Though I probably would rather still be sleeping at that early hour, I know morning time with Julia is special. At no other time of day do I get to be with just her - so we stayed in her room, played on the bed (which we aren't using since she is in a travel crib) and just enjoyed looking into her eyes, tickling her toes, teaching her words, and when she was relaxing on the bed - I put my head down next to hers so we could just look at each other. A baby can really look at a face. She looks at my eyes, touches my nose, and then smiles.
Soon I had her up, dressed, and in the kitchen. She eats banana for breakfast every day. Though in France we've added cantaloupe. I fumbled through making the coffee, then listened to it gurgle as it slugged through making a pot of dark brew.
After about an hour Sara walked into the kitchen. That isn't normal. Usually she calls when she is awake, but she must have heard us in the kitchen and simply joined us.
I gave Sara cereal, and she said, "my bowl is normally more fuller than that" - (so I surmised that Dan gives her more cereal than I do!) and I gave her more 'till she patted the top of the cereal and said, "that's right."
After eating we stayed quiet so Dan could sleep. Julia played lego in the dry pool I bought back in Uzes and Sara played on the iPad. Dan got up around 9, and we left to go to the bakery soon after.
We got 2 pain de chocolate, and one raisen thing. All good. About 3.20 Euro. The girls played in the store's kid area (how wonderful!) 'till Dan joined us and we went to the car.
Day trip: Cotes du Rhone - driving tour (in our rental car)
From our guidebook:
The "Cotes du Rhone" wine road "winds north through a mountainous landscape carpeted with vines, peppered with warm stone villages, and presided over by the Vesuvius-like Mont Ventoux." "The wines of the Coes du Rhone (grown on the 'cotes' or 'hillsides' of the Rhone River Valley) are easy on your palate and on your budget."
From me:
This area is darn right beautiful. Sheer joy. Sun. Views. Fresh air. Warm stones. Happy kids.
Our day:
First stop----Le Crestet
Fired up by our bakery breads we headed to Le Crestet. Getting to Le Crestet could be in a movie. The landscape is so pretty my eyes eat it up. It is mostly green. The only break from green is the rocky houses with blue shutters that come and go as we pass by farms. Other than that it is green. Deep green on the grape vines. Soft green on the olive trees. Rustic Earthy green on the towering cypress trees.
Since it has been only 5 years since we were last here (I was pregnant with Sara) we remember this driving tour from the last time. Le Crestet is a "hill town" a tiny village founded after the fall of the roman empire. The castle is from 850 AD. Le Crestet is all about spirit. There are no drink stands, no stores, no postcards, no other tourists, and no sign of live other than yellow flowers, yawning cats, and up at the way, way, top -- around 5 bends in the tiny road -- one place to eat.
Le Crestet is made of rock. The road is rock. The buildings are rock. The tree planters are rock. If you tossed a stone, it would hit a stone. There are stone arches, stone fountains, stone churches, stone passageways, and anywhere you look is pretty enough for a picture. Unspoiled totally.
According to our guide book 35 people live there. That is hard to believe, though we did see one sparkling blue pool through a fig tree, and it is perhaps easy to think of someone who really likes solitude (and no stores!) could live here. We wandered around. It is free, and open for wandering - it is a gem of a place. Sara said, "this is terrific."
Last time we ate at the cafe there - this time it was closed. I can see why. No one else was there. How could it be open? We strolled up steps, we came to stony cross roads and picked a direction to walk (usually up and around - since it is a hill town the basic direction is up), and we soaked in the marvelous place that it is.
When we got back to our car we headed onto the next stop of the tour.
Second stop: Le Col de la Chaine Mountain Pass
The Dentelles de Montmirail mountain range is a scraggly set of rocks that jut up into the area as sheer stone. We pulled over at the mountain pass and looked at the view. It is like a painting - very unspoiled (a lack of water means it is hard to farm/live there) so wow, it is pretty.
Third Stop: Suzette
When we got to Suzette Julia was sleeping. So Dan carried her around in her car seat. We wandered into "town" (which means we went up the one street, passed the one restaurant) and looked around at the view. It was windy. The wind was blowing around Julia's hair as she slept - she looked so cute. Sara and I checked the sign on the restaurant's door to try to decipher the French. She said, "Mom, I don't think it is open Wednesdays" - stating the obvious very articulately.
Forth Stop: Food? (middle of no where France)
By now our eyes were full of views but our tummies were empty. We wanted to eat. Cute hill towns are nice, but restaurants that are open are nice too. We followed a sign with a fork/knife, only to find a tiny hotel at the end of a road with yet another closed restaurant.
