Another fantastic excursion with CEA today, mais très fatiguant (very tiring). Our first destination was L'Isle-Sur-La-Sorgue, a town that gets its name from the river that surrounds it, la Sorgue. There are canals through the city, which is why it's nicknamed the Venice of Provence... or the Venice of France, depending on who you ask. On Sunday they have a famous antique and produce market where we shopped for a picnic lunch. On display at the market: foie gras, bowls of fresh olives, cheeses, wines, meats, tapenades, olive oils, bread, fruit, vegetables, satchels of dried lavender, and much more. This was the coldest day so far, but I bought a cute pair of boots (les bottes) on sale for 14 euro! In France there are only two sales every year - one in January and one in July. Stores are not allowed to have sales (les soldes) any other time of year! The winter sale ends Feb. 9 so I bought a pair of flats for 9 euro as well. Below, from left to right, is Matthew, Dorie, me, Allison, Olivia, and Megan. Behind us is one of the canals with a wheel churning the frigid water of the Sorgue.
I went to a great cafe with Matthew, Dorie, and Laura and we planned un pique-nique of apples, baguettes, camembert and brie cheese, and wine. We packed our bag and left the island city of the Vaucluse, bringing our picnic lunch with us to enjoy in Roussillon.
Above is us perched on a ledge - something I'm sure we weren't supposed to do, since we had to climb over an official-looking fence to get out there. If you look at our faces you can see how nervous Laura and I were! Below is a picture of the cliff we were on from further away.
The interesting thing about the hills below Roussillon is the color. Most of the rock around Provence is whitish-gray limestone. Here, the rock in the hills is reddish orange. There is a practical scientific explanation (ochre), but I prefer the legend of La Sirmonde.
Long ago there was an evil man who lived in Roussillon - Raymond d'Avignon. He married a beautiful woman named Sirmonde, but she did not love him. He was very neglectful and eventually Sirmonde fell in love with another man - Guillaume de Cabestan. When Raymond discovered their affair, he killed Guillame one day while hunting. That night he cooked Guillaume's heart and fed it to his unfaithful wife for dinner. After the meal, Raymond told Sirmonde that she had just eaten le coeur of her love. Upon learning this, Sirmonde rose and exclaimed "Vous m'avez offert un si bon repas que jamais je ne veux plus en goûter un autre" - translated: "You have given me such a good meal that I never want to eat another." As she began to leave, Raymond took out his sword and killed her, then threw his wife out the window from one of the highest cliffs in Roussillon - and that is why the hills are red. In Roussillon nowadays you can get a snack at the Café La Sirmonde. Pretty wicked, huh? Gotta love the French.
Below is the town of Gordes. It's really very pretty, although here it looks fairly bland. The levels of the city reminded me of Minas Tirith from Lord of the Rings [nerd]. At the bottom of the mountain there is an abbey - the Abbey de Sénanque - but I have no picture of it. This is the town where Marion Cotillard's café was located in the film A Good Year.
Sending my love once again, hope you enjoyed the legend of La Sirmonde. Bonne nuit.
