Cairanne. .July 29, 2012.. and Gordes

Bon Soir

Sitting on the porch at Richard and Elizabeth’s house (it’s about midnight here); the air is cool — which is nice given how unbearably hot it is during the day; and we’ve just finished dinner. 

A pretty uneventful day– after our rather messy evening last night. Had brunch at the house (leftovers from dinner) with Mike’s brother, sister-in-law, two nieces, one boyfriend… lingered much longer than expected. The young crowd was headed to a wedding in Purtis (not to far from Aix en Provence), We agreed to drive one niece, while Elizabeth drove the others; no one’s car big enough to hold everyone. It was a 2-hour drive. 

Oh, forgot to mention that this morning when we saw the Madame of the B&B (bordello-style place), we tried (in my elementary French to explain our problem of access from last night and we learned that while the gate “appears” to be locked, it’s actually just shut and that the chain that “appears” to be locked doesn’t have a lock on it.. so you just push these large gates open and that’s that! So much for us climbing onto ledges and being saved by the little flashlight.

Once we dropped Julia off in Purtris, we headed to Gordes — a wonderful old town built into the mountain about 1.5 hours away.  We’d been there many years ago, and I had returned this past February, in the bitter cold. Seeing it today was a bit of a disappointment. The town has really become a tourist destination, overpriced everything.. Fortunately, when I was here with Carol in February we didn’t notice it was a tourist town because it was dead of winter and no tourist… just us.

But the basic infrastructure remains, .. and if you can find some way to get out of the way of the hordes of tourists (an impossibility) who are everywhere…  it’s still an incredible town… To be quite honest, it’s almost better to just drive up the mountain and see the town as you approach.. which is a spectacular sight, as the town rises in the mountains as you approach. Unfortunately, as you get close in, it’s just packed with overpriced cafes and shops, and people. Anyway, we strolled a bit, had a $30 simple salad (just some tomato slices and buffalo mozzarella… and a large bottle of sparkling water ($10).

I must say — having been to Gordes this past February with snow on the ground and freezing cold weather and having half the town just shuttered… I’d opt for February over July! Still I’m glad I went again, and I’ll always like Gordes even though I doubt I’d return for many years to come.

Then we drove back to Violes, where I could get some work done… and then back to Richard and Elizabeth’s for dinner… and there you have it. No calamities, nothing unexpected.