France Day 10 - In anticipation of Heinz

We finally found the lake! It was a good jog but so foggy around the water that RRR & I were soaked by the time we came back. We were glad we were running and proud of ourselves for finding the lake but it was getting tougher and tougher to run and we were getting slower and slower. Think it had anything to do with the ridiculous amount of food we were eating?

Over breakfast Mitch told us about how she stayed up pretty late after we had said goodnight and started chatting with Marie, Claude and their two friends from Switzerland who were also staying at the B&B. She said they were a riot but we apparently kept missing them because we were early risers and they were night owls.

We said our 'au revoirs' to Marie, Claude and the Canadians and headed off to the towns of the Luberon: Gordes, Rousillon, Bomnieux and Menerbes. We started off in Gordes a beautiful, quaint hilltop town (basically what I thought Les Baux was going to be like) and enjoyed a delicious pizza and salad at an outside cafe. A salad with goat cheese melted on crusty bread is a typical lunch item and one that we kept gravitating towards because the cheese with the crunch of the fresh bread was delicious - it just doesn't get any better than that!

Marie & Claude are actually in the process of selling their place and opening a B&B in Gordes --- now I know why they want to move here! Relaxed atmosphere, great shops, friendly people and a gorgeous view of the countryside!

Next on the list was Rousillon, a village that is covered in red dust and has been the insipiration for many artists and where pottery glazes were produced by the Romans. It was pretty wild to see and Mitch said it reminded her a bit of Arizona. Mitch and I went for a bit of a hike (RRR hung back to protect her shoes and laundry) and marveled at the natural beauty of the red clay floor. We hit a few more towns but now at a much slower pace and we decided to picnic that evening at Marie's and make a dent in our growing collection of wines versus having another three hour five course meal.

Headed back to St Remy in the late afternoon and hit the local shops for some picnic goodies. As usual arguments began on what to eat and from where but we did manage to make one of our stops at Joel Durand, a renowned chocolatier in town. The store reminded me a lot of Jacques Torres' shops here in New York, but Au Maison du Chocolat and Valrhona chocolate have Joel beat! Truth hurts but the line of people outside make me sure that my so-so review won't hurt Joel's business one bit.

We got back, cleaned up and set up shop next to the Canadians who were also enjoying dinner in Marie's backyard. RRR ripped up a rotisserie chicken and Claude took some for Romain who was happy as a clam! Can you blame her?

We started chowing down on our mushroom quiche, tomato and cheese pizza, olives, artichokes, chicken, bread, mimolette (an orange cheese), a hard chevre, goat cheese from St Remy, mushrooms with tomato sauce, tapenade, sausage and that's when things really started getting interesting!

We finally met the Swiss couple, Heinz & Christine - and with a great name like Heinz I can't make an alias! We chatted and talked about everything from world politics, US history, hip hop (Heinz, not a fan!), their teenage kids, work, love, you name it! They were adorable, smart, funny and the conversation just kept getting better. We finally convinced them to help us finish our wines and after a bit of polite hestitation even Marie joined in on the fun! By the end of the night, we were laughing, drinking and eating to our heart's content. And Heinz's demonstration of how he could do a handstand on a chair was priceless! It was such a wonderful evening and we really felt at home, making the thought of leaving even harder to imagine! When the wine was done and we were exhausted, we called it a night; thrilled to have had yet another amazing evening but a bit sad knowing that tomorrow we'd be saying goodbye to our new friends and to Provence.