Sylvie's Travels Home

October 1, 2023

We left our beautiful apartment at 10am. It was perfectly located in Old Lyon, near the metro and funicular, near lots of restaurants and bars and near all the landmarks. The owner couldn’t have been more welcoming. She had put fresh flowers on the table and bought us a pink praline bread and some chocolate ( totally delicious) and had offered the use of all her coffee, teas, crackers, water bottles and sodas.

Our next destination was the Luberon region in Provence. We drove for about 2 1/2 hours and stopped at l’isle-sur-la Sorgue. We went to the Sunday market and bought nougat, olives, cold cuts and baguettes to accompany the cheese Pogo had bought the day before, including a new favorite called époisse.

We arrived at our hotel La Clé des Champs, a little bit after 2pm. The owner lent us some plates and utensils and we sat on our balcony to enjoy our picnic. He also gave us a little bit of ice so we enjoyed the bottle of white wine we had purchased in Beaune. It is probably the best white wine I’ve ever had and I probably never will have it again. I enjoyed every sips.

We drove up to Roussillon since our hotel was just outside of town. While Bob and Heather went for a little hike, Pogo did a little droning and I did a little shopping. I was looking for a swimsuit as it is really getting hotter the more south we are going but bought a dress instead. I mean, they didn’t have swimsuits so… We all had a beverage at a little restaurant and drove back to our hotel to rest.

You might ask why is the side of the hill ochre? Here’s the ‘answer’:

The official story… The ochre of Roussillon is there because of a complicated story to do with the fact that many millions of years ago the Luberon was at the bottom of the sea, and now it isn’t. The color is caused by the mineral goethite (named after the German writer Goethe, who was a keen mineralogist), but just why it causes so many different shades is unknown. For more detail on this and everything to do with ochre production, you can go to Le Conservatoire des Ocres et Pigments Appliqués (Ochre and Applied Pigments Conervatory), which is an old ochre factory turned information centre just outside the village.

The truth… That’s the official version anyway. The truth is far more interesting. In the Middle Ages a young damsel named Sermonde was married to Raymond d’Avignon, who was the lord of Roussillon. Raymond spent most of his time hunting, and in the long interludes Sermonde fell in love with a local troubadour (somewhere between a touble-maker and a musician). When Raymond found out about this, he did what anyone would do – he cut the troubadour’s heart out and served it to Sermonde for dinner without telling her. And then he did tell her. When Sermonde learnt that she really was ‘heart to heart’ with her lover, she threw herself from the top of Roussillon. The earth all around runs red with her blood for all times.

We went back to Roussillon for dinner at Restaurant David where the owner of our hotel had made a reservation for us, per Heather’s request. It ended up being our favorite meal so far. All dishes were complex and full of flavors. I had the salad and pork and the others had the sea bass.

On our return to the hotel, we played 2 games of Skulls and Bob won both rounds. I can’t prove it but he probably cheated. I think we will indict him tomorrow. Just kidding! Pogo won one of the games. He also cheated as far as I’m concerned 🙂