich and some sans alcool biere and eau for Sheila.
 
    At last we drove home.  We made a reservation for Le cheval Blanc in town for 7:30 pm. Dinner was a communication struggle but we managed well. Sheila had Salmon for the main course and I had Filet au boeuf. Our appetizers were interesting, Sheila had Carpaccio d' Artichauts crus au Parmesan, thin sliced dried artichokes with parmesan cheese and a oil sauce and I had Tartare de Tomates a' lovoal, minced tomatoes with olive oil and garlic, basil et al. The portions were larger than we expected and we took home some of the entree for our lunch. Sheila found that while the meal was good, the price was a little steep for the cost. The wine was a keeper and Sheila took down the name to follow up on the possible purchase of this vin.

9/1/2011
   Today started late and became a day of rest, relaxation, review of maps and places to consider in the near future. Sheila got some sun and splashed in the pool. Our trip to Annecy was confirmed for the 8th and 9th of September.    
    It is always nice to have a day to catch up on the mundane things; laundry, minor shopping and taking long breaths to enjoy the heat of the day.  
    Rested and refreshed we decided to try out another recommended place for our evening meal. We headed out to a familiar area west past La Motte-d'Aigues and just south we found the "Camping de la Bonde". The road was obvious the car park of choice and we walked into the camp site which is lake side, Lac Et de-Bonde. It was very popular with all of the tables and chairs outdoors along side of the beach.  It reminded me of a Hawaiian outdoors eatery or some of the one's in Pureto Vallarta, yet a little bit under done. There were two huts, one to order the food and the other for drinks and deserts.  We order a smaller pizza and salad and then found a table near the lake and I got a sans alcool biere and a small bottle of red wine. The food was good for the price and filling. People were still swimming in the lake when we first arrived and then it was quiet at sun down.  It was a camping site so the amenities were quite casual and rustic. Alison had informed us that they would call out our names when the food was ready and I was taken off guard that "Skip" sounded different with a French accent.  Now I know how wierd I must sound attempting to speak in French for the bare necessities. We came home later than normal and it was nice to put the head down and get a nice sleep.   We had planned a trip for Friday and would get up early.

9/2/2011

    We arose early to head east to the Grand Canyon Du Verdon. There was a lot of cloud cover this morning and it rained briefly enough to cool the air only slightly. It has been a little more humid the last few days along with the 80 to 86 degree temperature. We loaded the car, and included rain coats just to be sure. We put in our destination into our GPS Gussie and off we went. Of Course as is often the case Gussie had a different route in mind, so we allowed her to catch up with our own directions. We took some back roads out of Grambois, the village pictured on the front page of the blog.  We saw a lot on vineyards, sunflower fields and olive trees on our country treck. We crossed the Durrance River which had an interesting new bridge with the pillars from the old bridge remaining. We drove through the towns of Jouques to Rians when Sheila noted that the course plotted by Gussie continues on the smaller back roads, so we decided to head north to pick up the D952. Nearing our destination we stopped in the village of Vinon-s-Verdon for a walk break. We were in a small shopping area which was quite busy. I imagine they were all getting the last minute things accomplished before the noon break.
   We did find the D592 and continued through the villages of Greoux-les /Bains, St. Martin de Bromes, Allemagne-en-Provencer, Riez and Moustiers-St Marie, before we started south toward Aigunes. Moustier-St Marie was an interesting village as the road narrowed and wound its way up the steep grade into the village center and a delivery truck infront of us stopped to unload a palate of supplies.  The truck blocked the square so we turned off the engine and waited for a while being observed by others wandering the village and waiting to access their cars parked next to us. It was an awkward moment for me and yet there was nothing to be done, but to be patient.   About 20 minutes later the supplies not fully unloaded the truck moved on and we proceeded through the rest of the busy village and started our journey to Aigunes.  We did turn around once thinking we had missed a turn, but recovered and followed the switch-back road until we came to the Lac de Ste Croix.
 

   From this point on the views were spectacular as we climbed up and went down steep grades.
 

    We went through the village of Aigunes to stop at the Hotel/Restaurant Grand Canyon Du Verdon to have lunch on the ridge.  I suspect that our Garcon was not pleased that we did not speak French, he said something when we informed him. However, the other server was impressed that we had our French for Travelers book out and did our best to follow up on our order and the bill.   We both had the specials, lasagne and poulet. The view from our seat is below. I was pleased that the patio was firm and secure as we looked down into the canyon below. We could see another place on the opposite ridge,
 
    The other photos are from our journey.
 

