Farmer's Market in Saint Remy
A view of Les Baux
Caves de Sarragon
...and hanging out on the beach near Saint Tropez
02 April 2008: From Sernhac, we headed down the street to St. Remy. They had a Wednesday morning market, like a California farmer’s market, which I love to go to, but much more. Originally, I thought we’d do more visits to markets, but haven’t been able to find them as easily. Not only did they have food, but handmade soaps, clothes, baskets, ceramics, etc. We bought edibles de plus (a lot)! Like, about three times what I expected or what we needed! I loved the locally made stuff. It’s also nice to be back in France, where biologique (called organic in the US) is more easily accessible. Ecologica (what it’s called in Spain) was really rare and hard to find in Spain. (And, no raw goat milk has been in sight since Amsterdam!) I prefer knowing what I’m eating, especially since we eat out the other half of the time. Anyway, the highlight must have been the artesian goat cheese made in the Pyranees. When I bought it, I was surprised how much it cost, but it was gobbled up within a day.
With a camper bursting full of food, we headed down the street to Les Baux, a castle town on the top of the Alpilles Mountains. Before we got there, we made a pit stop to Caves de Sarragan, for some tasting at the Sarragan Winery. Like several others around the mountain, the HUGE cave was originally dug for the stones to build the city of Les Baux, but made a great winery because it maintains a very low temperature, even in the summer. Although I don’t think their wine was much to talk about (especially with the Rhone Valley right around the corner!), we did pick up a bottle of Cremeux de Bacchus aromatize a la Lavande and some Sauvignon Blanc. The first is similar to Crème de Cassis, except it was made from lavender instead of cassis. They had a ton of other flavors, mostly fruits, but since we ARE in Provence, I got the lavender. Spanish sangria, which was my drink of choice in Spain, has been replaced by Kir (Crème de Cassis mixed with white wine) or Kir Royal (Crème de Cassis mixed with Champagne) since back in France. So now, I can make lavender Kir’s right from the camper! Yum! The Provence region of France, is where I have for a long time dreamt of visiting. Wine and lavender are two of my favorite things in life. So, I guess I can’t go wrong here!
Les Baux was a very cute castle town with narrow, cobblestone streets filled with cafes and touristy knickknack shops. There were also ruins that you could pay to see. It was very similar to Carcassonne. We were amazed how they could dig stones out of the mountainside so high up, and build this great city. The views were amazing as we sipped our drinks from a café.
We headed back toward the coast to a campground near St.Tropez to spend the night. We were way past due on laundry and it felt like we hadn’t showered in about a week (although I think really only 3 days). This campground, Camp du Domaine, gave us a spot RIGHT at the edge of a secluded, almost deserted sandy beach. Except a couple tanned, leathery old men in Speedos (which I noticed) and a couple topless women (which Sean noticed, don’t ask me why!) there was just beautiful blue Mediterranean water, silky sand and great sunny weather. It was soooo awesome!
We had a great time playing at the beach the next morning, especially Kai, that we HAD to stay an extra day. I actually got to do a few yoga moves on the sand, the first time on our trip (except chaturanga), even a couple handstands. Kai joined me for a couple down dogs, which I couldn’t help but catch on the camera, it was so cute. Sean and Kailani also build awesome “fish” and “turtle” sandcastles. OK, there was a minor incident where I locked the keys in the car, but luckily was able to squeeze my way through the small window in the top bunk. I guess all those tapas and drinks aren’t sticking to me that bad! We almost can’t bear to leave this place! But alas, the rest of the world waits us!
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