Day 7, July 18

Our first morning in Provence!

Breakfast at Le Mas Perreal, one of the highlights of our trip, isn't served until 9:00 AM, so it gives us time to do a few things before we eat.   I usually go for a bike ride, and Joni usually goes for a walk and  collects some wildflowers for our room.

We were  up at 6:30 AM so that I go for a ride before it gets too hot.   Today's high was 104, so the early morning rides are a must if you want to do some cycling.

I've rented a Specialized Roubaix,  which is what I have at home, but this is  a newer version with disc brakes and electronic shifters.  Love the shifters, but they're expensive and not a good enough reason to buy a new bike.

Took a relatively short ride, about 20 km round trip to the village of Rousillon, a route I've done many times before.   It''s a beautiful smoothly paved route, winding through vineyards and farms. Previous years I've often watched a hot air ballon rise above me as I approach Rousillon, and it was there again today.   In  Rousillon, I stopped for a croissant, cafe au lait, and some newspapers, and then head back to the B&B along a different route.

Breakfast was delightful.  We had fresh squeezed grapefruit juice, chocolate croissants, tartines, scrambled eggs with truffle oil, and coffee.  The B&B has a beautiful outside garden/terrace where we eat, and we usually sit a the table for six and engage in conversation with the other guests.

An older couple who live in Paris and have a second home in this area were with us.  They're renting their home to some friends of friends, but they wanted to get out of the city, so they came down here for the weekend.  They've visited America, so we got all their impressions of our country...

After breakfast we headed into Apt, the small city very close to us.  It was market day, so Joni toured the market for about two hours, I took the short tour, and spent the rest of the time at a cafe sipping cold drinks.

After the market we went to the local wine tasting shop for the cooperative vineyards in this area.  They serve lunch and offer a variety of plates that feature cheeses and wines.  We got the four cheese salad, and then the waiter serves you three different good size glasses of wine which compliment each cheese.  The grapes that the owner of our B&B grows on his property and used for these wines.  In addition to the salad and wines, dessert and coffee are included.   We loved it.

After lunch hit the local laudromat and then took a short drive to the hilltop village of Simiane la Rotonde where's there's a pottery atelier from whom we've been buying our everyday dishes ever since we started coming to France.  

We bought five more pieces and then headed back to the B&B.  The 104 degree heat was oppressive and we wanted to get into the pool.

Dinner tonight was in the village of Pernes les Fountaines.  We've driven through there many times.  The ride was beautiful.  Following our Garmin, we unintentionally took the winding mountain route.  It was breathtaking, but took a lot longer than we planned.

When we got to Pernes, we tried and tried and tried to find the restaurant, but after walking around for 45 minutes in the 90+ heat, we said screw it, and headed back to the B&B for a fined dinner of rose wine and madelines.  No big deal; we're eating way too much food anyway.