Back in Barrou...

 

Arrived back in Barrou last night after our near 8 hour trip from Provence. Last pic from the house yesterday morning - Richard and Francoise were as ever very generous to us in all aspects of our stay,though will have to seriously get back on a regime afterthe amount of great food and wine we managed to consume during our stay. 

 

Glad I was able to help push on the village house project and Pauline and I really enjoyed helping out the 'la vendange'. 

We have again taken away great memories of this beautiful part of France.

Jobs done am - tourists again pm

Yesterday was our last day down in Provence and I managed to finish the little projects that needed done in the morning so the afternoon was spent doing more village visiting with the benefit of great local knowledge courtesy of Francoise. She took us past her first family home and school then on to the hilltop village of Blauvac

The village offers great 360 degree views

 

The second hilltop village we visited was  the nearby Methamis which again offers superb views.

There was one view we have to admit that we would never have found without Francoise - she took us along a rocky track behind the church that gave us views along the gorges. 

Well, well, well....

After our photo op by the well at Le Barroux  thought I'd feature a few more as most villages (Flassan above) around here seem to have them - some like Villes-sur-Auzon (below) have two!

Provence - our village location

No Loches market for us today but our little bit of Provence has given us a taste of the local markets here.

The village of Bedoin has to be our favourite market locally with the village we are staying in, Monmoiron, only having a small market for the locals. What the village does offer,like many in the local area, is wonderful views of Mont Ventoux.

Taking in our surroundings in Provence...

 

Another village we visited on Sunday was the pretty Crillon-le-Brave  which offers beautiful views over the surrounding countryside.

 

Barrouviens in Le Barroux

 

Yesterday afternoon we took some time out to be tourists in this beautiful part of France visiting Le Barroux a small village here in  Vaucluse.

Chateau du Barroux

In the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. 

Petit foire aux vins and coals to Newcastle.

Mormoiron  had it's 'foire aux vins' yesterday,it was a quiet affair made even more so with rain in the morning. But the sun came out in the afternoon which allowed us to check out Richard's competition.

 

 This is him talking 'viticulteur vigneron' with the new owner of the small estate that was Francoise's former family home. They have changed the name to 'Domaine Les Chancel'  and are investing heavily in promoting their new wines - which are, as we found out. very palatable. We bought some of the first rosé produced on the estate, aptly named 'Le Rosé No1' which we had to accompany our evening meal last night - very nice! We sampled and bought from a few other growers - as if we need any more wine?

Progress at the project...little steps.

 

I have been busy here in Provence with helping to advance the 'house project'. Painter & decorator (and Francoise) have also been busy since my last visit. Was good to see my steps in their finished state. 

The shape of grapes...

As we were driving from the village yesterday we noticed these colourful umbrellas among the vines and wondered what they were for. It was dull so they did not appear to be for protection from the sun nor was it raining,so why?

  

They are,as we learned from Richard and Francoise, there to protect the workers from whatever the weather throws at them. The reason they are required is because the pickers are diligently shaping the bunches of grapes to the correct shape so as to make them acceptable for the supermarkets, sad or what!  

 

Rich pickings...

 

Took a day off DIYing yesterday and joined Pauline in helping harvest Richard's vines. Spent the morning with family and friends (seven of us) under a beautiful blue sky with a stunning view of Mont Ventoux as a backdrop.

Richard loading up his trailer - we managed half a tonne in around 3 1/2 hours before he headed of to deposit them at the local wine co-operative for processing.

This is us looking quite smug enjoying some Cremont de Loire on the terrace of Olivier's house 'La Touraine' (love this connection) enjoying a great lunch laid on by Francoise.  

Comparing beards, Richard me and Olivier.

The glorious view from the terrace