The last few days of Ling and Loren's Sablet visit ..............................

PART 3

The first thing I had to do  for the morning was to send my passport off to DC. 
So we left for a long walk downhill right after breakfast. 
It cost a staggering 56 euros for the express mail. 
But it would save us a trip to Marseille. 

While I took my espresso solo at the bar, Loran went and checked out the light at the boulangerie. 
The lighting was perfect. 
The parking space happened to be empty where Loran could  stand and take the photo. 
He got the owner to move up the awning so the sign was shown. 
After the baker took a pose with his baguette dressed in white apron and torque,
a cable company managed to string a cable right across the sign. 
Loran was frustrated.
Fortunately, it is a very welcoming village. 
He managed to talk to the workmen to hold the line above the sign long enough for him to snap the picture.  Mission accomplished!



Sablet Village - Provence - Boulangerie "Festival" - a real testament to the skill of this creative young Boulanger is the long line that forms at the door and spills out into the Place every day.

I made some pates with zucchini and mushroom for lunch. 
We had a leisurely coffee at the bar and pondered what to do in the afternoon. 
Consensus was to return home and read more Mayle.

Since it looked though we would be able to have the Americans for an drink, around 5:00,
 we popped a bottle of brut made by the local coop (La Gravillas). 
We nursed it all afternoon and even saved some for dinner. 
Dinner took me a few minutes, simple salad. 
We checked out the spotlight on the church and took a quick stroll down to the village.  Rather quiet.

Sablet Village - Provence - the lighted Campanile of de l'Eglise St. Nazaire
is clearly visible across the valley every night

April 29^th

Another beautiful and sunny day awaited us. 
We did some motoring and had a quick wine-tasting at La Gravillas. 
Two 6 bottle boxes we safely placed in the trunk and would last us a while in Juan-les-Pins. 
We spent some time in Gigondas (s is pronounced for it is Languedoc, the language of Provence). 
Loran found a photo opp but by the time we picked up the camera, the scene had completely changed
(light was wrong, people scattered and no tourist was in sight).

Lunch was at Les Florets, 2.5kms from Gigondas. 
It was a hotel and restaurant.
Wonderful setting, with hills surrounding it, hills are terraced with vineyards,
 beautiful garden filled with roses, plane trees, linden trees. 
though it was a bit windy, we sat in the courtyard. 
We ordered identical items for lunch, asparagus for an Entrée and duck legs for plat. 
For amuse bouche, we had crayfish with apple and mango served in tumblers.
Entrée: 3 green and 3 white spears of asparagus wrapped in Parma ham,
placed on top of tomato, feta cheese and with Italian pesto. 
A jar (the kind used for jam, with a clamp) of asparagus gazpacho was served on the same plate. 
Plat: perfectly cooked duck leg, a skew of gizzard (I took Loran’s share) and melon ball sized veggies
(carrot, potato, zucchini) and shredded duck meat on warm toast.

On our way home, we stopped at the Cave Gigondas and bought a box of Gigondas
(Grenache, syrah, Mouvedre and Cinsault).

Maybe it was the big lunch, or maybe it was the hay fever, we both fell asleep reading more Mayle. 
The church bell reminded us it was time for a Rosé at five. 
We would have to pack and get ready tomorrow morning. 
It was a pity that we were staying only a week.

April 30^th

Today we said,  “goodbye” to La Maison des Pèlerins in Sablet. 
We got up at a decent hour and had a big breakfast knowing that we might not have time to stop for lunch.  Packing and rolling the luggage to the care took no time at all. 
It saved us the nerve-racking experience of driving the care to the house. 
The most challenging task was how and where to dispose of the garbage. 
In this small town, there is not garbage collection service. 
Loran came up with the solution. 
He used the shopping trolley, removing the shopping bag and putting the big trash bag on the cart
 and wheeled it to the fountain. 
I found a row of trash bins hidden in a niche right under the rampart. 

Dropping off the keys in the mailbox, we left this beautiful house behind. 
Boohoo!


Thanks again to Loran List  and Ling Lau for the wonderful Journal and Photographs.