Garde Adhémar

We hit the road today and headed to La Garde Adhémar today (~1:30 from Grenoble). We had seen the town many times because it is perched on a high bluff overlooking the A7 to Marseille, but we had never stopped to take a look. It turns out to be yet another charming Southern town,




with cobbled streets and charming doorways -- yawn (just kidding)! There is a small garden

where they grow medicinal herbs on the western side, which we walked through and in which I discovered a nice Arbutus. The arbutus looked essentially the same as the one in our yard in Oakland, and I was reminded of my friend and coworker Steve, who brought me back some delicious medronho from Portugal. Thanks again, Steve! Anyway, there is an excellent central square with a few cafés. After a few weeks of Grenoble rain, it felt great to sit outside at a table soaking up the sun, drinking espressos and eating crêpes. We watched people playing boules in the dirt while being serenaded by the lilting whine of Alex and the "FEED ME"s of Zoe.

In addition to the beautiful sunny skies (did I mention that it was sunny?), it was also quite clear, and we could see all the way to the Giant of Provence: Ventoux

As well as the less scenic cooling towers from the nearby nuclear reactors. Interestingly, "the man" appears to have reduced the available resolution of Google Maps for the reactor complex:

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