Last day in St. Laurent en Royans

Today we stayed home to start packing up, doing laundry, cleaning... all the not-so-fun stuff that is necessary, unfortunately.  We have made ourselves right at home here for the past 3 1/2 weeks so it took a bit of time to pack and try to remove all traces of the Talstras! :-)

To take a break, we walked into town because we noticed there was a Petanque tournament going on this weekend.  They had concession stands set up and you could buy lunch or have a drink, and also buy expensive petanque balls and equipment.  Petanque is similar to boccee ball and it is a huge thing in France.... in any village during midafternoon you will find (mostly) men of all ages playing this game to pass the time,  It's a pretty big deal.

We didn't stay for too long but we watched a few kids practicing their game.  And the kids bought churros from the concession.

As it was our last night in St. Laurent, we decided to go to their local restaurant, which is also a trout hatchery.  We showed up at 6:00 pm and they told us "No, we don't serve dinner until at least 7:30 pm, please come back." No mention of opening times on their signage, I guess we're just supposed to know that dinner is always later than we are used to!  When we showed up at 8:00 pm they had a table waiting for us, and the restaurant was very busy!  We were pleasantly surprised.



The waitress was very friendly and suggested we try their local specialty:  basically whole baby trout, deep fried and salted.  They were delicious and even the kids quite liked them!  I was getting tired of them talking about how they were eating their eyeballs and intestines though.  :-)  For dinner we all had (with the exception of Rodger) Ravioli in a cream sauce, baked in a dish with smoked trout on top.  So, so good!!  I'm pretty sure it was the same local ravioli that we had been buying direct down the road. 

A very nice dinner to celebrate our time in St. Laurent en Royans.

We will especially miss the beloved Boulangerie, and will always remember watching the Euro Cup at the Sports Bar.  Goodbye St. Laurent, it has been fantastic.

St. Marcellin market and more swimming

This morning we went back to the big market in St. Marcellin, which is about 20 minutes away.  We love markets, they is always something interesting to look at and so many people to watch! :-) 

Love the sausages, the amazing cheese, all the yummy smells coming from all the various stalls.  Today we bought an assortment of snacky foods to try for lunch... some little deepfried "things".. they were sort of like croquettes, but with fish?  And crepes with various savoury fillings. 

And I found these super awesome shoes!  They say they are made in France and I think they look to be well made?  I don't know... I just know that I looked at these very same shoes 1 block away in a fancy shoe shop and they were way more expensive.  Anyway, I scooped them up, they are so cute.





And Cameron found a watch, and Ruby found a France jersey and shorts for $5 Euros.  Great fun.

From there we just started driving... left all the maps at home so we just drove with no real destination.  First top was back to St. Antoine (where the beautiful Abby is), because I needed to go to the bathroom, and I remembered it being tolerable there! :-)  There was a little music festival going on so we stayed to listen to some live music for awhile.  The weather was perfect - cloudy and about 24 degrees.. about 15 degrees cooler than the last time we visited!!  We then got back into the car to explore some more. 



We stumbled upon yet another church, built before 1000.  In the middle of no where on a small country road.  Mind boggling!  They have plans to restore it but for now, it is only open a few times per year, for special mass. 


We ended up in Roybon, where we found a good place for the kids to swim in the lake.  It was actually raining a bit when we arrived so it wasn't busy at all... but by the time we left the sun had come out and it was starting to get busy.  So that was a welcome stop for the kids!

More Pont en Royans

Today was a home day again.  We went for a walk in the morning, in the neighbourhood.  It was nice to walk along the country roads, with the view of the mountains and the church in the distance... and the cows and sounds of chickens to keep us company.  Seriously, I still can't get over how narrow the roads are around here... so narrow that you have to jump into the bushes or the ditch when a car goes by. 

 

Lounged around, did some research on where we can stop for a night between Lyon and Bordeaux, then headed back to Pont en Royans so the kids could cool off.  It was 35 degrees again today.  We are dying from the heat and there are people walking around in jeans and one guy had a jacket zipped right up to his chin.  I don't get it.

We checked out the 2 shops in town, to look for a nice souvenier, but we didn;t find anything.  Ruby bought a magnet.

