I was up at 5:30 am this morning (thursday Sept 28th) ready to go. After sleeping for 12 hours I have adjusted to the new time zone. That was easy. But not so fast. Around 3 pm today I was ready for bed. We were still touring towns and looking for a good place to eat. It could have been the lack of food today that had something to do with the change. We were so focused on getting out there and seeing stuff we failed to do the basics like feed ourselves.

We left the Airbnb around 9:30 am and our first stop is Roussillon because it’s market day – and French markets are outstanding. The open air markets are really wonderful places to interact with locals and see what the local culture has in store for you. We got there and parked and 2 wonderful couples from Michigan helped us with the parking meter (and even gave us 30 centimes because we didn’t have enough change!). Our first glimpse of the market was a musician singing a wonderful French song overlooking the valley below. The market was in a parking lot between 2 spectacular vistas. The town is perched on a hilltop and you can see for miles and miles around the countryside.

We wandered around the market where they displayed everything from prescription glasses to anchovies. They had an olive bar, lots of scarves and dresses, vegetables, and bread and jams. It is wonderful to see all of the items but just as fun is to watch the people and listen to the conversations. Trying to pick up where people are from. Its a BEAUTIFUL day and its time for coffee and donuts … I mean Croissants. Bunny asked someone for a suggestion as to where we may find a nice cafe for a cafe’ practicing her French language. We were directed to a nice little cafe’ we a gorgeous view over looking the valley below.

After a little coffee .. I mean LITTLE ..

we were off to explore the town of Roussillion. The town actually sits above the market so it was an uphill climb. We toured the town and then off to the next destination. Our next visit is to a town called Gordes. not more than 15 minutes away. The town looks spectacular from just outside the city, but we got inside and it was crowded with cars and people. We did a little picture taking and wandering around and then its time for a late lunch.

The main attraction next to Gordes is the Abbey. So we visit that and then the next little Beautiful town not to far away was Vesanques. So we set our sites on that town. It turned out to be VERY small with no real amenities for food. We were now in food mode. It was 3 pm and we had neglected our need for food. I was tired and hungry. So we headed toward Menerbes. A nice town on the other side of Robion from where we were. After some wrong turns we finally were on the way. We parked and walked up to find a nice little restaurant ( by nice I mean “OPEN”) and sat in the courtyard and had Omelettes and salad. It was really nice to sit and talk and watch people milling around the town. We had our meal, toured the town and now its time to call it a day. I am bushed. The jet lag had caught up to me. We got in the car and drove back to the Airbnb and I was asleep by 5:30 pm. Hopefully I will catch up soon Tomorrow is another full day of driving. (More on driving in France tomorrow .. I love driving here).

Au Revoir