2nd Newsletter for France 27-Feb 2009

Saignon, France

Hello Fellow Travelers,

Before we begin talking about this Region of France I would suggest you rent the movie with Russell Crow, A Good Year. If you can get past the Russell thing you will be delighted by filming locations in this very region. The villages used are the neighboring; Bonnieux, Gordes, Cucuron, and Menerbes. They also filmed at the airport in Marseilles and the city off Avignon. Or if you prefer to read go get A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle. Both will provide a nice introduction and a better understanding of the area.

The house is in the village of Saignon, a small hilltop village. From top to bottom, it is in the country of France, the region of Provence-Alps-Cote d’azur, the department of Vaucluse. One of the major features of this area is the Luberon Valley. This is the more rustic part of Provence. It is close to the beaches, but much less tourist filled.
http://www.provenceweb.fr/e/vaucluse/saignon/saignon.htm

For some additional details see this link: http://www.francethisway.com/luberon/hol-luberon.php

Saignon is another sleepy little town with narrow winding streets. It has places to eat, drink or buy a croissant. The nice part about Saignon is the winding streets which keep tour busses (and tourists) away; this can be a problem in other nearby villages. The town is of about 1000 inhabitants. Our house is on the edge, not the center, but easy walking distance to shops and places to eat and drink. http://www.smh.com.au/news/france/a-week-in-provence/2005/11/03/1130823318572.html

The house is pretty amazing, with a nice pool under cherry trees that should be ripe with cherries while we are there! If you are looking for a great place to sit under a tree over looking the Luberon Valley while you read a book eating cherries fresh from the trees above, sign up now!

Provence has some amazing food markets and an abundance of mediterainean food. If you like olives, almonds, fennel, fish, cherries, etc you are going to love this place. While there is a market in our town, I think that Apt has the best in the area: http://www.slowtrav.com/france/provence/market_apt.htm
If you look at this next site you will see that our market is on Saturday only, but look at these photos! http://french-house.net/saignon_village.htm
Here is a list of major markets in the area: http://www.provencelive.com/practical/daily/market/market.html

We are excited to visit the town of Avignon and Châteauneuf-du-Pape, which were both papal headquarters 800 years ago and more importantly one of the great wine regions of France! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teauneuf-du-Pape
Avignon is famed for its bridge, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pont_d%27Avignon
As well as the Pope’s Palace, no longer owned by the Pope of course…

Leaving our first house in Lavardac to get to Saignon will take us on a long drive, through Toulouse and then onto Carcassonne http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carcassonne which will be a great place to stop for lunch and sight seeing. We will then head to the coast to the town of Narbonne along the coast up to the house in Saignon. The total drive time without stops is about 5 ½ hours, but if we break it up it should be a pretty pleasant drive.
Some of the places Michael and I are interested in visiting are:
Arles (think Van Gogh) http://www.beyond.fr/villages/arles-provence-france.html
Aix (home base and maybe a bit too touristy) http://www.beyond.fr/villages/aix-en-provence-france.html
Coastal villages, but especially Cassis, town where the Kir came from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassis someone please remember that there is a place called Chez Gilbert here that has the world’s best ratatouille. http://www.restaurant-chez-gilbert.fr/en/index.asp
The rocky hilltop villages all around us in the Luberon region are worth visiting http://www.slowtrav.com/blog/wood/archives/000992.html
We could consider driving the coast through Cannes, Antbes, Nice, and Monaco then on to San Remo Italy, just a thought it is a long drive about 3 hours each way. http://www.sanremoguide.it/en/default.cfm but maybe a nice all day trip.
Of course our town is very relaxed and you might just want to hang out in the town sipping on cocktails or wine eating some olives and cheese. http://www.vaucluse-visites-virtuelles.com/glvirtualbluepopouts/saignonus.html

The next newsletter will feature food, wine and restaurant in the region of our first house. We will be at our first house in 11 weeks from today!