Holiday Day 20 – Nothing

Today nothing really happened, it was a typical end of cottage stay when we start to really wind down. There was that laze in bed, the relaxed purchase of breakfast, and the even more relaxed breakfast.

Oh yes I did do the washing and had a swim before lunch, it was just so hot. Much reading was done then another swim, and then a relaxed dinner. Oh yes there was an energetic game of Scrabble and an intense debate with Marion about how to deal with the migrant issue at Calais. We completely differ.

So I will mention a UK political issue. During the election campaign the Transport minister promised on our local television that the railway line between Manchester and York would be electrified to schedule. Even then the specialist press doubted that this was possible in the schedule predicted. Now seven weeks after the election the programme is cancelled. They lie to get your votes and then…..

Also an interesting commentary on the Lib Dem election campaign in today’s Guardian. Echoes my thoughts that their campaign was too much about who the party would enter a coalition with and too little about what they 

Holiday Day 19 – How to relax

Having made a list yesterday I am getting into a pattern. I want to illustrate how we relax on holiday with reference to what we have done today.

11)    There is no alarm clock – I awoke at 8am, Marion was still slumbering so until she woke up about an hour later I read my book, it is about football scouts. Note for Ben - it analyses Colchester’s performance against Charlton in 2012 in great detail.

22)    Keep things simple – The nearby boulangerie is shut on a Wednesday so there were no croissants today. Instead fresh melon, baguette, jam, and of course a big mug of coffee were our breakfast fare.

33)    Exercise – Marion brought her exercise tapes from the US with her, so we spent an enjoyable 30 minutes by the pool doing our cardio, strength, and flexibility.

44)    Cool off – It was straight in the pool afterwards, well strictly speaking this bit only applies to Marion, I cooled off by watching her.

55)    Eat well and slowly – We returned to our favourite auberge in the hills. There we ate a three-course lunch on an outside terrace over looking Mont Ventoux. It took well over two hours.

66)    Go slowly – We found a new route back through some beautiful gorges. We were so slow that even bikes could keep up with us.

77)    Be open – Well this is our luxury, the convertible means that we see so much more. It also means that because we are open to the elements all the time we have gone a rather lovely nut brown.

88) Exercise mentally – This evening was another Scrabble game, Marion was the overwhelming winner. Probably because she cooled off better.

99)    Go to bed early – After all that we both feel very tired.

Also part of our day was an afternoon’s swim, some book reading, and in my case an evening walk. I now feel tired just thinking about relaxing!

Holiday Day 18 – Tips for enjoying a French Market

To the first timer and casual observer French markets are a bewildering affair, particularly the larger ones. It is easy to waste huge amounts of time and not buy anything that you wanted. You can also spend a surprising amount of money. So based on our many years experience and with the example of today in Vaison here are some tips.

11)    Get there early – For many reasons, firstly it always difficult to park as inevitably the market takes much of a town’s prime car parking space. We arrived in Vaison this morning at 08:30 much later and we would have either been circling the streets or parking a long way from the market.

22)    The early bird catches the worms – In general it is less crowded at 9am and so easier to see what you are buying and have a chance to pick over products and converse with stallholders. The best things are sold early. French housewives are brilliant at snaffling the best produce, leaving the second rate to the latecomers.

33)    Have a list of what you want – It is very easy to get distracted, you will spend hours looking a unsuitable Provencal pots or wonder why they sell camouflage netting. Have a list and stick to it.

44)    Reconnoitre – You are much better the second week because you know where the stalls are. Usually there are sectors for each type of stall. For instance the grocery stalls maybe all in one road.

55)    Look at who is popular – Marion wanted to buy some garlic and there were competing stalls. One was far more popular and yes by choosing it Marion got a bargain.

66)    Get out early – An hour tramping round a market is enough for most sane people. Besides which our bag got extremely heavy. It was far better to drive away at 10:15 and have a quiet restorative coffee in our local village.

So we had a successful day at the market, we bought some outstanding produce including the juiciest strawberries we have eaten all summer and some delicious dried ham.

There is always something comic, today’s was a couple pushing what looked like a an enclose pram, inside not a baby but two terrier dogs!

I hope that this inspires you to visit the market when you are in France.

Holiday – Day 17 Olives, olives and more olives

Today we decided to explore Nyons, which is about 10 miles from our cottage. It is reputedly the centre for olive growing in the region. We had no great hopes as it is outside the area of our Provencal guidebooks. It was only a short drive and relatively easy to park. Once again there was no payment for parking relatively close to the town centre, English towns take note.

As we had no guide we headed straight for the modern tourist office where a helpful lady explained the layout of the town. (Note to the English Tourist Board, even the smallest town has a wonderfully equipped and informative tourist information centre). We were quickly in a square that had an arcade on all four sides out of which sprouted shops and cafes. It was a smaller version of the piazzas/plazas that we had found in Italy and Spain. We had a swift reviving coffee, before heading up into the medieval town. This was a maze of small streets, no they were more like alleys that climbed to a religious shrine and a Calvary. From the top there was a wonderful view over the whole town and valley. It was great as there were very few people, and the contrast with the modern town against which this part sat was incredible.

The shops in Nyons are of course full of all things olive, oil, soap, tapenade etc. There is even a building that claims to be the World Centre for Olive Research. I expect that there is even an Olive Professor. A lovely town to which we might return.

We drove out past the Roman bridge spanning the river valley, still passable by cars so I expect that it has been modified somewhat since Roman times. Today we had made our own picnic and were fortunate to find a quiet spot by a fast flowing river to eat it.

We then drove through spectacular scenery, first onto an upland plateau that was rich in agriculture, and then as we climbed the pass we could look down on it as if it was a bowl. Then as we crested the pass we had the most wonderful view of Mount Ventoux framed by the surrounding hills. It was then back to the cottage for a cooling and reviving swim. Then we spent the evening eating and drinking in the square of the village. We walked home admiring the golden sunset over the Rhone valley. A lovely day.

Day 16 – Lazing in Provence

It will be light to late this evening; we have just come in out of the sun that is shining pink on the Provencal hill top village just 300 metres away from the house. The village casts a benign presence over all of our activities here. It looks down from the hilltop as it has done since the 12^th century. Trees and acres of vineyards surround it. The whole scene gives an aura of timelessness. It also provides us with refreshment and sustenance.

Today the winds of the past few days have died down and it has been pleasantly warm. As there was major cycling activity on the surrounding roads as amateur riders pitted themselves against the scary climb of Mont Ventoux, the only driving that I did was to collect the fresh croissants and baguettes from the boulangerie. The morning was spent reading and at around midday it was time to walk to the village for lunch. This was taken in extremely relaxed circumstances in the village square, which by 1pm was packed with diners at the three different cafes there. Note to Alison and Thomas – You are going to have to get there early on Sunday. We all had lovely Provencal dishes with fresh ingredients accompanied as usual by the local rose wine.

We said our goodbyes to Barbara and Iain who are heading north today. They have been great holiday companions and we will miss their sociability and the titanic struggles at Scrabble.

After an hour dozing with our books for an hour we decided that it was time to make use of the pool. I could tell all was not well when Marion took a long time to get under, she is normally a get wet quickly person. Well when I dived in it was a quick two lengths of the pool and out. The upside was that it was very refreshing. I decided to get my exercise by walking round the outskirts of the village.

As I write the yellow stone of the Provencal House is minute-by-minute evolving to a lovely shade of pink. In an hour the floodlit castle and church will be silhouetted against the black of the Provencal sky.