Mirabel-aux-Baronnies

After travelling all day yesterday, we thought we would take it easy, sleep in a bit and then walk down to the heart of our local village for a reconnoitre. Within minutes of our arrival, we met a rather gregarious gent on the street who happened to love Canadians. When he found out that we we were looking for a place to have coffee, he insisted that we join him for a drink. He seemed to know everyone in town and was kind enough to buy us drinks. 

My new best friend,Jean-Paul, with the boys. Here we are drinking wine and pastis at 10:30 a.m.

Once we finished "smoko", we gave our thanks and said good-bye to Jean-Paul. Just down the street, we found a great little épicerie and boulangerie so we picked up what we needed for dinner. I do love shopping for fresh food daily. 

Then we started to wander. This woman had a great garden. Remember that it is only April 1. We saw her sitting on her terrace and commented on her beautiful garden. She seemed to be most pleased.

I have no idea what bush this is, but I just love the red berries. I'll have to consult someone at Greenland nursery once I get back to Edmonton.

As with most of these old and beautiful hilltop villages, there are stone archways, narrow streets of cobblestone, interesting doors, windows and gates. Here are some of those features in Mirabel-aux-Baronnies.

I believe this is called le trompe d'oeil - a style of painting that gives the illusion of being real. It was painted on the side of one of the homes.

Although this isn't a great shot (mostly legs using the timer setting), we were just sitting down to another wonderful, simple meal at our gîte. Tomorrow, we are travelling south again to visit more of Les Beaux Villages. Stay posted.

Les Beaux Villages

Provence has so many beautiful villages that it was difficult for us to decide which ones to visit. We were not disappointed with our choices today. Our first stop was Isle-sur-la-Sorgue which is an island village surounded by the Sorgue river. There are canals that run between the narrow ancient streets that are lined with waterside cafés, restaurants and antique shops. Unfortunately, many of the shops were closed because it was Monday. However, it was a beautiful spot and a beautiful day just to wander.

Here we are having "smoko" at Au Chineur overlooking the Sorgue river.

The Sorgue river. The coloured building in the background was a wonderful shop that sold olives, olive oils and other regional specialties.

The following pictures are of the pretty village of Isle-sur-la-Sorgue.

The countryside is dotted with vineyards, olive trees and fruit orchards. Below is a picture of an almandier or almond tree which is the first fruit tree to bloom at the end of winter. The orchard was as "pretty as a picture".

Peter Mayle originally moved to Ménerbes from England and subsequently wrote several books about his experience living in Provence. As a result, tourists have flocked to the area even though he has since moved to Lourmarin, another beaux village in Luberon. A movie based on his book "A Good Year" was filmed in Ménerbes and Bonnieux. These villages are two of France's prized perched villages or "villages-perchés". The first pictures are of Ménerbes, a walled village on a hilltop in the Luberon mountains which are the foothills of the French Alps. I loved the sign on the wall of this building as we walked into the village.

I also thought this chalkboard describing the weather or météo in Ménerbes was very clever.

A long distance view of Ménerbes taken from the top of Bonnieux.

One of the many lovely walls and gates in Ménerbes.

The old walled village of Ménerbes.

The picture below is of Bonnieux taken from Ménerbes.

When we arrived in Bonnieux, it was time for "le déjeuner". We found a lovely terrace overlooking the countryside and this old church. After doing a little investigating, I found out that this is the new church in the village, l' Eglise Neuve built in 1870. 

As with all of these hilltop villages, you must climb to the top. It is a good thing too considering the wonderful food and wine we have been consuming. 

Brian walking up one of the narrow passages to the top.

This is the old 12th century Roman/Gothic church, La Vielle Eglise, that is no longer in use. It rests at the top of the hillside and you have fabulous panoramic views of the countryside and other nearby villages.

The new church taken from above.

Another narrow passageway leading back to the valley.

The walls around Bonnieux.

At the end of the day, we stopped to buy a few provisions for our dinner of duck confit, potatoes, salad and green beans. It was accompanied by a variety of wine choices. Here is Greg cooking the potatoes in the small convection oven in one of the gîtes.

Preparing dinner - a joint effort and fun had by all! 

Rousset-Les-Vignes and more....

