Vacation in Provence

In July, the schools here in Lima have their winter break, so it's the time we take to go to Europe for home leave/vacation. This means we get to enjoy two summers per year; one for each hemisphere.
Air France has just re-launched a non-stop flight from Lima to Paris. We were invited to the French embassy party in Lima to celebrate, but couldn't go because, as it happened, we were on the plane for the inaugural flight.

With the 12-hour flight, plus connection for Marseille, and 7-hour time difference, it's still a long haul that takes over 24 hours. Nonetheless, through the miracle of modern travel, we were propelled from the gray winter of Lima to the bright blue skies and Mediterranean sea of southern France without a hitch.

In Marseille, we picked up our rental car - something called a VW Touran, with a sun roof and the option of a third set of seats in back had we needed them. It was great, and having become accustomed to the poor quality of Peruvian roads, we gladly headed up to our rental house near Carpentras on France's beautiful system of highways, byways, and little country roads.

There, we joined up with Valerie's brother and mother - and did our best to take full advantage of the joys of Provence. We ate olives and melons and little goat cheeses and drank rose. We went to flea markets, farmer's markets, super markets and even the occasional hyper market. We wandered through perched villages and up mountain trails. We took in the theatrical street scene of Avignon and checked out the Cuban dance/music scene of summer in Carpentras. We took dips in the pool, read novels, and watched the Tour de France. We rode bikes on the beautiful backroads of southern France. Britt and Addison went on especially long rides, culminating in one to the top of the Mont Ventoux. We visited familiar and favorite sites, and discovered new ones.
Here are some photos.

 Britt and Addison cycled through the Gorges du Nesle, along a beautiful road literally carved through the cliffs at times.

 Britt and Addison triumphant, having cycled up the Mt. Ventoux (altitude 1912 meters). Addison set his pace from the start, never looked back, and got to the top 1/2 an hour before Britt.

Coming back down from the Mt. Ventoux, the ride is a lot faster, but also colder especially at the top. Note the steepness of the road marked on the borne (kilometer marker) next to Addison.

This  was the day we hiked through the woods on Mt. Ventoux and drove to the top. It was so windy you could barely stand.

 Visiting the flea market in Carpentras. Britt is holding a dozen plates that Valerie couldn't resist buying, and which did end up making it back to Lima in unbroken.

 Hiking in the Dentelles hills.

 We totally enjoyed our rental car's sun roof.

 Avignon

 Buying organic olive oil in Vaison la Romaine from a very friendly and enthusiastic vendor

 Biking along the lovely back roads of the Vaucluse, with the Mt. Ventoux in the background

 Mt. Ventoux and Vaucluse hills

 Are there prettier roads anywhere?

 Fields near Uzes and the Pont du Gard

 Provencal bedspreads, hard to resist

 On the Pont d'Avignon, we didn't dance, but we did listen to the long-winded audioguides

 More biking, here going through the village of St. Didier on our way to the Sunday market in Isle sur la Sorgue.

 Melons de Cavaillon and other fresh market goods

 Olive trees and lavender, icons of Provence

 The dramatic Gorges du Nesle, between Carpentras and Sault. Britt and Addison did this trip on their bikes, and we returned by car.

 Countryside in the Pays de Sault - just spectacular

 The ubiquitous petanque game

 Valerie's aunt had an exhibit of her paintings in Greoux les Bains, near Manosque. The gallery is in this dramatic Templar castle perched on top of the town.

 Templar castle in Greoux les Bains. Along with the art gallery, they were setting up an outdoor movie theater.

 We spent two days in Aix-en-Provence, near the old center of town with its lovely fountains, like this famous dolphin one.

 On our last day in Provence we headed to the coast and town of Cassis, where we enjoyed a picnic and swims in the calanques. The water was cold but the setting magnificent.