Sorry to be so slow at posting - life has been busy. Wait till you see what we've been up to.
Christie and Alex will
leave today for Cassis and the start of their solo adventures. But lack of
sleep and a one-year-old put them quickly on Provençal time which is a way to
say "all in good time."
As usual, Dave, Judy,
and Janis walk to pick up our morning croissants and we have finished breakfast
and planned the day before Christie and Alex make an appearance. But no
problem. Another beautiful day and so exploring the medieval villages of
Gigondas and Vaison-la-Romaine are a good choice - not too far away, and
locations where I've been, but would not be able to use my chariot to climb
around in these hilltop villages.
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Panorama of Gigndas - a village perched on an outcropping
of rock just below the Dentelles de Montmirail
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With lunches packed,
Judy, Dave, Janis, and Clark headed off on their adventure. Meanwhile, I get to
catch up with Christie and Alex and to play with the adorable Sonna. We don't
see her often since she lives in Minneapolis and we live in Madison, but we do
try to get together once a month or so to keep up with their lives. Sonna is
walking, well, toddling, now and she is clearly fascinated by the ever-widening
world this skill brings her.
A leisurely breakfast
was followed by packing up, doing a little laundry, and gathering the baby
items I had purchased to get them started. This allowed them a couple of days
to get to a French grocery store to replenish. Diapers, wipes, and baby fruits and
veggies are standard. But since Sonna is allergic to both eggs and dairy,
epi-pen allergic, I got some soy milk and was able to read labels on baby foods
to be sure there were no eggs or dairy in any of the foods I bought.
She'll be able to eat
French bread as, by law, it only contains flour, water, salt, and yeast. No
additives of any kind which is why it's hard as a rock the next morning if you
don't freeze leftovers. But dried out French bread makes the BEST bread
pudding!
And Sonna can eat any fresh
foods. The French still eat very little processed foods and food labeling laws
are pretty strict. There's also a lot of foods labeled BIO which are grown
without pesticides or other chemicals. GMO is outlawed in France. The French
still eat mostly farm to table and shop frequently for fresh foods rather than
packaged or frozen. Not that they don't have aisles of these things, but there
are more aisles of cheese than canned veggies. Just sayin'
When Christie, Alex, and
Sonna leave, sandwiches in hand, around 1 pm, I spent a bit of time tidying the
kitchen and by 3:30 the explorers had returned with tales of beautiful views,
cool old villages, and steep pitches to walk or even climb up to get to the
tops of the villages. It's clear I could never have gone with them and my
chariot would have died on the steep hills and cobblestoned streets of these
places.
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| coat of arms for Gigondas |
Of Latin origin,
Jocunditas, pleasure or enjoyment, or "Happy Town," Gigondas was
founded as a recreational site for soldiers of the 2nd Roman Legion. While
there is evidence of occupation in the Middle Neolithic period, the visible
history of the village is medieval. I'm guessing the reason this was such a
happy town might have something to do with the fact that the vineyards, even in
Roman times, produced wonderful red wines!
In the 10th century, the
Count of Provence built a large castle on a rocky promontory on the foothills
of the Dentelles de Montmirail. This was later destroyed by order of Louis
XIV.
The area is known for
hiking trails into the Dentelles de Montmirail where the terrain provides a
gentle climb and trail heads have parking areas. Of course, Gigondas is most
well-known for its wines - hearty reds from vineyards that cling to the sides of
the mountainous terrain. In fact, searching for Gigondas history most often
brings up a history of wine-making in the town.
Once in town, this
lovely wine shop called simply Nez (Nose) was offering the local wines for
sale.
The streets are narrow
and tortuous to follow the curves of the cliff they cling to.
The climb to the castle
is difficult both up and down...
...But once up, the
views are worth the climb.
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view out over the valley below the town. You can't tell in
this photo, but those fields are all vineyards
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Having conquered one
castle, the crew continued on to a second - Vaison-la-Romaine. We'd spent a day
exploring the Roman ruins here already, but across the Roman bridge there is a
medieval village complete with castle that we hadn't explored.
Heading for the same
parking lot as before, the crew discovered that Tuesday is market day. Which is
a blessing in disguise because Judy is still searching for souvenirs to bring
back as gifts. (She found some.) Again, the medieval village is not a place I
could have explored. Like most, it clings to a craggy promontory. It is
actually the third town to be built in this location on the Ouvèze river. The
first (explored in an earlier post) was the
Roman town, whose still existing bridge is seen in the panorama photo above.
On the north west side near the Roman cemetery is the chapel of St. Quenin, a 6th century bishop of Vaison-la-Romaine. This church may have incorporated a former temple of Diana or early Roman Christian chapel into its construction as it has an unusual triangular apse which pre-dates the 12th century church.
On the north west side near the Roman cemetery is the chapel of St. Quenin, a 6th century bishop of Vaison-la-Romaine. This church may have incorporated a former temple of Diana or early Roman Christian chapel into its construction as it has an unusual triangular apse which pre-dates the 12th century church.
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| Chapelle de St Quenin |
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| Recycled Roman column incorporated in the apse of the church |
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| the triangular apse of St Quenin |
In early medieval times,
residents of Vaison clustered around the 11th and 12th century cathedral,
Notre-Dame-de-Nazareth, on the western edge of town.
By the 12th century, the
Count of Toulouse wanted to "keep an eye" on the bishopric because of
its power and influence on the opposite side of the Ouvèze river. So he built a
first a lookout tower, then a castle on the rocky outcropping of rock on the
south side of the city. He laid siege to the town in the valley several times
and finally, the residents gave in and built houses behind the skirt walls and
under the castle walls. Thus began the third Vaison-la-Romaine village.
Dave, Janis, Clark, and
Judy crossed the old Roman bridge and entered through a city gate in the
walls.
As we've found
repeatedly, tortuous, cobbled streets lead upwards toward the castle, at the
end of which the only option is to scale huge rocks to reach the castle.
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| What path? |
But as always, the views
are incredible.
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view across the river to the Roman town and in the far
background you can see the tower of the Cathedral-Notre-Dame-de-Nazareth
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Another spectacular day
of looking at old stuff. Our favorite activities are so plentiful in this
region.
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