I am now in Paris and if you haven't guessed, there was no internet access either at Guyonne's or it seemed in the entire town of Vaison. I did ask around but from what I gathered I had to walk 25 minutes to get to a cyber cafe, which was in another town. Anyway, I checked into a hostel here in Paris for just 1 night and I will look around for different accommodations perhaps. I have to get in touch with Duncan, my contact here. Also I need to find a better cyber cafe so I can upload some amazing pictures of Vaison. And what do you know...
The next morning for breakfast we had bread with various jams made right in Vaison, grapes, freshly squeezed orange juice and coffee. Then it was out the door to walk around the Roman ruins. In 2 AD the Romans came here and liked it so much that they decided to stay and build. Once a ticket is purchased (Guyonne said I was a cousin so she paid 1/2 price and got in free herself) we had free access to the Roman town, the amphitheater and the museum. Back in the States, there would have been ropes leading you in one direction or another with security stationed strategically. Not here. We could have hopped on columns or picked up ancient stones. It is very lassiez-faire. Some history on the town: Back in 2 AD the Romans built a bridge over the Ouveze River. During WWII, the Germans set out to blow up every bridge. They succeeded except when they came to the Roman bridge. Setting explosives at the base, they detonated it and only one large stone block fell, leaving the rest of the bridge intact and workable. Also, in 1992 there was a flood. The town received the same amount of rain in 4 hours as they normally do in 4 months. Every bridge was damaged and destroyed. Except for the only bridge the Romans built. What an amazing feat of engineering.
Amphitheater:
Old Roman toilets (which I did not use):
After we checked out the ruins, we drove to a medieval village, built into a mountain side overlooking a gorge. Brantes was amazing and "is positioned high up on a rocky slope, looking down to the valley of the Toulourenc, a temperamental mountain stream." Here we met Guyonne's friends, Evalan, Michael and their daughter Claire and had lunch overlooking the valley. There was no menu and no one ordered. The first course was individual plates of various pate's and...head cheese!, along with crisp lettuce and ripe tomatoes. Next we had beef that melted in the mouth and the homemade spaghetti was perfect by itself. Along with bread and a bottle of wine it was a great meal. Oh, and cheese and raspberry ice cream to top it off. Speaking of cheese, they eat cheese here after dinner, not before, to cleanse the palate. And we had a very sharp blue cheese called Roquefort, first made in the area long ago when a goat herder wanted to escape the elements, found a cave, and aged the cheese in the moisture of the hillside.
The view from our seats:
The town we explored after lunch:
Okay, it is 3:00 in Paris and I have to go explore! I'm meeting Duncan somewhere for drinks (I'm calling him around 6). There is more to tell about dinner in Vaison and the market we went to yesterday. But Paris is calling and all that! Hope everyone is well and you will hear from me soon (now that I know where a good internet cafe is!).
Bye!
4 comments :
Oh my great goodness... Now I really wish I had taken those few days to travel along. Oh well, next time! Enjoy Paris - one of my favorite towns.
Peter you lucky bastard, this sounds just fantastic.
Wow, all of this makes me want to quit my job and move to Europe right now!! BTW, it looks like Super Monkey has a weirdly yellow eye? what's up with that?
Sounds incredible PMF! Sounds like you are absorbing and enjoying every minute.
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