Thursday, June 2, 2011

"The Most Beautiful Village in France"

"The Most Beautiful Village in France"--so said someone's guidebook of tiny Gordes . We stopped for that mandatory photo-op on a hillside overlooking the village, perched there on the higher hill, and we managed to pose with no one falling over the side.
We had to take a picturesque route, through winding mountain roads and some very visual cliff overhangs, which Sherrie greatly appreciated.  Far below one edge, we spotted some of those high-altitude lavender fields, surrounding the 12th C. L'Abbaye de Sénanque .  I wish we could have stopped, either for cliff-side photos, or to visit the Abbey itself, but we had to share the road with a tiny blue car from Greece, which seemed a bit terrified of negotiating its way past our bus-leviathan, and we had to get on to supper.

In Gordes itself, we found several very nice restaurants, and split in several directions.  The creperie Willy want to try was closed, so we would up where most everyone else was.  Willy got a chicken pizza, with several other interesting flavors.  The bottle of spicy olive oil was just the right touch:
I got a soup and later a very filling, tasty lamb stew, followed by "frommage" (cheese plate) for dessert.  Really liked the unprocessed, fresh goat cheese with caraway seeds.
Willy and I went down the hill to the other restaurant looking for the special dessert Liz and Ramses had recommended (though Liz swears no one makes it as good as her mother does), the tartarte tatin which this place served with extreme vanilla ice cream and some whipped cream.  We found Patti and Pat there, enjoying their lemon sorbet with vodka, while Kim had the same tartarte.
I had an expresso.  All good.  All good, until most of the group found itself waiting for David and the 3 Musketeers--Katie, Jamie, and Jaci--who discovered the difficulties of negotiating a meal's courses in France:  the courses come in a set order, and the staff won't, WON'T, bring the next course til everyone finishes the course at hand.  No mixing salad and main course here!

So I had plenty of time to daydream and photo the bus:
It is a pretty village.

bob
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