The Festival of David's 50th - Part 1

On Friday 12^th we moved into our new, much larger, accommodation.  Anthony, Dennis, Carolyn and Julia arrived on Saturday afternoon.

We were rapt with the new house as it was much larger than we had anticipated and had magnificent views across to Rocher St Julien and down to Buis. 

I really liked seeing Buis lit up at night.

On Friday and Sunday we went to Carpentras for the respective food and antiques markets.  Carpentras is another town that we haven’t spent a lot of time in and which has a character filled old centre.  We really liked some of the boutique shops but decided that the antique market was essentially full of tat (Ed – I still bought 4 pairs of cufflinks).

On Monday some of us headed off on a lovely randonee that included climbing to the top of St Julien.  We have done this hike before and love the views of Buis. 

We could even pick out our soon to be cottage. 

Our new (old) house circled in Red

It was much easier to spot our holiday rental mansion on the opposite slopes.

House at bottom of picture

It was beautifully sunny in the morning although it became a little more overcast in the afternoon.  We stopped for an improvised lunch of pain, saucisson and frommage.  Along the way Dennis entertained us with renditions of the MAD Magazine versions of various songs from the Sound of Music.

The small town of La Roche sur Le Buis, one km past the rental house

          

Barbra and Rob arrived on Monday night.  On Tuesday we went to Vaison to get supplies for my birthday dinner the following night.  Following our experience with the butcher in Buis, I was determined to properly marinate chicken pieces for Coq au Vin.  I found the largest chicken thighs and drumsticks that I’ve ever seen.  I hope I never run into these giant chickens alive.

We also liked this array of herbal teas, some of which we think must be a joke.  E.g. Tisane Col et Sterol.

After the market we enjoyed an excellent meal at the Michelin recommended, Bistro Du’o.  This is the restaurant that had been extremely difficult to book, but it was worth persevering with.  We enjoyed our lunch so much that we made another booking for the following Tuesday.

Incidentally, Anthony and Dennis commented that they had also been struggling with restaurants being ‘exceptionellement ferme’.  We think that many restauranteurs and shop keepers must see the opportunity to take a break between Christmas and the arrival of spring.  If they feel like taking an extra week of holidays above what they had originally planned, they just do it and stick a sign in their window saying ‘exceptionellement ferme’.

After lunch we wandered around the medieval town and Anthony and Dennis and Dale and I bought some photographic artwork, which is currently proving challenging to transport home.

Dale and I came back ahead of the others so that I could start preparing the following night’s Coq au Vin.  Here I am on the terrace enjoying a virgin mary and wearing one of my new Provencale tabliers (aprons).

Many gorgeous sunsets over the weeks

Wednesday arrived and that meant that I had reached 50 years.  The weather was abysmal, I suspect it was commiserating with me.  Nevertheless, we managed to wander down to Buis and around the market in constant rain.  Barbra and Rob continued valiantly with sightseeing but the rest of us pretty much hung out in the house.  At one point Carolyn went out to get some extra supplies for dinner and took a scenic route and reported back that it was snowing about a hundred metres higher up the road. 

I spent much of the afternoon very enjoyably in the kitchen.  I don’t think that I would have enjoyed spending my 20^th or 30^th birthdays cooking.  But at 50 it’s incredibly enjoyable.

Drinking is nice too

Manuela and Clemens arrived about 7.30 and that kicked off a long evening of food, wine and conversation.  Manuela and Clemens had driven from Switzerland for about 7 hours, including through falling snow.  I received some great presents: beautiful cufflinks from Julia and Carolyn and also from Catherine, Paul, Malcolm, David and Stuart; dinner at Bistro Guillaume in Melbourne from Barbra and Rob and an amazing hamper from Manuela and Clemens that included a 150 jigsaw puzzle of a picture of Dale and me in the snow in Zug last year.  Anthony and Dennis bought me a wonderful French comic book about a hapless fox, which Dennis said had him chuckling away for hours.

On Thursday I woke up and reflected that I now need to say that I’m 50.  I have to say that I don’t really like the sound of it.  Perhaps I will just say that I’m 49 for a little while longer. 49 is the new 37.

We also awoke to the unpleasant realisation that we had absolutely no running water.  We ran around the house trying to work out whether there were any pumps that were not working.  This was thanks to Barbra, who advised that she had read lots of books about people moving to renovate properties in France who are always having problems with their water pump.  We decided that that this probably wasn't our problem because we appeared to be on the town’s main water supply.