Really old shoes and a lake

After alot of "discussion" last night and this morning about what we should be doing today, we finally headed out the door at 11:30 to find something to do, within 1 hour's drive.  We ended up back at the city of Romans, where we looked through their huge Shoe Museum.  It was pretty interesting, once we found the shoes! :-)  (Signage in the museum was confusing and they had all these extra displays of other stuff at the beginning... very strange museum layout, and no one around to ask.)

Anyway, after wandering the rooms and listening to our audio guides, we found some pretty old footwear... like from the Roman age and mummified shoes too.  Some of them were pretty ridiculous, and we couldn't even imagine people wore them on their feet.  It was interesting to read about royalty and rich people binding up feet so they wouldn't grow, or would grow deformed, and then they would have to have special shoes made for them.  Crazy.

Enough about shoes, I'm bored talking about them.

From there we found a lake for the kids to swim in... believe me, we have been on a constant quest for places to swim on this trip.  And even though we find lovely rivers all over the place, they aren't suitable for swimming.  There have been disappointed kids on more than one occasion, when at the end of the day they  say "but we didn't get to swim!  You promised!"  Yes, we have found the swimming place in Pont en Royans, but the water is super cold and it's really just for jumping off rocks and cooling off.  And also a waterfall,.. same situation.

This was an actual lake, with warm water and it didn't cost $40 to use!  (Did I mention the manmade lake that you had to pay to go in, closeby? )

We stayed for a few hours, then took, yet another, scenic drive home, through the little country roads.  Stopped briefly at a super old Abby in a small town.  The kids groaned "not another ancient church... they all look the same!".  Lucky for them, it wasn't open.

The long awaited Chez Dom pizza happened tonight!!  It was really good... baked in an open flame oven, and done in about 5 minutes.  My favourite was the pizza that had a cream sauce, goat cheese and honey.  Soo good!

While we waited for our pizza, we went across the road to a little shop that sells local products.  She gave me a sampling of a dessert wine that is made from green walnuts (walnuts that aren't ready to be eaten yet... but very good for drinking!!).

Cameron's Birthday

Today this handsome kid turned 12 years old!!

His requests were easy, or so we thought:  He wanted a pizza picnic at Pont en Royans were he could swim and jump off rocks to his heart's content.

But we found out that "the" famous Chez Dom pizza place, in St. Nazaire, was closed on Wednesdays. Seriously??

In the end, we had a leisurely breakfast of crepes, with whipped cream. Then we lazed around the house until almost 4:00 pm because Rodger had worked to do.  We picked up some snacks, birthday cake (it was a store-bought brownie cake), with more whipped cream and strawberries and headed down to the swimming hole.  We hung out there for a few hours and then went home for French-style hot dogs... europoean weiners in baguettes.

So all in all, he said he had a good birthday!!  Not the most amazing, earth-shattering "that was the best day EVER!!" kind of day, but as long as he had a good time and felt special, that's all that
matters.

 

The long and winding road to Sisteron

I saw such pretty photos of the city of Sisteron so I added it to the list of places we needed to go.  Turquoise blue waters of the river where people were swimming, with the Citadel towering over them in the background.  Looks awesome, let's go,.  I thought we would head straight there, on the highway, and get there in a couple of hours, maybe.

The most direct route took us on a very long, windy road that seemed to go on and on... it was very scenic, don't get me wrong... but as I stared and stared at the endless "magenta" zig-zaggy worm of the GPS map, I kept thinking "Oh my word, will it ever end?  Over 3 hours?? What??  Are you sure, Kate-the-GPS-girl??"  I think I might barf, are we there yet?

Seriously, I felt sick to my stomach by the time we finally arrived in Sisteron.  Part of the reason for coming here, was the promise of swimming for the kids.  After all, it was 36 degrees and we owed it to the kids.  Give them something... dangle a carrot for them.

We got to the "lake" and wouldn't know it?  They had drained it, just for today, to clean it, so it was refilled in one area, with water levels that didn't even reach Ruby's knees.  And really, the word lake should be replaced with "concrete bird bath".   Awe-some.  The kids splashed around a bit, got their feet wet.  They are such troopers... it was a big disappointment but they got over it, eventually.  Oh well... it's the Talstra luck, as Cameron says.

And at the risk of sounding grumpy and negative (nah, not me!), we asked at the tourist office where we could swim in the river and she said "Non, not in the river.  Just manmade lakes."  Um okay then, didn't she see the turquoise water photos, and kids swimming, that are on the official Sisteron website?  I cry false advertising, lady!!

