provence sunday

Sunday is market day in Isle Sur La Sorgue, and despite the extreme soreness that impregnated our backs and arms, we got up early-ish to try to get a parking spot. I found the market a little disappointing; it had few of the quirks of the Grenoble flea market, and a lot of things that you could get at your local supermarket. However, there were a few gems:



like this little guy. Theres a basket of baby dolls behind the box of rocks. The whole display, when interpreted as a carefully placed diorama yields some compelling questions: What kind of animal is under him? Perhaps a fallen comrade, who he is loyally defending even while the fur is peeling off his own hind feet? Maybe he is showing what happens to other small animals when they get too close to his box of rocks? Maybe the mounting board is actually a primitive fox snowoard? And what the hell kind of animal is that, anyway? A weasel? a fox? Its doesnt really look like either.

ANYWAY, there were some interesting things:

(taken by chloe)

including a Louis Phillipe rustic table that we bought on the condition that we could fit it into our Clio (it fit, but with about 2 cm). We escaped Isle-Sur-La-Sorgue in one piece at around 10:00 am, just when the masses were rolling in. After dropping the table off at the Mas Solige, we drove to Venasque:



and then on to Rousillon (picture at the top of this post). The last time I had come here with my mom and her long time friend Shelley, we had found a beautiful little cafe, hidden in one of the dead ends


that overlooks the red valleys that surround the town. So of course, this was our first stop, since Chloe was starting to get that far off look that says "feed me NOW". It was a little windy, and periodically peoples napkins would float lightly into the air and get plastered against chair legs and bread baskets. Sometimes small mostly-eaten pieces of bread would start scooting towards the end of the table. Everything, and especially the rasberry crumble was excellent. Heres chloe eating mine:




After taking some pictures, we drove back towards Carpentras, and through the beautiful hill town of Gordes



Of course, one thing that can get a little overwhelming is the fact that ALL the towns in this area are beautiful, so after a while you dont even care. Strangely, the part of Gordes that I find the most charming is its masonary. Beautiful white stone walls are used for both the houses and the walls lining the narrow roads that lead into the city. The color and uniformity remind me of Jerusalem a little.


Since we were near Vacqueyras, we finished the day with a little wine tasting. It was Sunday, so generally only the cooperatives were open, which arent as fun as the individual caves. We ended up in Vacqueyras, where I had been this spring with my mom and Shelley. We had stopped at a colorful little cave, where the wine guy had compared wines to beautiful young maidens: "to be enjoyed, but not when they are too young". I wasnt sure how Chloe would react to that kind of talk, so I steered us to the other side of town, where we found the Domain l'Oustau Des Lecques, a very small family run winery.

We pulled up to their winery, where a sign instructed us to press the bell if we wanted to taste wine. We did so, and after a brief exchange (chloe did the the talking while I hid behind her), a man in jeans and flip flops walked up and took us into the winery. Here we are in their caves:




They had quite a few wines, but the 2002, aged in oak casks (in the picture!) and the 2003 were amazing. I dont know any of the fancy wine language, but heres my best effort: "Extremely wine like, with notes of grapes, and a faint aroma of wine. The bouquet was bold and wine-esque. Legs were very long and wineish, with an unlikeley but undeniable winely finish.". We bought 10 bottles. I mean, at 4-7 euros depending on the vintage, how can you not? We also noticed that people in this region pronounce "vin" with a strange accent: more like "ving".


Finally, we went and checked out the eglise de Notre Dame, near Aubenas (?):