We landed at ridiculous o'clock Saturday/Sunday morning, and Catriona had thankfully waited up for us to give us a tour of our "Gite". We unpacked the car, ran around our new home giggling and crashed into bed at about 2am.
Sunday morning we wake up to Marcella knocking at the door, greeting us with a bag of patisseries, a baguette, butter and OJ!!! how fab is that. And then we opened the shutters to see this.......
as you can imagine the girls squealed with delight...A visit to the InterMarche in Apt to stock up on supplies and then we headed back to the Gite for lunch. In the afternoon we headed over to Isle de le Sorgue. An amazing antiques market and historic village. We loved it here, and the ice cream was, mmmmmmmm.
Monday we woke up to bright blue sunshine and 28'c. Headed out on the roads and came across this view....
and then realised it was Gordes!! An absolute must! Beautiful village built on the mountains. Cobbled streets and winding roads. It is a tourist attraction so not the place to eat or drink, nor buy gifts! But well worth a visit. in fact we went back on Tuesday for the market!
I just adored these pretty aprons!
We then headed onto Roussillon. Well know for its ochre-red architecture, where the original pigment was mined. We headed up to the top of the village for stunning views across to Gourdes.
Painted Murals were everywhere in Provence!
WE ate here at the Bistrot des Couleurs, as recommended by Catriona and Marcella(who happens to have been a chef and owned a restaurant or two!) Peter and I had the "Plat de Jour" A mouthwatering dish of Lamb Shank and Provencal style vegetables of butter beans and potato. Absolutely scrumptious! The girls had the classic steak and chips! Of course we washed this down with local wine, hehehehe
It was then back to our Gite for a dip in the pool, and supper of bread, cheese and wine (well not for the girls of course!)
Tuesday we got up early for market day at Gordes. I had great fun using my school girl french and buying some local produce to cook dinner with. The market was a wash with colour and bustling with locals and tourist doing their shopping. I was in heaven here! The girls enjoyed the fun and colourful atmosphere.
On our way back to the Gite we stopped of at Goult, a small village only 5km form where we were staying, not a tourist spot either! We had a drink at Cafe de la Poste and I bough a chicken from the butchers and a few bits form the local village shop. We also spotted the local boules team at the Bouladrome, light bulb moment, more on that tomorrow!
Back to the Gite and another dip in the pool, and yes i actually joined the girls; the pool was freezing!!!!
I cooked us a dinner of local chicken, beans and potato, tomato salad,with french bread and local wine. I must say the tomatoes here are huge and tasty! I could have lived on tomatoes, olive oil and S&P!!!!!
Another day passes in paradise and beds were calling.....
Tomorrow my tales from Fontaine de Vauclause, Bonnieux, Menerbes and Avignon!
Thanks for stopping by
Anna x
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oh Anna... gorgeous photos! I wish I was there...
Bet you wish you could click your heels together and go back!
Lovely photos - I love Provence! Looks like you had a great time!
Looks Amazing Anna and of course your photos are to die for - you should be selling the place, you'd make a fortune! xx
Beautiful photos- your eye for detail is wonderful. The girls look like they are having a ball. can't wait to see more. Sherry