5th stop: Food! (Beaumes de Venise)
We pulled out our huge (5x5 foot) Michelan map from our last trip and scored the post-it notes that were still there from 5 years ago. I had noted where all the restaurants were - and we tried to figure out where to go. We got good ideas from that, but decided to use our GPS restaurant finder instead of going on a map-based goose chase. It came up with a pizza place that was 1 minute away! We saw it, parked and found ourselves in a wine town (we were just looking for food) called: Beaumes de Venise.
Civilization! People! A tourist information center! What a day! Touring an awesome hill town in the morning, cruising past gorgeous scenery, and now we were in a new town to explore. We parked. We went to the tourist information center ready to ask where to eat. They were closed. (Most things are closed for lunch from 12-2 -- must be nice to get a 2 hour lunch break even while working at a business!) We followed our noses, and we noticed where the few other people were. Then we found our lunch. (On our way there, Sara was skipping fast and did an enormous face plant, which woke Julia up - she was still sleeping from Suzette.)
At the time we got there a few other people were at tables. One long table of cyclists (there are a lot of cyclists around) and one couple. By the time we left the whole place was full! Not hard to imagine when it is the only place to eat in the middle of all that wine road scenery!
We feasted. Sara asked for "poulet" (she likes using French when she knows the word), and Dan got "poulet" also since it was a grill place and it looked good. We were sitting on the terrace outside, but you could see into the kitchen/grill. I got a salad to start, and then a veal dish - both of which were on the chalk board as the appetizer/meal of the day. We ate and ate. The warm food soaked into our bones on the slightly chilly day that it was. (We we were in the shade on purpose - many other tables were in the sun -- and a lot of people were getting salmon to eat. It was delicious food. The veal was probably amongst the best I've had - it was stewed/roasted with a "homemade Provensal sauce" on it (that is what the menu said.) Julia ate things we gave her, and sat well on the whole, though she spent the last 10 minutes of the meal trying to eject herself from her high chair.
6th Stop: Back to Vaison La Romaine
After that the car was quiet. Sleep didn't quite happen though we were close. Back here we had an hour of quiet time, then we went swimming in the front yard pool. It was freezing cold. But Sara had fun and Julia laughed when I spun her around the pool. When they were both shaking from the cold, Sara said, "Mom, it is so warm!" and the goose bumps the size of golf balls on her arms told me otherwise. I said, "lets go inside" and both girls ran faster than I've ever seen them run towards the house.
Julia handed me her jean pants for me to put on her. I got her out of her swim suit and into her warm clothes fast. Same with Sara. Then we went for a walk.
Dan was telecommuting so it was just us. We went to the main square to a bakery I love and bought the lovely old womans last 1/2 loaf of baguette. She only had that 1/2 left!
Then we went to the grocery store in the center of town (it is nestled in with cafes on the square) and got some grape juice for Sara to try. I figure with all these grapes/vineyards the local grape juice must be good too. She said, "Mom, it is grape fruit juice." And I had to show her the label so she'd see that I meant the juice of a grape (we don't have juice normally except orange juice).
While at the grocery store I looked at the wines. There was a whole wall of local wine. Wow. Where else can you buy French wine for 2.30 Euro, 3.40 Euro, and the expensive bottle is 6 Euro? Amazing! Soda was 2.20 Euro. It is such a neat opportunity to learn about and enjoy French wine - being right where they make it. I don't really drink (maybe 3 glasses a year) so if I do have some it is more of a taste than to actually drink if that makes sense.
When we got back to the apartment (we are right near the cathedral so we are a quick walk to town) I let the girls play outside in the back yard while I made dinner. When I checked on them (every 30 seconds) I wanted to make sure they weren't blown away by the mistral wind. They say it can blow the ears off a donkey. I don't know about that, but I saw braids flying and ponytails flying, and Sara's dress went every which way as the wind swirled around her. One time Julia escaped to the front yard, and after I turned her around to go to the back yard the wind gusted. She was walking and not going anywhere since the wind was holding her back! I picked her up and carried her - a service for which I think she was grateful.
We had warm Ratatouille, gnocchi, avocado, cantaloupe, and strawberries.
Julia went to bed after dinner (after fulling walking around the whole apartment 3 times). Sara had a bath (in the pool I bought back in Uzes). Then bedtime for her too.
It was a full day. A great one.
Quote of the day:
After Sara's bath she was wrapped in a towel heading towards her room when she walked right into a wall. Thud! When I laughed at her (is that bad parenting?) she said, "I was trying to walk straight! I thought that's where my room was!" When I looked over at Dan who was telecommuting, he was smiling too.
No comments:
Post a Comment