Football, France and the Fatherland: Day 12 - Sunday, August 11th "Markets and Muscat Wine"

Alarm at 7:42 am and down for breakfast by 8:10 am. A cat was playing with a cicada it had caught. Much larger insect than expected. These cicada make noises all day through all of Provence and go silent at night. Little girl from India living in Zurich wanted to speak english to me. We leave our place around 8:30 as we were told to get to the open air Sunday market in L' Isle-sur-la-Sorgue as early as possible to find parking and beat the crowds. This is the largest outdoor market in Provence. We arrive around 9 am and finding free parking close to the market area is almost impossible. We drive down one road and find parking under a tree which will provide some shade. The market is open from 8 am to 1 pm? A little bit of a walk and we come to a large pond with a bridge over the Sorgue stream. While early, there are many people milling about and over the three hours it becomes more and more busy. What are they selling? Antiques, clothes, soaps, jams, belts, leather goods, shoes, herbs, spices, roasted chickens with roasted potatoes, lavender, mini-slicers/dicers, hats, fruits, begs, cheeses, dry hams, food, restaurants, paella stands, pottery, textiles (tablecloths) with french patterns, cooking and baking equipment as just some examples.

Old water wheel

The Sorgue 'river' that runs through the market

Our lunch of sausages

Olive wood dishes and things

Melons

small olive tree

Allium flowers (Lana's favourite)

Yummy french bread

Fruit jellies

Soaps (savons)

Lana buys a Panama hat - it looks great!

The market snakes through many streets and along the town's main thoroughfare. At the third ATM I try it actually lets me withdraw 800 Euro cash. The first two ATMs for some reason wouldn't give me the cash. Most of the merchants speak some english. So much choice and colours and in some cases aromas. We purchase some soap, tea towels, cooking herbs and Lana has her Panama hat. Sundays in Europe normally mean stores are closed. Long walk to our car which is now in the shade. Our car a/c works pretty good though. Lana programs the GPS to take us to Beaumes de Venise for their annual Muscat wine festival.

Very hot day and the GPS is working well. Drove towards Mont Ventoux past many small villages, many roundabouts and vineyards. The village of Beaumes de Venise is along the side of a hill so mostly uphill and downhill walking. We found a free parking spot as we arrived around 1 ish. It is the 70th anniversary of their wine festival. Streets are blocked off and easy to figure out where the festivities are in this small village. 3 Euro each gets you a commemorative wine class for the sampling and it comes on a string you place around your neck, a blue cloth scarf and a pamphlet providing a map locating each wine merchant's station. What a great deal! We both love Muscat wine -> pronounced moosekat. It is a white wine and when the balance of sweet and alcohol is perfect then it is the best.

Cooking demo was part of the festivities

Narrow lanes, colourful buildings

Randy sampling the yummy Muscat wine

We went into a shop first before getting into the official area. The nice lady served us pastries and a glass of Muscat wine. How gracious and generous. About 21 Domaines (wineries) are serving their wines and they are not excluded from serving their red wine. Lots of rosé wine being served. Some muscats were creme and sparkling. We bought two bottles of Muscat wine that we enjoyed and will bring home to Vancouver. I decided to focus on sampling the Muscats. There were many temporary stations, narrow lanes and some open areas. Chatted with a few merchants and one fellow in particular was an American ex-pat living and working in Provence. He offered to find us good rentals next time we are in Provence as he does property management. What a fantastic relaxing day in a small Provence village drinking wine and listening to excellent music played by small roving acoustic bands. Found some shade and relaxed as you have to pace yourself with the drinking and the heat. Very cute town full of cobblestone streets, no cars and people and families simply enjoying themselves. Yup, this is the life!

Lana drives us back to our place while I am the navigator/GPS handler. We see Toutes Directions -> Detour? GPS gets confused. Many guests by the outdoor pool when we arrive. Another windy day in Provence. I update two days of blogs while Lana naps before dinner. We lose our favourite table for dinner. Appie was red peppers surrounding goat cheese with green chives. Another beautiful night under blue skies and gentle breeze. Dinner came with a plate of couscous. Our dessert was delayed tonight for some reason. Peach was good, but not too keen on the almond milk.