But first a morning trip to the étang. It was bright today but still a very nippy northerly as we walked the perimeter. Nightingales filling the air from every bush and tree. The little devils know you can’t spot them, so don’t even trouble to move! The water is now bright green with rushes and the only bird I spotted was a coot scuttling through.
In fact the main sign of life was frog based. Croaks from within the reeds and zillions of tadpoles in a watery channel alongside.
We sat and took it all in and marvelled at the amount of snow on Ventoux again. The blowers must be out in force up there.
Then to Châteauneuf for the plat du jour in a nice-looking caff on the main crossroads. Tables sheltered from the wind in warm sun. Good glass of red wine from the owner’s vineyard. Seemed promising. Ha! Well after about forty minutes we were getting restive. How long does it take to produce a simple onglet and frites? Eventually I volunteered myself to enquire. The explanation was that the gas bottle had run out at a crucial chip frying moment and they had had to put on a new one! But food eventually came and was not bad and at least the ambience today was comfortable so we didn’t mind too much. Rather a high quotient of The Cousins at tables though. I decided there must be a boat in. Not Carnival cruises you understand but one of those behemoths from Viking.
On the way back we detoured via our folly. This is the building that for years we thought was the Vieux Télégraph of the famous vineyard. Fools. It is not. There’s even a signpost pointing to VT 2 km away,
But anyway we return year after year to climb up and view the appellation. It has a rather grand appearance despite the breeze block and decrepit state and a lovely stairway up the outside onto the flat roof. Where the wind howled.
But as it sweeps over the feathery grasses it’s as if it was just smoothing them down, like unruly strands of hair.
Last stop was Vaison - the Communité des Communes Vaison Ventoux office - for our new Déchetterie pass. We can now dump rubbish at will.
