Road trip to Vaison la Romaine

Today we were out the door by 7:15 am to head to the south of France.... I read somewhere that Vaison la Romain has a huge market on Tuesdays, where the whole village is transformed into a giant market.  It's true!!  So amazing and so much to see!  The weather wasn't great - it POURED on/off while we were wandering through the market - but it didn't stop us from enjoying the sites.  By the time the market shut down at 12:30 we were totally soaked.  We didn't even bother putting on jackets, because it was pretty warm and we eventually dried off (except our shoes/socks).

Things we bought:  world's yummiest nougat (and the most expensive, it turned out... oh well!  $16Euro for a chunk), linen baggy pants for me; dried fruit; baguettes, some kind of hard smelly cheese that was very good, herbes du provence, one dish towel, and a souvenier salt grinder.

This bridge is over 2000 years old

After our picnic lunch, next to some ancient Roman ruins, we wandered up to the old town.  It was gorgeous... the narrow cobblestone streets, the little shops.  It was like a postcard.  The locals drive their cars on these streets, and when they do we need to skooch right up against the buildings so they can get past.  So funny to see!  We did a walking loop to see some of the Roman ruin sites as well as ancient buildings but didn't bother to pay to go into the sites as you can see them from the road.  We weren't able to see the Roman theatre, it seemed to be blocked off and hidden for a special event?

After walking for HOURS, we went on a scenic drive to slowly make our way home.  The woman at the tourist office gave us a route to take which would follow along Mt. Ventoux to some beautiful hilltop villages and eventually meander through the lavender fields.  We stopped in Brantes, (pop. 83) and managed to find a quaint little restaurant hugging the cliff, overlooking the mountain,  We had a coffee and drinks there - a definite highlight.

Entrance to the restaurant

Oh my goodness.... the lavender fields.  Sigh!

As I finished taking my 37th photo of the lavender, Simon said "wow, that was sure a long way to drive, just to see flowers."  Was it worth it to me? Indeed.  Would I do it again?  Of course.  We found the best location between the towns of Ste. Jalle and Le Poet-Sigillat, which was found at a dead end road.  We had a great view overlooking the valley below.  So cool... thank you tourist information!  I think she realized we're not typical, and really enjoy taking the road less travelled.  That it was.

After weaving around some very small roads and villages (and perhaps getting lost a few time), we finally made it home after 10:00 pm.... a great day, even though we may have neglected to feed our children a proper lunch, or dinner for that matter. Poor guys, they were such troopers!  (In our defence, we had planned to find a quick place to grab some food at around 7pm but there was honestly nothing open or available through these villages.  Who knew? :-)  So good to have a home to come back to at the end of a long day, with comfortable bed and food in the fridge.

We had planned to visit the city of Orange, to see the Roman Theatre there, but we ended up spending way more time in Vaison la Romaine.... we may have to do that another day.  It is a 2 hour drive from here, which isn't too bad.

Some interesting notes:  Ruby and I encountered our first squatter toilets in Vaison la Romaine.  Also, many people assume we are Dutch, which is kind of fun.  It happens alot, before they realize we speak English.