1.9 this morning on terrace at 7 am. You might wonder why I was out of bed so early! Well, oil delivery is due and they sent an email last night giving us a window of between 7 am and 1 pm. They warn that you must be present! So, afeared that we wouldn’t hear the rumbling tanker under our shutters, we set the alarm. In the event it fetched up at 8 am as we were sitting down to tea and toast. So at least we were decent!
The wind is still fierce and the sun is out.
At 9.30 we set out for Richerenches to see an exhibition in The Templiers hall. I checked their website and it was updated today so we were hopeful. Should have known better. Fermé for the morning! Probably because of strikes. After sitting in the car glumly for ten minutes wondering what to do, all the while buffeted by the wind, we decided that we’d continue on to Montélimar, only 30 k.
We parked near the recently developed quartier of St Martin with its museum and civic centre in the old barracks and battled through the icy gusts. No exhibition currently on.
Then round the old town, desperately seeking sheltered sunny spots. But there were very few people about and really you didn’t want to loiter. Montélimar isn’t big and the old town is a mixure of down at heel, smart and former very fine architecture. On other days I love it but today we were pretty much scuttling!
It is of course Nougat Central. At midday we left and drove back through Drôme to Grignan.
The landscape looks bleached and dry in this weather. Bone white plane trees with their hand of glory pollarded branches clawing at the sky, grey clumps of lavender in corrugated rows, regimented black vines. The only green is the dark evergreen oak and cypress with occasional bursts of yellowy green weeping willow just emerging. But now and then there is a patch of misty pink blossom from apricot orchards. The promise of summer.
We had a very good tagliatelle carbonara in a bar in Grignan then tried again to see our exhibition in Richerenches. Success! They were now open and it was certainly worth it. A one woman show of sculpted wood - mostly fashion garments.
Amazing! More pics in Google album.
