A walk around the village of Mormoiron under a blue sky..

Not another hilltop village!

Our drives out here in Provence inevitably lead to a hilltop village - there is one around every bend, it would seem! This is Sault which sits 45 minutes to the east of Carpentras.

  

If you are going to have wind farms couldn't they look like this?

Windmills in Saint-Saturnin-lès-Apt, Vaucluse

Another revisit - Roussillon

Our visit to the village of Roussillon here in Provence was as a reminder of past visits and a search for memories. We both thought we remembered standing on the steps of the church taking in the great surrounding views but as it turned it it was not here! Though it was still worth it for the views and the stroll around the picturesque maze of streets and squares.

We managed an alfresco lunch on the terrace shown above but had we known the Mistral wind was about to pick up it may have been a different choice of location - it got a little chilly - as you can probably tell from this pic of fellow diners - and they actually had a little protection from the wind.!

In spite of the wind we enjoyed our visit and walking along the colourful streets makes this one of the 'must see' villages of the region 

Going to Gordes...a revisit

Yesterday we visited the hilltop village of Gordes, a place we first visited in 1992 and also returned with friends Mike & Liz in 2008. The drive along the gorges is quite scary but worth it as the village is breathtakingly beautiful as you approach it!

It was good to remind ourselves of the walks around the place and the suroounding views are to die for!

A visit to Isle sur la Sorgue in Provence.

After the brocante at Carpentras on Sunday we headed down to the pretty town of Isle sur la Sorgue on Francoise's recommendation as not only was there more treasure to search through but there was also the weekly market. It is a charming place part of which stems from the effect of the numerous canals cut from the river Sorgue which run through the town. There are still many active waterwheels throughout the town - a testament to its industrial past. 

This one reflects the strong connection the town has with Scotland (it is twinned with Penicik in Midlothian).

The town is home to many antique and second-hand goods dealers and holds a fair sized week-end market, with it increasing greatly during the antique fairs at Easter and August 15, attracting buyers from many parts of the world apparently.

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It has an imposing church,Notre-Dame-des-Anges which has an impressive baroque interior but sadly was  closed after the service so we did not get a chance to see it. You can here.

Its market offers everything you would expect of Provence, the colours,smells and sounds. 

A case of knowing what's hot!

Meant to show this yesterday from the brocante at Carpentras - sophisticated coffee cosy? 

Wot we bot...at Carpentras broconte.

First of all what we did not buy but were drawn towards...these kinky boots...

this penguin...

these sutcases...

and I found myself attracted somehow to this overcoat!

but contented ourselves with this 'Gien' serving platter -they were asking 20 euros but got it for 13!

First brocante...revisiting marché aux puces in Carpentras

For our first brocante of the season today we visited the Sunday antique market in Carpentras it is a nice flea market (marché aux puces) in a lovely two-lined parking lot (did I really say that?).The Carpentras brocant is a 'Puces-Brocante' (flea market) which means that it’s  somewhere between a vide-grenier (garage sale) and a brocante - full-blown antique market.