France with Beast 1: Life on the Farm

We feel very fortunate to have been in such a heavenly spot for our final week in France. Isolated, but with amazing trails and great food.

The farm always had a wood fire on the go, so the air had the beautiful campfire smell.

There were dogs and cats to admire. Here is our favourite chat, Vanille, who loves to sit and watch TV all day.

 Breakfast and dinner were each a 3 course meal. The food was outstanding. And if they did not have a veggie option for Savvy, they would whip her up a gorgeous omelette. 
 Savvy had her first Crème Brûlée, and her first tiramisu. Then she had it again. And again. 

In the evening, from our comfy bed, we would sometimes watch a special show on my phone, moving into more adult territory it being just Savvy and me. 
We covered some great material during our trip, and each movie/episode provided wonderful discussion for the next day's hike. Elizabeth, Madame Bovary, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, The Crown, Les Misérables ...and yes, Frozen 2 was allowed one night.

Savvy also red four novels from the Unwanted series. Our hikes would always start with line one, page one of the chapters she had read the night before, and she would describe the story to me in detail. Then we would move on to analyze the show, if we had watched one the night before. We would bundle up the stories in themes, favourite moments and worst moments, who was the author and what was their background, how we would have changed the story if it had been ours. The conversations where peppered with a million intense questions from Savvy; they were genuinely amazing. How this kid hates school so much, I do not know.

If the books and shows had been exhausted, Savvy would effortlessly come up with a ton of moments to rehash and dreams to share. She retold the story of seeing Frozen 2 with uncle Kevin. How he did not remember Olaf ("This guys is hilarious. Why wasn't he in the first movie?" She laughed so hard about this, she had to sit down on the trail), how Kevin appeared from a washroom break with a full bag of candies for her, plus a blanket, plus a toy. She described how she plans to spend her summers at the cabin, where everything will go, how she will make her bed, what adventures she and her new cat will get up to. She described the kind of baking she would do when home, and what kind of actress she will be, what kind of interior designer she will be, and how she will be very, very wealthy, but generous.  
Basically, I just had to navigate and listen.

France with Beast 1: Barbarengue, Les Cabanes, St Gens

Thomas helped plan another great route for our last day of hiking.

"Head through Barbarenque. Stop at the touching memorial for the 5 young local heroes killed in WWII, who used the caves to surprise attack the Nazis as part of the Resistance. Wander through our ancient old stone villages. And then, picnic at la jolie Chapelle St Gens. St Gens brought much needed water to the area and now his spring flows with sacred water that cures all ailments and disease. Yes, it cures all. 

But not Covid 19." 

 
 
  Proivron break.

 We took the long way home. Beautiful.

France with Beast 1: Le Beaucet et St. Didier

No shortage of beauty views on this lovely 6 hour round trip hike. Destination - St Didier for poivrons and meringue, via the beautiful tiny village of le Beaucet.

Le Beaucet in the background.

A couple of detours with my navigating...
but we made it to St. Didier.
 
1 at a time!

 
Success on both fronts - meringue from the pattiserie et poivrons from the supermarche.

 Hike. Chew. Hike. Nom nom nom. It was a 2.5 hour climb back, so just as well she made the meringue last.

It was worth stopping in Le Beaucet for a proper walk around and a picnic at the remains of the chateau. I was marveling at the roof tops and all the sweet flowers poking out of windows. Savvy was counting 7 swimming (7 from where she stands).

The darling wee mayor's office.

The amazing stone houses built into the limestone rock.

All the stunning single track. Loved it for hiking, but was also dreaming of my bike!

Another amazing day, followed by a delicious 3 course meal at the farm. Boom!

France with Beast 1: Les Trois Luisants et Barbarenque

 This was a 6 hour epic with magical views and tired calves. We had good water with us, but otherwise limited supplies ...some baguette burrowed from breakfast and half an apple each!

Navigating this loop was tricky. So many single track options this way and that. And at one point we found ourselves scaling a cliff (see left, below), before I had to concede defeat, retrace steps and find the better path down. It was worth it. We popped out of some trees eventually on an actual chemin, and then voila, look at that view!

 We hike down down and down some more. Then we found interesting religious offerings deep in the valley with a lovely fountain and manicured garden. The trek people must make to care for this spot... amazing (gardens not pictured).

 Tree, Savvy, tree! There's a good girl!

We more or less managed Thomas' proposed route and he was pleased to hear all about it that night at dinner as we scoffed down our delicious dinner, wine, orangina, and tiramisu!

France with Beast 1: Chill Day

For the whole trip, we had hustled and bustled. We had biked, hiked and hiked some more. We needed a rest day at the farm. Perfect for throwing frisbees, reading, and outdoor ping pong!

France with Beast 1: Fontaine-de-Vaucluse

Too many pics to choose from on our 8 hour epic to Fontaine-de-Vaucluse. A new view at every turn.

We thought it we got really nice weather, we would buy a couple of sun hats. Purchasing hats, or anything at all, was not meant to be. So.... nitehoods to the rescue! 
 
 Single track, single track, single track!

 

 What is going on with the crazy limestone rock formations that make up the valleys we hiked through along the way!?

The lovely Sorgue river gave us a taste of what the spring might be like as it flows down the rocks and through this lovely tiny village.

Ahhhhhhhhh - we made it! The spring is 230m high, the largest in France (5th largest in the world!).

"It wasn't until 1985 that the mystery of the Spring's origin was partially revealed: in effect, the lowest point is at -308m - a depth attained by a robot belonging to the Spelunking Society of Fontaine de Vaucluse. The spring is the only exit point of a subterranean basin of 1200 km² that collects the water from Mount Ventoux, the Vaucluse mountains and from the Lure mountain."

The waterfalls tumble down the cliff to the left in the above pic. March - We were there right when they were gushing. Additional crazy fact I learned on wikipedia:

"In 1946, Jacques Cousteau and another diver were almost killed while searching for the bottom of the spring. An air compressor used to fill their tanks had taken in its own exhaust fumes and produced carbon monoxide--nearly killing them before they could return to the surface from a depth of approximately 100 meters."

 A stop at the castle on the way home. Shaky legs!!!


Nature pause - are these Salal berries? We have them at the cabin and walked through miles of them on our way to the Fountain. Rocket loves them. He can carefully nibble them off the branch for a snack.

France with Beast 1: La Roque-sur-Pernes, Provence

We landed in a delightful spot for a stretch of isolation, a farm in the charming Roque-sur-Pernes. Our room had a fantastic patio, perfect for Kings, reading and yoga. The weather cooperated too.

Right at our doorstep, fantastic paths in every direction. Hundreds of kilometres of single track all over the region and not a person in sight. Bliss.
Travel day, hike #1 - Up the hill behind the farm. A beautiful hour or two to stretch our legs.