Routine. Since my last post, we wrapped up our adventures in Provence and, after about six hours, made it to Dordogne.
After the initial shock of jet lag cleared up, the kids and I fell into sort of a routine. I wake up, then my son, he hangs with me while I have coffee, then he has cereal, then the mademoiselle wakes up and has eggs.
Then we go to the same bakery to get a baguette, a “chocolate hot dog” (that’s what R calls pain au chocolat), and maybe a croissant. Then we start going where we want to be going. By that time I have decided where I have the energy to bring them or what I want to see.
On Thursday we drove down to Camargue (the Rhône empties there) and went to the beach. In essence, Camargue is sort of like a swamp, with semi-wild horses and bulls living there, plus a huge variety of birds – pink flamingos. But we drove past all that and went to the beach. Because it was bloody hot.
We parked the car in a paid parking lot since it was impossible to find street parking. Went to the beach, then got sandwiches for lunch at Intermarché (think small Stop and Shop), and went back to the beach to eat said sandwiches. We started the drive back at around 6!
Also, Camargue is not really part of Provence. It’s more of a Côte d’Or region.
The beach day was exhausting. But the next day, Friday was worse.
I was adamant that I must see lavender fields, visit a farm, touch the tractors, speak to the farmers that make the world smell better.
So on Friday, we were up very early and drove into the mountains to do all that. Lavender in the mountains can be seen in July and even early August while in the valleys most of it has been harvested. The base is a town called Sault.
But it’s not like we got into the car and kept driving for 1.5 hours. It was like this: you pass some village and it looks cute, and you want to get out, so you get out, then you need a bathroom, then the kids want a pastry, then you see some flower boxes, then you see a cat, then you google why this village is called what it’s called. you realize you still need to keep going to your final destination. In other words, Google maps states 1.5 hours, and I need to multiply it by at least 1.5.
But we made it. The area was breathtakingly beautiful but the lavender fields were underwhelming. Most of it have been harvested.
We found a lavender farm that is also a distillery and both kids declared they want to be lavender farmers.
Then we drive a bit more in search of purple, no luck, but do find a playground! Then another cute village, then another, realized it’s lunch time, went to a crèperie, found more cats. Next thing I know- we are about two hours from our gîte since we kept going up north. The drive back was long and totally sucked.
Yesterday, was our last day in Provence and we went swimming but not before getting caught in a terrible thunderstorm! I even had to pull over and wait it out, it was so fierce.
On Saturday, lunch was at a restaurant we stumbled upon in Paradou, a tiny village next to a much bigger attraction – Les Baux-de-Provence, a village built into a rock. We drove by, and saw awful crowds, and started going up the mountain, away from those crowds. Spent some time enjoying the views, and made it home for a homemade dinner of soup, salad, and yoghurt.
Mom of Children 