  Fortunately, the trip home, while meandering through the mountainous region and then south to pick the major highway A 8  was uneventful. The trip took about 5 or more hours and was exhausting for driver and passenger. It was nice to get back to La Bastide to collapse. Late in the afternoon we did get some light showers, the first rain since our arrival.

9/3/2011
   This morning the clouds began to roll in and the humidity has noticiably increased. It has been a full week that we have been in Provence France.  We stretch out a lesiurely morning, as I went to the boulangerie and purchased a small quiche lorraine, a few crossiants and stumbled with the French which made the mademoiselle chuckle and she produced my change. (An aside: perhaps my biggest fear in my attempt to use French is that I may wind up making a huge faux paux and never know how embarrassing it might have been: And to think that I enjoy doing the same, when I am Wally the Coach as a clown!) We decided to stay somewhat local today and we have wanted to stop in Grambois, on the hill top just south of us. 
      I did do some small shopping in Pretius and found a Pharmacia to see if they had tylenol. I actually stopped at two and became aware that these are very different than the US counterparts. First of all they are small and focus primarily on health needs.   CVS would have a hard time turning a profit in France under these conditions. Also, there are lines to the counter, which go very slowly. I left the first, because the line did not move in 15 minutes, yes impatient me. I did wait in the second in a line of 5 which took 30 minutes. As I am reading through my script to say once at the counter, I found I could relax and work with the words enough to feel more competent when I finally reached the counter, because there was plenty of time. I started listening to one pair at the counter who were there throughout my visit and I suspect that this is the one place in all of France where people get to explain their aches and pains in lengthy detail to a person paid to listen. By the distorted expressions on the man's face, who was waiting on the two, and his attempt to grab someone to deflect the encounter and even tried to move away when the other woman offered to help, you could tell that he was a tad overwhelmed.  When I got to the counter next to the two women, the one who had freed herself from assisting, smiled at me, was sweet with my stumbling in French and was able to assist me and have my business done in two minutes. Whew! what a unique experience.
     Upon my return, I found that the clouds were more intense and that the thunder was rolling in loud crescendos. We hopped in the car prior to the rain and went to Grambois. We pulled into the town square parking and had a drink at the Dol Cafe. Sheila met an English couple who could not help to figure out that we were yanks. He wished us well as we walked up to the church Notre-Dame de Beauvoir. We found a small side street and found the tourism office. We asked many querstions and the gentleman helped us with a number of guides that either were in English or had English in them. We went back and entered the church which is very dark and simple. The small chapel 'The Chapel of Saint- Pancrace" is infront of the side entrance door and had a cross over the altar. We did not find the restaurant that Alison had mentioned so we headed down to the main road. I told Sheila, off all of the town we have driven through, Grambois seems to be the most rennovated and very beautiful throughout.
     When we returned to Bastide, we found the parking in our small village very congested. I dropped Sheila off at our house and went to find a place to park. Walking back I noticed that the cause of the parking problem was the fact that there was a wedding at the church just down the road from us. Later, when it had started to rain, I was walking to the store and the wedding was just ending and people were everywhere looking for some kind of shelter. It had let up on my return and the photographer was taking pictures of the bride, who had a beautiful white hat on and she was on the lower level by the front of the church.
      With the break in the rain we decided to check out one of the local wineries in La Tour d'Aiges Marrenon.  I recognized the location from previous trips so we found it easily. When we entered were helped by a gentleman who spoke English.  He showed us some of the wines and we decided to purchase a Syrah and a Rose de Syrah each for only 3,60 euros. We asked about another winery and directed to just beyond Lauris. As we were about to leave I pointed out to Sheila a set of hoses behind the front counter which looked like gas pumps and realized that our son-in-law Dave had told us earlier that a lot of people carry their 5 litre containers to have them filled at the local wineries.  Such service!  Also, I have noticed that in the wine shelves in stores and here there are an abundant number of blush wines. It struck me as there are not as many displayed in the US however here they make up almost half the wines along with the red and whites.
     Returning home we faced a burst of rain which lasted most of the evening.

9/4/2011
     The rain and thunder continues this morning. We have rain gear but have not been willing to brave the steady down pour. We enjoyed another breakfast, complements to our boulangerie in the break of rain early this morning. So I type and Sheila reads, local travel stuff to establish our itinerary for a few days to come.
      While writing I had a flash back to our Grand Canyon du Verdon trip. At the restaurant high up on the ridge we had two gentlemen enter in their spandex biking attire. They appeared to be in their fifties to sixties. All I could think of is the bike enthusiasts at home and wonder how the h... did they get here! We saw a number of bikers on the way up, and I imagine that the switchbacks probably make it easier to climb, however the elevation seemed to me a lot more than Mt. Tamalpais back home. To our biker friends this may appear as misplaced envy, however a thought came to my mind that their wives had the car around the corner where no one could see the bike racks that they had removed their bikes to ride into the restaurant.  Yet I know that this is the home of the Tour de France and that alot of people climb the hill with bikes just for fun. The part that would scare me is the trip down, as I did not see many barriers near the edge of the road with a straight drop. France has given me a new respect for the causal biker.
   Looks like the rain will last all day! A picture is worth a thousand words.
 
