Our house

Our house
Blue Heron Hill with Mount Baker in the background

Saturday, September 22, 2012

A week in Provence

Today we left the beautiful fortified city of Carcassonne.  After a good breakfast at our B&B we ducked into the cathedral for a look.  It was beautiful, and the stained glass was as amazing as that of Sainte Chapelle in Paris.


Stained glass at the cathedral in Carcassonne

One of two rose windows in the cathedral, dating from the 14th century

Check-out time at the B&B was 10.  When we went back to pick up our bags and leave, the cleaning lady had already been into Tim and Linda's room, and changed the linens and the towels.  It wasn't yet 10 and their bags were still in the room, so that was a little strange.  Maybe we were still in trouble for checking in early the day before.

Our only itinerary item today was to drive from here to the town of Sablet, in Provence, and check into our next rental.  The skies were cloudy, with just a spit of rain now and then. 

We drove on the toll way (Péage) for a good part of the way.  At a truck stop again for lunch, Rick had lasagna, which he said was pretty good, and the rest of us had sandwiches made with baguettes.   Sometimes the fresh pastry selection is huge at these places.  The stop today also had a McDonald's.  I got a café crème from one of the many vending machines, and it was very good.  The cost was less than 2 euros.

We've been buying gas along the way, of course, and the cost has been between 1.35 and 1.50 euros for a liter.  That's 6 euros for an imperial gallon, which converts to about $8 for a little more than a gallon.  Our car uses diesel, and gets great gas mileage.  I wish I had more accurate stats for all you car enthusiasts out there!

As we got closer to the city of Orange, the GPS notified us of a slowdown and re-routed us through the area.  We could see the big backup on the highway and felt bad for the people stuck in it.  We were happy we weren't among them though!


The hill town of Sablet - our home for a week

The drive from Carcassonne to Sablet took a bit over 4 hours, plus a stop for lunch, and we arrived about 3.  Sablet is a small hill town near Vaison la Romaine, in the northern part of Provence.  I found a rental house there after following a blog called Our House In Provence.  The blogger, Michel, is from the Sonoma area of California and visits France 3 or 4 times a year.   Michel and his wife Shirley bought a renovated house and created their dream home in Provence, and luckily they rent it out.  They're part owners of the Bistro des Copains, a great restaurant in Occidental, California, too, so you know they're into great food!  That explains the big, well-appointed kitchen, and the list of good restaurants for miles around!

The gourmet kitchen in the Sablet House


Our terrace off of the kitchen

Michel and Shirley were back in the U.S., but they have a nice local woman who helps facilitate everything for the renters.  There was plenty of info at the house to help us with the workings of the house, and the resources in the area for food.  The added advantage to staying in a house owned by a blogger is that he writes about everything in the area.  With our little laptop computer, and the great wi-fi connection, I could access all of his blog posts over the last few years.  That helped us with some sightseeing and restaurant plans over our week here.

Our first priority was to find groceries for dinner, and food for tomorrow, since it'll be Sunday and we don't know if stores will be open.  We're in a part of France where everything closes for at least two hours in the middle of the day for lunch.  Well, except the restaurants, which stay open until 2 or so to serve lunch, but then close for a few hours before dinner.  Woe be to the hungry traveler who doesn't have the schedule figured out!

We found the boucherie, the boulangerie, and the épicerie, and stocked up on provisions.  Our little tiny village has 2 boulangeries (bakeries), 1 boucherie (butcher) and 2 épiceries (little grocery stores).  For a supermarché we need to venture closer to Vaison la Romaine, a much bigger town.  Have I mentioned that neither milk nor eggs are refrigerated in the stores here?  Well, sometimes they are, but they aren't required to be, I guess.  The milk is ultra-pasteurized, so it's fine sitting on the shelf.  I don't know what the deal is with the eggs, but we find them in the unlikeliest of places - next to the matches, for instance. 

We got settled into the house and Rick fixed a simple chicken dinner.  Linda made a great salad dressing out of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and a little cassis flavored dijon mustard.  Plus, Linda and I always make sure to buy a little something sweet for dessert.  We haven't weighed ourselves since we left home!

Church bells ring every hour and every half hour here.  Actually, they ring the hour twice, just a minute or two apart.  Is that just to make sure everyone hears it?  The bells ended at 10, letting everyone know it was time to go to bed.

A sign at the Sablet house  - "Let the good times roll!"











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