When we rang the owner, monsieur Alain, he quickly asked whether we had had heavy rain the night before, which we had.  He said this often results in an electrical problem with the water pumps at the local water station.  He said that we probably wouldn’t be the only ones affected and that it would probably be fixed within an hour.  Dale and I decided to walk down to the next door neighbour to see whether he was also out of water.  He was very charming and insisted on shaking our hands and exchanging ‘bonjours’ before entering into any discussions.  He assured us that he was also without water and that the electricity company was advising everyone that the problem would be fixed by lunchtime.

So, without showers and toilets we decided to head into town to have some breakfast and to use toilets.  

Afterwards, we all went to have a look at the cottage in Buis.  Here are some of the photos that Dale has taken.

Ground floor kitchen and dining

First floor lounge

First floor bathroom

Second floor main bedroom

Second floor second bed

Third floor bedroom & toilet

Third floor balcony room

In addition, there is also a basement, and a mezzanine above the third floor bedroom, so essentially it is a 5.5  storey house.

As an added bonus, this gorgeous cat lives next door.  His name is 'Lucky', but the french pronunciation is more like 'Lukey'

We then went on to Nyons.  Barbra and Rob departed for 6 days in Beaune in Burgundy but returned for 3 nights on Wednesday the 23^rd.  We wandered around Nyons, enjoying the market, and stopped for lunch at Les Petits Amis where we had had lunch a couple of weeks before.

Julia and Carolyn deep in conversation

Manuela and the apple of her eye

On the way back we stopped at a delightful mohair farm where we met the goats and bought some bits and pieces. 

Awwwww so cute

We drove back via the Col d’Ey and everyone enjoyed the trees in blossom and the views from the Col. 

Hello Clemens

This great view of Buis as you come back from the Col d'Ey shows how close it is to Le Mt Ventoux

When we got back the water was back on.  We were all very relieved.  That night we went out to a restaurant in nearby Entrecheaux.  This involved ordering 2 taxis to transport us there and back.  Everything worked swimmingly and the taxi drivers even knew how to find the house because they know monsieur Alain.  Fiona arrived to stay in Mollans sur Ouveze during the day (because there wasn’t room in the house until Saturday) and we picked her up on the way.

The Restaurant, St Hubert, had been recommended to us and we mostly had wonderful meals and the service was charming.  The only downsides were that we ate too much and Anthony and Fiona both succumbed to food poisoning about 24 hours after having eaten shell fish.  We think that the cockles were the culprit because Clemens also had seafood but didn’t eat any cockles and didn't get sick.  We will go back to the restaurant but will recommend staying away from the seafood.

We had a leisurely start on Friday morning because lunch had been booked at a restaurant called Le Pre du Moulin, which has received a Michelin star.  It is located in a small town north of Orange and we all really enjoyed our meals even though we had eaten a lot the night before.  The service was very professional and efficient and the food was marvellous.  I decided to push my luck in a Michelin starred restaurant by asking for a spoon to share Manuela’s dessert with her.  This was permitted although some fun had to be made of this gauche request. i.e. Manuela had to confirm that she was happy to share her dessert.

Pre du Moulin

After lunch we all went off on separate sightseeing trips.  Anthony and Dennis and Carolyn and Julia went off to see the Theatre Antique in Orange and Manuela and Clemens went to Avignon.  Dale and I went to see some Provencal hill top towns including Gigondas and Beaume de Venise which are famous for their wines.  We drove up to a small winery called Domaine des Escaravailles outside Roaix.  This involved negotiating charming small roads that ran between vineyards (Ed. and grey areas of car hire insurance).  We had drunk a bottle of wine from this winery when we had lunch at Bistro Du’O and had really liked it.  We enjoyed our tastings and decided to stock up on some wine for the following week.

Very pretty town of Gigondas

Amazing Avenue leading out of Malaucene

The curse of the Renault Captur struck again, this time Fiona suffering a puncture.  Unfortunately she was starting to feel the effects of the dodgy seafood from the night before and decided to head back to her gite after lunch rather than going to Orange.  In between towns she was forced to pull off the road.  Hertz roadside assist promised to send someone but failed to do so, not once but twice.  Finally after waiting over 3 hours and with failing light a tow truck turned up.  As he started to change her tyre, we happened to drive by in time for this jolly photo.

