Back in Time

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Our friends in Lyon told us about this little town in the hills that was still preserved with the original 1500s architecture. It was a bit off the beaten track, but we decided to book the local Best Western and drive the three hours. By the time we got off the expressway, we were about 30 dollars lighter in toll money and it was dark. We dilligently followed the signs on country roads, and in about 20 minutes, we were at the cutest Best Western we've ever seen. In Europe the BW chain isn't as low budget as it is in the States. We checked in, and drove the 4KM up to the village of Gordes for dinner.

The village appears, lit up on a hill, out of the darkness of the French countryside. We followed the lead of some others and parked up on the sidewalk of a narrow street. It was cold outside, but clear and crisp. The first restaurant we saw looked like the best, but we walked the streets reading the menus of the others anyway. The restaurant we chose was warm and friendly and J had the best stewed chicken ever. He asked the cook later how to make it and after some translation: brown chicken legs in olive oil, make a kind of ratatouille (tomatos, eggplant, olives, garlic, herbs) and stew it with the chicken legs in it for at least an hour. The meat turns out incredibly tender and flavorful!

We drove back down to our hotel in the dark thinking - "this is one of those places we're going to wake up and just be amazed." Sure enough...

The next morning we walked around the hotel a bit. It had a beautiful pool although it was much too cold outside to swim at about 8 degrees C. The architecture of the hotel matches the rest of the village of Gordes. Everything is made of stacked limestone rocks that are native to the region. We drove back to the village and were delighted to find a Sunday market in full swing with foods and handicrafts. Gordes is famous for its olive oil, so we bought a few bottles. We had a walking breakfast and J took many pictures. We met a couple from Chicago that runs a Dog boarding, grooming and photo studio. Usually we try to avoid talking to Americans on our trips, but these two seemed pretty nice. We sort of got the impression that they don't usually talk to Americans either so it worked out.

This area of France is absolutely beautiful, and the wheels were turning about coming back here to stay for an extended visit.

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Comments

[John Null]

Umm Nutella
I hope you saved me some crepes.