Vaison-la-Romaine

Today’s drive took us first to Brantes …

… as Mattheu had said the view of the north face of Mont Ventoux was worth seeing from here, and he was right.

We climbed up through another pretty hilltop town to look out on a view that seemed almost alpine before descending and continuing our drive.

Vaison-la-Romaine is a town with two parts, the medieval remains on a defendable rocky outcrop while the Roman ruins and modern town are in the valley by the river. The two parts are joined by one of five remaining Roman bridges in Provence, which survived being hit by a German bomb during WW2 and also the devastating flooding of the Ouvèze in 1992, which killed 42 people.

We began with the Roman ruins of Puymin and Vailasse which claim to be France’s largest and maybe I was expecting more. Nonetheless, it was easy to see the lines of a couple of arcades of shops, bath complexes, and several large family houses and the museum contained a variety of recovered items from pots and jewellery to mosaics and statuary. The theatre, while dramatically entered by a passageway through some rock, has been completely restored and has lost all ancient atmosphere.

Crepes for lunch again restored our energy, and we continued with a quick look round the cathedral before heading out of town to find our stop for the night.

We were totally charmed by Au Coquin de Sort and welcomed by Anne and Christian who have transformed this old Provençal house into a B&B filled with tradition.

They must have enjoyed trawling through brocante sales and have decorated every corner with some quirky pre-loved item.

The garden is a delight, offering several places to sit, each perfect according to the time of day, and we collected a few provisions from the local Lidl and had a picnic supper there.

Our room was just as pretty, with spiral stairs to a loft with an extra bed.

Breakfast was an amazing spread including homemade yogurt and conserves (pumpkin was my favourite), a variety of breads as well as crepes and cake!

Returning to Vaison, we parked near the Pont Roman then climbed up through the Haute Ville to the ruined Chateau where the view included Mont Ventoux, again, and lots of vineyards.

Moving on tomorrow … South