Ventoux, Vino & Visitors

So, here we are then, into blog #11 and a day or so early. It's Sunday, it's pouring down here so with my mum and stepdad arriving tomorrow and an eager reader, I've decided to get ahead of the game for this week!

It's a different sort of blog this week, as we've not turned a motorised wheel for a week now, and it feels more like a holiday week - quite how we can feel we need a holiday from #Jexit, I am not sure, but it definitely feels different not moving on every few days.

The last entry from Tuesday saw us just after a soggy trip to the market, although skies did clear later in the day, and we were able to fully dry out. We very much enjoyed our market produce in the guise of a tuna salad that evening.

Wednesday was a lovely warm morning, so bikes off and the intention was to have a gentle ride around, taking in the scenery. However, it ended up being a 35mile epic up, down and back up the Col De La Madeleine (448m) with a lovely lunch stop in Bedoin. For me, the climb and descent were a great achievement, one that saw me with a bit of "dust" in my eye on the way back down safely - and Dad, still no inhaler needed! There was an equal achievement in managing to avoid a big storm that we'd seen brewing over Mount Ventoux. We stopped briefly to take a bit of shelter from the worst of it, and then managed to keep in front of it all the way back.

Wednesday night we'd been invited for a meal with one of our local friends and his family in town. A really lovely invite to receive, and we thoroughly enjoyed stunning food (red snapper & spinach lasagne), wine and company. Both Mathieu & his wife Miriam had spent considerable time in England, so conversation flowed as easily as the wine!

Week's spend, helped massively by our camping at Vaison being pre-paid was just over €100 under for the week.

Thursday dawned bright and breezy and perfect for a laundry and housekeeping day. Jase put his engineering skills to great use to create numerous washing lines for me, not as easy as it sounds on a pitch almost all "in the shadow" as the French say. With plenty of time on our hands, we also had our 2nd go at pizza cooking - brilliant fun, although a meal that requires patience as we cook to order. Lovely though and a great achievement in a camper van.

Friday was again lovely and warm, so Jase opted for the "best bike" and headed off on a longer ride around the area. My morning was spent initially at the supermarket for a few supplies - here it turns a bit embarrassing! The Super U is very well stocked, and is about 2km from the van, so I could only buy what I could carry. In fairness, I didn't have too much of a list, but it was probably the best stocked supermarket I'd seen for some weeks, so it was hard not to "go mad"! Still, I wondered around, making notes of good prices ready to relay back to Jase. One of the things on my list was bread flour - hmmm, that shouldn't be too tricky, just look for white powder with a reference to "pain"! Sorted that with the help of google translate (flour is farine) and of course France being the gastronomic country it is, there are about 10 different types of flour, depending on whether you want patisserie or brioche etc. I ended up wimping out a bit and selecting Farine du Pizza!

My 2nd supermarket faux pa was in the veg aisle - now I know that in France they tend to weigh and sticker up the produce once selected. I went round and round this particular aisle before coming to the conclusion that maybe this supermarket was an exception. I am sure you can all imagine what happened at the checkout - refusal on my tomatoes and garlic! Fortunately, the cashier realised I was English and kindly held the rest of my shopping while I went back to get my sticky labels, telling me to use the self-serve as that would be quicker. I headed back to the veg aisle to spot the weighing area, which bizarrely in this instance the customer is not trusted to do themselves, so with some queuing system which seems more akin to sunbed saving poolside, I managed to get my labels and bravely headed for the self-serve. Cue my 3rd embarrassment - I started doing the business, only to have another cashier bark something at me which I later worked out to mean "you can't use that checkout if you don't have our bank card"! I headed to the next available checkout and stuffed in as many coins as I could, just wanting the ordeal to be over now! Fortunately, I was almost there. I headed back to the original checkout with my receipt and the cashier handed the rest of my shop over, and I walked back to camp, pleased I'd got what I wanted, although not without incident!

Once the shopping was stowed, I headed for a more relaxed walk into Vaison-La-Romaine and up into the old town for some stunning views. At the bottom of the old town is the Pont Romain bridge over the Ouveze river, originally built back in the 1st century AD. The bottom also houses a war memorial to both wars. Cobblestone alleyways known as "calades" carve through the stone walls up to the 12th century chateau with the best views of the town and surrounding hills.

Saturday was again bright and breezy, so after a bit of a lazy start, we headed out on the bikes for a lovely loop around the local area. The lavender may not be in bloom yet, but poppies are springing up everywhere!

And so, now it's Sunday, and miles colder than we've had for days! Feeling smug that we didn't pack our warm clothes away just yet, but trying to resist putting the heating on. If the weather forecast is to be believed, it probably is set in for today & part of tomorrow, but then should be back to warmer and sunnier conditions - well, here's hoping anyway!

As I've gone a bit early with the blog, I don't yet have a question from my sister, so I'll include one of my own, and one I regularly ponder on arrival at the next campsite - showers. You'd think all you really want would be some warm water, and yes to a degree that is true, but when you don't have the luxury of a whole bathroom at your disposal, other elements become important too - these are my top 5 things I like (but rarely get) in a shower experience:

1. Adjustable water temperature
2. A hook for my shower bag
3. A rose to dispense a decent spray pattern (this isn't always a given!)
4. A place to keep my shoes close without them getting wet
5. Somewhere to put my shower gel, shampoo etc - no one likes having to bend down and hit their person on the wall/door/curtain

And that's it, not too much to ask is it?! I think in the 8 weeks we've been away I've scored a max of 4 out of 5 so far, but watch this space!

Into next week then, mum and Paul arrive tomorrow, and will bring the sunshine hopefully! There isn't too much of an agenda to the week, a bit of sightseeing and a bit of catching up, maybe hire a car to strike further afield hopefully. Our plan after that is a bit weather dependant (as always), but we are hoping to go south and find the sea!

Til then, stay safe all, and see you next week

J&J