On our way from Valréas to Mirabelle aux Barronies (where we are now located), we saw yet another charming small village up on the hillside. It was almost time for "smoko" so we drove in to have a look around. It was very tiny - no bakery or store, but there was a great restaurant on an unusual mosaic patio floor and an atelier featuring the work of a local artist, Christiane Keeping. Greg was very taken with one of her canvas originals. Over coffee at the restaurant, he decided to go back and purchase it for the house.

 We also took the time to walk through the village. Here are some of the sights:

Shortly thereafter, we continued on our way to Nyons for lunch. Both Keith and Greg ordered the lamb which was the formule du jour. For all you foodies out there....

This is a picture taken at a cave we just happened to see from the road and it turned out to be one of those serendipitous or "bon moments".  The woman in the picture is Dominique and her son is on the right. Together, with her husband also called Dominique, they own the Domaine de ProvenSol en route to Vinsobres. Although we didn't meet her husband, Dominique, she and her son were absolutely warm and engaging folks. She had a number of container gardens in the front of the property and we started with a tour of those. Following that, we moved into the cave for some wine tasting, after which we bought several bottles to take home. During our conversation, we learned that they were just about to open des chambres d'hôtes. Before we left, she kindly gave us a tour of the rooms which were beautiful with magnificent views. As we came down the stairs we noticed a huge dining room where the guests are served breakfast. Apparently, guests can also opt to have dinner. Keith asked if we might be able to have dinner there and she responded that she only cooks for her friends. We must be considered friends because we are going back there on Thursday night to celebrate Greg's birthday. 

An exterior view of ProvenSol. The grey door opens to a circular staircase in limestone that leads to the chambres d'hôtes and the small door at the end is the entrance to the wine tasting room.

Valréas

One afternoon, I left the boys to their own devices while I walked into Valréas to take a look at the old city centre. Compared to some of the places we have visited, it is not as pretty and charming, but there were a few highlights. The church below is L'Église Notre-Dame de Nazareth. It is perched at the top of the hill in the centre of Valréas.

Right beside the church was this beautiful floral bush. What was remarkable was the sound of humming bees. There were at least 75-100 huge, back bees feeding from the floral centres. If you look carefully, you can see one in the middle of the photo.

Every old village has beautiful old stone homes, with rod iron balcons, small, interesting doors and narrow passageways. Valréas is no exception.

Old stone walls with archways to pass through.

Roundabouts are common in France and very often decorated with flowers, sculptures, stone etc. This is one right beside the brasserie where I stopped for coffee. Across the street was a flashing sign that indicated the temprature was 21degrees. How nice! 

My last stop was the local Cave Coopérative to purchase a bottle of wine for dinner.

 I couldn't resisit taking this picture. Can you imagine bringing in your container and buying wine for .99 €/litre?

Dieulefit

Brian and Greg decided to take the "day off" so Keith and I drove north to Dieulefit to take in the local market. Dieulefit, meaning "God made it", was a very pretty village nestled in the nearby hills and is well known for its arts, specifically its pottery and ceramics. As in most of the markets we've been to in France, there are vendors selling fruits and vegetables, meats and poultry, fish, pasta, breads, cheeses, eggs and then of course, specialties of the region - olives, prunes, walnuts, strawberries etc. Depending on the market, you might also find artisans selling their wares and occasionally vendors flogging cheap imported goods. In Dieulefit, in addition to our usual purchases of fruits, cheese, meat and vegetables, we found some delicious honey (Keith loves the flavour of the honey here) and some interesting and flavourful, slightly flattened, large meatballs called caillettes. Caillettes are made with hand-ground pork, chopped pork liver, Swiss chard, spinach and spices; they are then wrapped in pig’s caul fat (the thin membrane that surrounds the stomach) rather than in a casing. We heated them through and served them with a piece of fresh baguette as an appetizer. They were a big hit! 

Here is a poissonnier (fishmonger) cleaning scallops for a customer.

Nougat is a specialty in this part of the world. Although I am not a big fan, it certainly seems to be popular.

Keith is just walking by one of the many local pottery stands. In town, there were many more small independent pottery and ceramic magasins.

A street in Dieulefit.

Following the market, we found a lovely restaurant to enjoy a salad and a glass of wine. It was a beautiful day, so we took our time driving back stopping along the way to take pictures of the countryside between Dieulefit and Valréas.

When we arrived home, it was still warm and sunny so we spent the rest of the afternoon soaking up the sun on our patio and reading our books. Another day in paradise!

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