The tyre was replaced with the space-saving spare, which was only good for 50km.  Being Saturday night, we had to wait until Monday morning to take the car to the Renault garage in Buis, only to be advised that the tyre was cactus (Citroen joke intended).  We advised Fiona to drive to Avignon on the spare tyre to front Hertz for a new car rather than wait another day for the correct tyre to be ordered and delivered.  She spent the remainder of her time in a Yaris.

Randouvève

On Sunday afternoon last week we went on our first hike with Radouvèze, the local hiking club.  They organise two hikes per week published in a 3 monthly schedule. There is a shorter one on the Sunday (approx. 3 hours) and a longer one each Thursday (approx. 7 hours).  Dale called the Club President and he said that we could come along for two randonees without having to join.  We have now done two and decided to join as an act of good faith for the future, and we may do another walk before we leave.

Everyone has been welcoming and there seems to be a lot of joking around, some of which we understand and some that we don’t.

Sunday’s hike started in the hills about 10 kms north west of Buis in the town of Benivay.  It was sunny but the wind was very cold.

Around the Drome there are various gorgeous road signs like this

We climbed through delightful olive groves and orchards and got great views of Mt Ventoux and Rocher St Julien. 

Apricots and Olives share the hillsides

The local Benivay people have upped the ante on trail signs with these fancy numbered markers

The randonees are very well organised.  Someone is at the front with a walkie-talkie and there is someone else who is at the rear who also has a walkie-talkie.  Everyone shouts ‘voiture’ (really pronouncing the ‘r’ because we are in the south) and ‘moto’ if you are about to be passed by a car or a motorbike.  And we were passed by three motorbikes while on a steep narrow walking track, which technically motorbikes should not be on.

On Monday we had a relatively quiet day and started turning our attention to getting organised for the arrival of our friends from Saturday 12^th.  One of our ‘chores’ was to stock up on some champagne and vin rouge, so we dutifully cleared the local supermarket out of one type of champagne and one vin rouge. When Dale brought our hire car around to load all the grog into, he noticed a strange warning signal which indicated that the car should be taken to a Renault dealer.  This resulted in the car being towed away later that day, and Dale having to get a taxi to Avignon on Tuesday (127 Euros paid for by Hertz) to pick up a replacement car.

Happily, we got a fancier version of the Renault Captur and Dale really enjoyed his taxi ride.  He said that he chatted all the way to Avignon with the driver who was a fascinating woman who lives near Buis.  She apparently has 3,000 square metres of land with olive trees that yield 300 litres of olive oil and she pays the local cooperative 4 Euros per litre to press the olive oil.   Apparently the going market rate for olive oil is 15 Euros per litre, so it is a nice little earner as a hobby.

Not sure about the colour, but the extra 20kw, extra gear ratio and GPS are welcome

On Tuesday we met with the locale Notaire who must arrange the sale and purchase of properties for both the sellers and the buyers.  Notaires are lawyers, appointed by the French Government, who are responsible for drawing up certain legal documents but they don’t do any adversarial work.  They also have a monopoly on property related work.  The Notaire in Buis, Maitre Perrossier inherited the business from her father and the family business can apparently be traced back to 1558.   She is extremely charming and very chic.

We have also been to the movies four times because Buis now has an operational cinema, which we are very excited about.

Furthermore, it shows some movies in their original language with French sub-titles.  It appears that the French are no longer insisting on foreign movies being dubbed into French to the same degree as in the past.  We have seen 45 years and Carol, both in English, as well as a French comedy.  We also saw Pride in English which we had seen last year, but the session was being sponsored by the local chapter of Amnesty International and there was a talk afterwards.  So we went along to see the film again and enjoyed it immensely the second time too, and afterwards we sat listening to the general discussion about political persecution of GLBT communities around the world.  We were pleased to be able to follow most of what was discussed.  Afterwards in the foyer (wine and chips supplied) we were asked by someone who knew we were anglophones what exactly the word ‘straight’ meant.  Quite funny trying to explain this concept if you don’t know the word for ‘bent’ in French.

We have made it an aim to walk around the little ‘suburbs’ of Buis in order to get to know the town better.  We’ve really enjoyed these walks and have seen some great scenery from the hills on the northern side of town.  We have been quite taken by the number of houses being built amidst the olive groves.  We have also discovered that Buis has a hospital although no emergency department.

The apricots are coming

We strolled through the Buis market on Wednesday, buying more supplies for our upcoming weeks with friends.  We also brought picnic supplies and headed off on a driving circuit recommended in the Michelin Guide for the Ardeche and the Drome.  The full circuit ended up taking us 5 hours and it was absolutely fabulous.