We sat under a tree, looking at said lake for awhile, and ate our picnic... baguette, cheese, sausage and some other treats from a Boulangerie that we stopped at along the way.  None of us really wanted to venture into the heat to visit the famous Citadel that towers over the city.  That meant climbing.  In the heat.

But we drove a crazy road to get here, so we rallied on and started climbing up to the Citadel.  There were several other sweaty tourists doing the same thing, and I felt a bit of a kinship with each one of them, as we panted our way up and around the grounds of the Citadel.  It really was pretty interesting.  The information in English was pretty sparse but the sites itself were impressive enough on their own.

As we headed down the hill towards the town, we came across a public water fountain.  They are everywhere, in almost every town regardless of its size.  But most of them aren't drinkable.  We usually just stop to refresh ourselves... splash water on our faces, arms, legs to cool off.  But this one said .. "Eau Potable" Woo Hoo!!  We laughed and talked about how we will never take ice cubes and water for granted again, as we filled, guzzled, and refilled our water bottles with clean, cold water.  And then the kids dunked their heads in the water basin.

In the old town we looked a few shops, where I found... gasp!!... a store that sold fabric in the back!!  Oh my goodness, it was the first place I have seen fabric.  No one sews in France, I guess.  Anyway, I was super excited and bought a few pieces that I will try to use to make a table runner.  I tried to find fabrics that were Provencal feeling. 

Less exciting but more straight road back home.  We stopped in St. Nazaire to check out the takeout menu of the best pizza place in the world (according to the locals, and really the only one in the immediate area... ha).  It was Cameron's request to have a pizza picnic tomorrow for his birthday, so we were scoping it out.  And wouldn't you know it... in big letters on the menu "Ferme le Mercredi."  Tomorrow is Wednesday.  Cameron was like "Are you seriously kidding me right now?  Oh well, it's the Talstra luck."

Late dinner of burgers and frites.  And a lot of wine for me. :-)

Monday Blah's

Ruby and I hate Mondays... the Boulangerie is closed.  How will we survive without our fresh croissants?  Bleh.  I am feeling a bit homesick, mostly for my friends, the ocean... my sewing machine.  But it was a good day to do laundry and read a book, while Rodger worked for half of the day.

When he was done we went for a walk and stopped in at the local Potter's studio.  She didn't have alot of her stuff on display as she generally travels around from market to market, in the surrounding area.  She spoke a bit of English and we managed, with the help of the kids, to have a conversation with her and check out her pottery.  The kids each bought their own mug, and I bought a few trinkets and a small serving plate.  She was lovely and if the pottery makes it home in one piece, they will be great souveniers of St. Laurent en Royans. 

The kids are enjoying the local soccer field, which they bike to quite frequently.  They don't seem to be bored at all which is awesome.  At night we watched part of a movie and then shipped the kids to bed at a decent hour because we have a road trip planned for tomorrow.

Surprises around every corner

(rest of the photos coming)

Today we got a late start to our day.... some late nights, and long, hot days caught up to us so we slept in a bit.  And it was cool this morning, which was wonderful.  We didn't have much of a plan and I was starting to think we had exhausted all possible discoveries within the immediate area so I was preparing myself for a long, windy drive through the Country with nothing much to see.  Don't get me wrong, I don't mind that at all, because the area is truly beautiful.  I love the country roads and the tiny villages that pop up around every corner.  But I wasn't expecting to see "new", exciting things.

I suggested that we head towards the town of Crest, where they have a really old (1300's?), huge tower that you can climb up, and promises a great view at the top. 

On the way, we had to take a detour because there was some biking event taking place.  From our new route, we bumped into an interesting village so we stopped to check it out.  There were a few tables set up, selling fruits and vegetables, and sausages so Rodger bought some sausage.  The village was really small but so quaint.  When you walk through these places, it is typical to think "oops, I can't go that way, it's someone's private entrance".  The walkways are so small it seems that way, but they aren't private... it seems no one has much privacy at all, at least not by their front doors.  Open your front door, step down, and you're on the road.  At one point, I had to remind Simon that he was rock-climbing on someone's house... "how would you like it if someone walked up our driveway and started climbing up the side of our house?"  So strange, and so different than our typical homes.

So the tower in Crest was awesome.  It ended up being way better than we anticipated!  It was so interesting, and as promised, the view was amazing!!  Totally worth the visit.

