Yesterday rained which gave us the perfect excuse to take it easy. We made our way in to St Remy and wandered separately then met for lunch. It’s a common practise here to close up the shops between 1 and 3pm for a long leisurely lunch. Then dinner at 8pm.

The afternoon was spent reading.

Today we had our European breakfast here and then drove off to investigate the high bowl of hills and fertile plain called the Luberon.

The first of the three quaint hill towns we visited was Roussillon. A RED rock town high on some wonderful cliffs.

We had a coffee – still haven’t found one anything like the kiwi ‘flat white’. Then we set off for nearby Gordes – the cream clay town.

It, too, was up a hill – and to my horror I found myself following instructions through the heart of a country market. I had to drive through here:

Once we parked and in the market on foot it was wonderful. Purchased another top and we bought a sausage chopped into a bread stick and enjoyed it on seat in the shade:

It was pretty hot by now. Winding down through the valley we found cute little Goult – up another hill – parked and walked around.

There was no one in the streets – the shutters were closed. ALL the townsfolk must have been clustered in the one lively restaurant doing a roaring trade under umbrellas by the parking lot. I found I was required to drive between the buildings and could have touched the houses on either side as I negotiated out of town.

We’re having beer in the lounge area of our hotel now and preparing to go into St Remy to Cafe de la Place for a casual dinner.

Bon appetite!