     In the early evening the rain let up so we called the Restaurant Du Lac for a reservation at 7:30pm. Fortunately, the gentleman that answered spoke English which was helpful. The restaurant is near the beach front camp ground so finding it was not an issue.  We were greeting by the chef when we arrived and our seating was lake front. The website is www.restaurantdulac.eu and it is very accurate in terms of the pictures that show the restaurant and hotel. It is a new building and very open in terms of view and simple elegence. We chose the inexpensive menu three course. Our waiter was very helpful as he spoke four to five languages and he enjoyed answering in English and helping us with the French. We had the Menu de Marche along with some petite appetizers from our chef, which included fresh made patato chips, a small avacado tarte and Greek olives, followed by a fish cervece with carrots. Sheila had the salmon and the lamb dishes and I had the tomato and sole dishes. They were very tasty, prepared in a sauce that really accented the dishes.  Sheila had cheese and I had the apple confit for our deserts. We both agreed that this was excellent and worth considering a return.  I encourage the reader to check out the website for the menu items along with the ambiance.

9/5/2011
     The skies were clear so I headed out early for another round of golf at the Golf du Luberon. I did check their website www.golf-du-luberon.com/uk/ and they have pictures of all of the holes with the exception of number six. Clicking through them gave me pause as to whether I should attempt the course again, however the thought quickly abated and I played another eighteen holes. At least this time I could anticipate the most difficult holes and play them a little better, actually reduced my score by four strokes.
     We decided to go back to visit Lauris and Lourmarin. We waited until late in the afternoon so we would avoid the shut down.  We found a parking spot and walked around Lauris.  What a difference with so many people walking about or lounging at roadside bristo's. We checked out one of the restaurants that we were considering for the evening but it did not look like it would be open. We drove on to Lourmarin entering it from a different way than before. We drove up to the Chateau, that is considered one of the main sights, along with the chapel across the road. It was closed to tourist when we arrived but we walked around some of the properity and saw the huge olive tree orchard and immediately thought of Chuck and Leslie Gompertz and their orchard. Obviously the climate hear is ideal for growing olives, because we have seen most vineyards have olive oil as part of their product.  
    The village of Lourmarin was very charming with walk paths and narrow streets that wrapped through much of the village. Many shops and galleries were open in the early evening and people were shopping or gather in a center at tables and chairs enjoying their evening. Sheila read about a restaurant in Rick Steve's book on Provence called the Recreation. Since the street signs were not visible we went into a clothing store named Klute and asked for directions. She even drew us a map. We wound our way back to the center of the village and found the road and the restaurant which did not open until 7:00pm so we went to the village center to have a drink at the out door tables and we were served some olive mix on toast.   At 7 returned to the restaurant and had a binder for a menu. Again we selected a price fix with an eggplant tartare for Sheila and I had a zuchini tarte with tomatoes. Both were very good and quite large.  Sheila and I agreed that in the country areas of France they do not skimp on porportions for each course. Sheila had a beef stew which reminded me of beef bourguignon and I had lamb shoulder done in a Provencial sauce which was rich with green olives. The dinners were very good and the price was the most reasonable thus far.   We did have a problem with our camera so we will have to return to take some pictures for you to see. Here are pictures of the Chapel and Chateau of Lourmarin.





















9/6/2011
   Today we have planned to separate trips. First we decided to go to the market in La Tour d'Aigues and later we will drive to Cavallion one of the larger towns in the Luberon. Sheila and I drove through La Tour d'Aigues early and saw the town square filled with vending booths and agreed that it was important for us to be there on the next market day. Before we left I did go to the Boulangerie to pick up a quiche and I noticed that the meat truck was set up in the town square.  Before we left Sheila wanted to get a picture of the area near the entrance to our street. The olive trees outline part of the area and the cemetary is behind the stone hedge.  
   

We parked below the village and walked up the stairs to approach the village square of La Tour d'Aigues where the market was in full swing. Sheila found a hat that worked well as the women behind the counter, with petite English skills said it was beautiful.  There were three rows of merchants and a lot of options for would be shoppers.