 

 From there we headed to a village that Rodger had briefly read up on in one of our books, called Mirmande.   I had no expectations of it, but when we got there, it was this gorgeous little place set on the hills, overlooking the countryside.  Turns out it is on the list of "most beautiful villages".  So, so pretty!!  There were a few little shops to wander through... pottery and local products and wine.

 

Rodger ignored Kate, our GPS friend, and took the scenic road home, which added at least 45 minutes to our drive... lovely, but too long.  We were starving!!  Ah, who needs lunch anyway, have some grapes and warm water! :-)

When we got home, 2 different neighbours rang the doorbell within 5 minutes of each other.  (Had they been talking about us while we were away?).  I hadn't heard the doorbell ring in this house before, so I didn't even know what it was at first.  The woman 2 doors down came, bearing gifts of huge zucchini. She didn't speak any English but she had a teenage daughter along to translate enough to say hello and tell her how long we are here, and to thank her for the gift.  Then the next one was an older man from 2 doors down the other way, and he also didn't speak English.  But he brought some photos from Vimy to show us, as well as some history and information on the war.  He wanted to express how much he loved Canadians for helping France in the War.  He shook our hands and put his hand to his heart while he did it. So sweet.  It was pretty helpful to have the kids there to help communicate with the neighbours.  They are doing a great job with their French, and have been super helpful on this trip.

It turns out I was wrong.  There were plenty of  new, exciting places to explore!  So all in all, this was a great day!!

Avignon

The vault, where they put all their money

Well, 4 out of 5 of us had a pretty good sleep! ;-)  We were all pretty tired from the previous day.  Got up and headed straight to Avignon in the morning, with the first goal of finding a parking spot... which we did.  We decided to tour the Palais des Papes (huge gothic Palace of the Popes) before it got too busy.  It was pretty interesting... we had audio guides which were helpful.   The palace was immense!  I'm constantly amazed at how old these buildings are, and it's fun to imagine Popes wandering the halls of their massive "home", and conducting important, secret meetings.  And having big feasts in their huge dining halls! :-)  There were so many secret corridors and staircases, most of them blocked off to the public.  Anyway, definitely worth the visit.

From there we started to wander the streets of Avignon.  I tried to embrace this famous walled City, with all its culture and famous arts scene... and the famous half-bridge where everyone "must" visit and do a little dance on.  But I couldn't.  Truth be told, I actually kind of hated Avignon  (I can hear some of you gasp from here!).   I found it busy, a bit ugly and littered with thousands of advertisements stapled, tied, and taped to every surface, advertising for performing arts festivals.  Every 2 seconds someone was thrusting a brochure into our hands.... Rodger would take one and say "Merci" (have you ever seen the movie "Elf"?  that was Rodger...) whereas if anyone even looked in my direction I would cut them off right away, say "Non" and keep walking. The kids thought it was hilarous. We wandered some of the streets, the kids had sorbet, Rodger and I had a coffee & croissant, and then we left.  It felt weird leaving, like we were missing something?  Why do people love it here?  We didn't even check out the bridge, even though we had tickets to do so... we all decided that we didn't care enough to endure the walk/heat.

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Flyers, flyers everywhere

I felt a bit sad.  Let down.  It was anticlimactic.  (Interesting to note:  Simon actually really like the feel of Avignon... he said it reminded him of a smaller Paris!  Busy, bustling, architecture.)  On to the next place!  Smaller, quaint villages that have parking spots! ;-)

Gordes

Too hot & tired to make it up another hill

And that lead us to Gordes, listed as one of France's most beautiful villages.  That is was!  Beautiful hilltop village, with narrow cobblestone streets, a gorgeous view of the surrounding vineyards and valley.  If it wasn't 36 degrees, I could wander the streets of little villages like this forever!  The gorgeous displays outside the shops... sigh!  We took refuge in a cute Creperie for lunch - our first ones!  (Except the ones I made out of a box... not really comparable.)

Ruby matches the beautiful flowers

Having crepes for lunch

We meandered back to our place in Comps, stopping at the Abbaye du Senanque, near Gordes.  Wow, there were alot of tourists there.  Not exactly peaceful and serene. We didn't go in - we weren't dressed appropriately and we were "done".

We relaxed for awhile in the apartment before heading back to Pont du Gard for a picnic dinner and an evening swim.  The owner gave us her parking pass, which was very kind of her.  (Costs $18 to park, after 8 pm reduced to $10.)