PROVENCE, FRANCE

Monday, October 4, 2010:  Chateauneuf-du-Pape and Cotes du Rhone  

Raining today.  After breakfast we go in the car and drove to Chateneuf du Pape.  Went through the mildly informative Museum of Wine, then went up to the ruined castle to park and walk down into town where there was supposed to be a large (collaborative) tasting room.  We never did find it, or if it was where we think it was, it was closed.  Walking from the castle (on top of the hill) to the town I thought I was gonna get blown over!  The wind was so bad!  Then came the driving rain on top of it and we ducked into a church to wait the driving rain out.  Of course, we left the umbrella in the car…

CdP castle ruins

Gorgeous views

We ducked into a place to dry off and taste some wine.  Good enough, so we bought a bottle with plans to drink it while we are here.  (Not sure when, though). 

 

Then we walked across the street to a little Italian place and had lunch (late again, so no plat du jour) (another ½ bottle of vino…), not that we are lushes or anything ;-)

 Inside

Then we went off to Gigondas.  Very pretty town, stopped in a collaborative for a tasting and some coffee and a snack.  Bought a bottle that Michael thought had a pretty label (we have a collection of bottles we will never drink that are for trip remembrances (such as the Iron Horse Cuvee from the Disney Cruise Line).   This one will be added to that in our cellar.

 Michael liked how the bottle looked...

 Snack and some coffee...

Then we went off to another winery outside of Gigondas.  Bought 6 bottles at Domain de Mourchon.  Good & Cheap!!!

Leaving there we were supposed to go to another town, and I saw a sign that said Seguret 8.3 km.  I thought that would be shorter than going all the way back to the main road and then around again.   Note to self…don’t follow small signs in Provence.  They lead to dirt roads, which lead to smaller dirt roads with big rocks, which lead to roads that one is not quite sure really is a road...Okay, so we were a little scared, but the scenery was beautiful! 

Yes, there is a road along those vineyards...

Gorgeous!

 But what's with the blue tree???

We'll see more of the stone huts later on

This would be one of the better roads we went on...

 Pretty views from the village of Le Creset

Needless to say, after our little detour adventure, we were ready to head home.   Nap and then dinner at the Inn (they are called “Mas” in France).  In honor of our adventure (and the fact that we had been in CdP), we splurged on a bottle of Beaucastle.  Good, but still not ready.   Tannins needed more time.