After a bright and loud lightening and thunderstorm during the night, and a somewhat fitfull sleep, we awake around 8:30 am to what would turn out to be a lovely day. We headed to APT for the market, where we found croissants and a baguette, fresh fruit and veggies, along with goat and cow cheese, sausage, and a couple of nice soaps which we needed for the apartment. We also picked up a rotisserie chicken with fried rice and noodles with veggies for an easy dinner tonight. Apt has a large market - not just food but clothing and tourist goods. There appears to be a sizeable Moslem population as well, with a whole section of the market devoted to that part of the populace. After our puchases were stashed in the car we went back to the market area and had tea and coffee at a bar.
We brought our market goods home, had a small bite to eat, and I took a good nap, while Bryant read. I had waked this morning with what I thought might be a sinus infection, but felt better as the day went on. We hopped into our little Dacia again, and drove to Bonnieux located on a steep hill. I can't imagine what it must be like here in mid-summer, when the place is crawling with tourists. There were very few visitors today - maybe half a dozen Germans, a couple of Brits, and us. We walked up to the old church at the top of the town to see the spectacular valley view, then down through the narrow streets to the center of the old village. The village is so beautiful it almost brought tears to my eyes with its stonework, ivy covered walls, plant pots arranged casually yet artfully by the entrance to these 600-700 year old buildings. Even though we know that the stone-paved streets have been restored with proper drainage, and the stone facades have been tweaked and replastered, the patina of age and elegance has not been lost.
Then it was on to the village of Lacoste, about a 15 minute drive to the west of Bonnieux. Along the way we had a marvelous view of Bonnieux from the west. Interestingly Lacoste is the site of a branch of the Savannah School of Art and Design, and we saw some students out and about. They will have muscular calves after living here for a term! We'd parked just outside the center of the village in a free public parking place and walked up into the center. Lots of beautiful doors and stonework on the steep alleyways.
On the way back to Villars we stopped at a grocery store to pick up a couple of things, and at MacDonald's where we found free wifi, and shot off some letters to family. Back at our digs in Les Petits Clements we paid the remainder of our "rent" and met Gael, Laurence's husband who is a chef. They invited us for dinner this coming Wednesday evening at 7. My hips and legs are tired after all our uphill/downhill walking today, but it's good for us. Dinner was easy, and there's plenty left for tomorrow night! Clouds look threatening tonight, but we are hoping that it will clear in the morning, when we are planning to go to Isle-sur-la-Sorgue for the brocante.....antique market.
Photos to follow are from Lacoste and Bonnieux.
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