The major highlight was the view of the South Eastern Alps, and the Durance Valley, from the Col de Perty.  We decided that this was a good place for our picnic, which we had sitting inside the car because it was too cold outside.  But we had great views while we ate our lunch.

The southern alpes at the horizon

Further on we got some great views of Mt Ventoux from the North East.

The other highlights were wondering around Montbrun-les-Bains and driving through the Toulourenc Gorge.

Montrun-les-Bains is designated as one of the most beautiful villages in France and has a beautiful bell tower and an ancient fort at the top of the town, which is built on a hill side.  The interior of its church is also apparently stunning but it was closed.  This is the downside of travelling at this time of the year.  There is also a spa centre that was closed, but does open from Monday the 14^th, so perhaps there is still time to soak in a spa, sweat in a sauna and hang out in a Hammam.

The Toulourenc Gorge is incredibly narrow and follows the river of the same name that runs between two mountains.  There are sheer rock faces on either side that look like they have been carefully laid by ancient stone masons.  The water is clear and tumbles over rocks to form little waterfalls from time to time.  Apparently there are a lot of great hiking opportunities in summer.

Interesting that you need the distances in kms to 3 decimal places and that everywhere happens to be exactly within 0.5 of a km from here.  Cut sign though

On Thursday we went off on the longer hike with Randouvèze.  It took 8 hours and we were exhausted by the time we finished but it was one of those wonderful days that we will never forget.  The hike began near St Auban (about a 15 minute drive away) and it was a gloriously sunny day.  We got a lift with a delightful man call Jean-Noel, who we also chatted to a lot during the hike. 

There were 32 of us in total and the hike began with a long ascent during which we got excellent views of the Ouveze Valley and St Auban. 

Along the way we were told that we could go and look at some bear caves.  This firstly involved making a very steep descent for a few minutes.  About 10 of us went down. We chose to go down the most difficult part on our backsides.  The cave was very interesting.  It went a long way into the hill side and we only followed it about 20 metres until it reached a big hole but we could see it continuing on the other side of the hole.

The average age of the group would have been 60 something but there was one lady, Virginie, who was in her early 80s.  Virginie is a veritable mountain goat and out-paced almost every one up the climbs.  She was born in the Dolomites in Italy but married a French man and moved to France when she was young.  At one stage we were walking through some snow and as I rounded a corner I got hit with a snow ball thrown by Virginie and she had a second one ready for Dale.

The spritely Virginie in centre of the photo in the pink top

We stopped for lunch in an open grassy clearing with valley views. 

Lunch french style

We were quite organised and pulled out our pre-cut sausage, cheese and bread.  However it seems that we weren’t really that organised because we hadn’t brought any alcohol or cups.  About 10 of the men started pulling out alcohol and insisting that we have some.  People rustled up some cups for us and I’m sure that I tried about 4 different types.  I couldn’t try all because my cup was constantly full.  Catherine, who I was sitting next to, warned me that we still had a steep descent to undertake and that I shouldn’t be afraid to say no.

This was all very well but next a lady appeared with a dropper and was squeezing something, which turned out to eau de vie, into everyone’s mouth and it got more outrageous when Francis appeared with one of the biggest syringes I’ve ever seen. 

Dr Francis and his various medicines

This was his home made prune eau de vie.  In the other hand was a flask of his home made limoncello.  Catherine remarked drily that this was not limoncello and that next time she would bring the proper stuff. At this point we realised that Randouvèze is primarily a drinking club.  Virginie sidled up towards the end of lunch and said that we should remember always to bring a cup (for drinking alcohol) and a knife to cut the saucisson.

Everyone was very chatty and we got lots of lovely compliments about our French.  A few of the guys insisted on telling us all about the local flora.  Thyme grows wild throughout the region and we learnt that there are over 400 different types of Thyme.  There are also many different strains of lavender and we got a long explanation about why the lavender smell remains in the plant long after the flower is dead.  I got to try juniper berries and was told that it is used to make sauerkraut.  I’ve never made sauerkraut so this was something that I didn’t know.  There were crocuses growing wild (the stamens are used to make saffron).

We also got to know Stephen, who is from Manchester, and came to live in Buis permanently about 7 or 8 years ago.  He and his wife moved here without being able to speak any French but have taken lessons and have found it a really nice community to live in. Hopefully that augurs well for the future.

The name Buis comes from this tree, which although usually green, can turn various shades of  yellow/orange