 
 


 
 
We did purchase a fresh roaster chicken that came with vegatables cooked with oil and the chicken juice that dropped to the tray that sat under the roasting spit. Before we left we got a picture of the tower in La Tour d'Aigues.
After lunch at home we set out on our trip to Cavaillion. On the way we stopped and got some pictures in Lourmarin of the Chateau and Chapel which we missed last evening.
 
      Our drive to Cavaillion included going back through Lauris and then along a canal and through a couple of other small towns and finally arrived in Cavallion.  We read about the town which had a Roman Arch and some interesting high lights. It is the largest town we have visited with extensive rail yards and shipping storage buildings along the road into the center. We drove into the center looking for the tourist information center. We asked for assistance in English and this was not possible. We found some town information in English and set off on our own hike. The steps to St-Jacques hill were next to the info center leadintg up to the bluff that over looks all of the town. Neither of us were up to the climb following the stiffness with both experienced on the drive. We walked on to the Our Lady and St. Veran Cathedral of Cavaillion. While small in size it had some magnificant side chapels. and
 
a cloister. The prayer chapel with the statue of Mary and Child. The main altar had a interesting dome roof and the Altar was very powerful in terms of the overall design of the building.











































9/07/2011
   We are getting ready for a trip to the French Alps to a village of Annecy, so today we will be doing some short trips and some shopping in preparation for the trip. After a nice leisurely morning we decided to go to La Tours d'Aigues to gas up and we arrived in the early afternoon and found a roadside cafe open. The owner referred us to his daughter who spoke English and we order a meal and she informed us that she had been to California and loved San Francisco. She then asked where we had been in Provence and proceeded to tell us of a number of must see villages in the area. She asked Sheila for a piece of paper and sat at our table and wrote down must see destinations in Provence. The list included Ansouis, Cucuron, La coste, Roussillion, Gordes, and L'isle su la Sorgues. We told her that we were taking a cooking class in Cucuron and had been there. She told us that these villages represent the best of Provence.
    We went back to La Bastide and dropped off some shopping and decided to go to Ansouis. I had noticed this town on many of the road signs in the area, and we had just never driven through there on any of our trips.   The country side was beautiful, on our drive, and there was a beautiful line of trees marking off a park area prior to our turning up into the village. We parked accross from the Merie Office. They informed us that the information center was at the path leading to the Chateau which is one of the listings for the tour of Ansouis. We went up to hill and found the information center which was not helpful regarding the local information so we wondered up the hill and I entered a door that was at the top of a stairway to find that this was the church of the town. When we came out we looked west to see expansive view of the valley below.


We went back to the information center and found the pathway to the Chateau. We found a sign that pointed out that the tours were every hour and we were 15 minutes early. Another couple came up the stairs and they asked us about the tours and we shared that the posted time was in now 12 minutes. They were from Lebanon and spoke fluente English, Arabic and French. Another reminder to me of how language illiterate I am. We talked for a while until the tour guide came to unlock the gate for the next tour. We asked if any of the tour was in English and she was able to say no! The other couple decided that they did not want to spend the hour for the tour so Sheila and I, along with another couple were ushered in with the gate locked behind us. We stood in the courtyard of the Chateau waiting for our tour guide for about ten minutes.    The entrance to the Chateau had an impressive door with the Sabran family crest over the door. The Sabran family has owned the Chateau for centuries
The tour director took great delight in explaining everything to the couple who spoke French and sort of shrugged when looking at us. I had read some information about the Chateau and actually understood her when she pointed out that the Chateau had been built on a previous foundation of an old fortress that protected the village from the crest of the hill. Of course no pictures were allowed to be taken inside. Also, unlike other museum type properties like this there was no information signs, let alone the information printed in other languages. The lower level was rough hew stone and did not change until we reached the second floor, which was a stark contrast with black and white tiling, and brick colored parkay tiles.   The rooms were large and had ropes to keep you from the antique furniture, clothing, ceramic food services, etc. I suspected that the Chateau does not receive critical funding for this chateau, as it was not well kept and dusted. The kitchen was at the rear of the Chateau which was not too convenient for service to the dinning area. We did get to see some of the storage area alook with a deep well which I suspect provided the water for the entire Chateau. On an upper level we went through a room that looked like it was the Childrens wing with an area for a governess and play area and with rooms off to the side for the children. There was a garden through french doors with quite of view of the area along side the Chateau.  

   Following the tour we sat outside a local sports bar to sit and have a drink before leaving the town. We did not see the museum in town with 15C vaulted ceilings and the underwater exhibit. If we have time we hope to get back to see this.

   We drove past a field that we had seen from the Chateau which had been worked, and saw a windmill at one end, which was most likely the source of irrigation of the field.