Provence in June

For five days in June we went to the Cotes du Rhone area of Provence. We were fortunate to find two out of the way hotels that were tucked into the hillsides. We were off the beaten track which meant good food, good wine, beautiful scenery, no crowds and ...no English. So lots of practice for our French. It was very warm (95), dry, and really reminded us of California. It made us a little home sick.

Our first hotel was up in a canyon with beautiful, craggy mountains behind us. It was quiet and beautiful in that French country way. The owners of the hotel were very kind and helpful...mostly in French. Above is a picture of our outside area of our room. Below is the terrace where we ate all of our meals. In the afternoon it was relatively cool under the trees and in the evening it was absolutely beautiful.

We took a half day wine tour with a local wine maker who happens to be British. We learned so much about the Chateauneuf du Pape area and why the wines are so fabulous.

So rocky soil make for fabulous wine because the wines must develop deep roots. The vineyards were FULL of huge rocks. We went to two very different domaines on the tour. One that allows only the "terroir" to influence the wine. The terroir can be very loosely translated as "a sense of place" which is embodied in certain qualities, and the sum of the effects that the local environment has had on the manufacture of the product-sun, rain, soil quality, wind, etc. So pretty much you get what you get and that makes it interesting. The other domaine does more Californian style wines which means they mess with them artificially. That way they manufacture wines that taste the same year after year. We liked the "terroir" wines much better- more complex and interesting.

Here's a picture during our tour. The winery's dog sat patiently while the tour guide explained the wine to us.

Our next hotel had a swimming pool and since it was 95 degrees or so, we were happy! The hotel backed onto a beautiful hillside village and also had wonderful food and grounds.


French Rose on a hot afternoon...ah! We had the best wine and the best food we've every had in our lives on this trip. The food was simple but complex as was the wine. Fantastic!

We took a couple of long drives through the countryside to see the lavender fields (the main purpose of our trip). Everywhere you went the air smelled sweet. There was no one else on any of the roads we drove on. It was like we had the area to ourselves. Fantastic!

A small village we stopped at.

Lavender drying.

Fields waiting to be picked. Lavender as far as the eye could see.

Little farms along the way sold their goods. Here be bought lavender oils, soaps, and honey. It was a little family run store and farm. How cool?

Another town nearby full of Roman ruins. Those wacky Romans were everywhere! Here's one of their bridges.

No trip to France is complete without going to one of their fantastic flea markets. Here's one we ran into on a drive.

More lavender layered with wineyards.

For those of you who don't know French- "Private Property. Do not enter. Crazy Cat."

Another cute village.