Highs and Lows

This past Saturday we decided to rent a car for a week and take in some of the sights that we can’t reach via city bus. Ed found a good rate, picked up the car and swung by to pick up the family.  First stop, Chateau de la Barben, a castle from the 13^th, 16^th and 19^th centuries. Let me back up to the last few nights previous.  Wednesday night we had had an impromptu shared dinner with the neighbours, putting the kids in bed around 11:00.  And then Friday night, yes, right before the road trips begin, we had another communal dinner with other of the neighbours, again up until 11:00.  Recipe for success, right? 

Well, as you can imagine, the boys, all three, were a bit emotional at the outset.  And then they saw the car.  In Toronto we drive a mini-van.  When Noah was born the older boys were both still in car seats and we couldn’t figure out a way to fit three seats in our wagon.  So mini-van it was.  But, especially here in Europe where everything is just that bit smaller and compact, we got a regular five-seater.  Picking up a booster for Noah on the way out, we started our journey. 

One minute would be the stuff of Brady Bunch legend, with the kids singing a song, or playing a word/number game.  The next would have one boy socking the next.  Usually Noah socking one brother or the other.  We quickly realized that Noah needed to be seated next to only one brother.  A quick presto-change-o later and off we go again.  A few missed exits, a few tears, and we arrive. 

Oh wow!  Walking up the path, the Chateau really is a castle, with towers and turrets and beautiful gardens.  Julian and Micah each have their cameras out and are snapping details like crazy.  We get up to the top of the walkway and I pull our our picnic lunch.  “Oh no, not bread and cheese, again!”  Mind you, the bread is from our local artisan boulangerie and the cheese was fresh from the farmer’s market bought that morning.  The fruit was the newly ripe Mirabelles, a super-tasty sweet little plum.  But we have been having a lot of picnics, and what I consider variety is being taken as a lack of creativity. 

Waiting around for the castle to re-open after lunch, we wandered around a bit.  The Chateau was purchased anew in the 1960s and the “new” owners actually live in the castle.  It was fascinating to see all the elements of all the different eras mixed so easily together.  The modern dress, the ancient stone walls, the furniture from different eras.  The tour was given by a guide in period dress, around 1700s.  The boys took in a good deal of the information, as there was a little “game” they could play during the tour.  After answering all of the questions, the boys turned in their papers for a pin.  And then we worked on the treasure hunt!  There were nine clues located along a trail around the grounds.  Each clue had a decoding aspect (in French, of course, so double decoding for us!) and a refine-your-knowledge aspect, where we had to read the information and then choose the correct response via multiple choice.  The corresponding letters spelled out the final word, be brought back to the desk for a certificate.  Very well done, lots of fun.  And, along the way, we discovered a few super-cool items, like a hidden passage-way under the back part of the castle, and a hiding spot that still housed a cannonball! 

The next morning we awoke and packed up to go to two of the “perched villages” of the Luberon.  With Noah by the window, and Micah and Julian feeling cooperative we thought we were all set.  This was to be a slightly longer journey, around an hour as opposed to 35 minutes.  But it was WAY longer.  First, just because the boys didn’t want to be in the car again.  But also, the maps do a wonderful job of showing you the main roads.  However, they don’t show the details of how to get through each individual town.  We even struggled a bit to figure out how to get out of Aix, and we had a city map with us!  But let’s just say that the cream of the crop was the town of Cadenet.  We arrived at the roundabout near Cadenet and took the wrong turn.  Then again.  Then we finally figured out the way in, and then we couldn’t get out.  Cadenet is a cute little perched village, which means a village built on a hill.  Each road is a full house above the next, and all the roads are even more narrow because of it.  And one-way.  We finally found a road out, and the rest of the journey was pretty straightforward from there. 

The first perched village was the village of Bonnieux.  We walked from the lower portions up the church at the top.  Let just say that the humour of the participants was less than good.  But the town was so interesting and quaint in all of its twists and turns that each one of us was taken in.  On the way back down we found the Boulangerie Museum and took a quick gander through its offerings.  Basically it showed lots of equipment through the eras, from reaping and grinding the wheat, measuring out the flour, all the baking-ware involved, dictum declaring the latest laws regarding wheat, etc.  A quick 30-minute museum, and a nice change of pace.  We decided to have a quick talk regarding state of mind, that positive attitudes lead to more fun, and then we drove off to the next perched village, the village of Gordes.  SO worth the drive.  Seemingly impossible, Gordes is even more perched than Bonnieux and the approach allows you to take in every steep and breath-taking moment.  We found a place to park and began to wander, with the fairly immediate goal of finding a place to eat dinner. 

After a bit of exploring, we began to look in earnest for a place to eat.  As we had encountered unfortunately before, no self-respecting restaurant opens before 7:30.  It was about 7:00 at the moment.  But, one restaurant advertised non-stop service.  We took a seat and wondered at the lack of other customers.  After about 5 minutes at the table a gentleman came over to tell us that there was no dinner service.  Non-stop service through the lunch hour!  We eventually found a restaurant, with a table overlooking the fortress in town.  Ahhhh. 

Hopping back into the car with full tummies all went more or less well. The sun sets after nine around here, so the fact that Ed only had his sunglasses was still fine.  For awhile.  And then we got to Cadenet, oh lovely Cadenet.  If at all humanly possible we got even more lost trying to go back through Cadenet than the first time.  We saw the same black cat cross our path, the same gaggle of little old ladies enjoying their after-dinner chat in the plaza, the same forks in the roads.  Finally, after about twenty minutes of driving through this tiny little town, just trying to get out, Ed asked a man for directions.  The man very kindly hopped in his car and led us out of the city back to the same roundabout.  The rest of the journey home was without incident, although after two days of touring with three young boys we decided that a day off was in order. 

Yesterday we caught wind of a lake about an hour and twenty minutes away.  The road trip was, well, another road trip.  Lots of fun, and lots of togetherness.  But the lake was amazing.  It was Lac du Sainte Croix, at the foot of the Alpes.  The water was turquoise blue, from all the clay in the water.  Very nice on our skin!  And we found a small patch of shade to enjoy the sandwiches Ed had brought (no bread and cheese today!) and the amazing flat peaches, sadly on their way out.  The water was fairly cool and the view from the water was just stunning.  The perched village of Sainte Croix on one side, the green hills alongside, the view across the lake and then the view of the first portions of the Alpes along the other edge.  Later in the day we rented a paddle boat, but one with a slide.  Quite fun to slide into the shockingly cold water in the middle of the lake.  A nice day, all around. 

I think today holds another day off, maybe with a concert in the evening.  After these two weeks we will go back to a mostly regular schedule and school starts the first week in September.  But it sure is nice to be on a holiday.  Tomorrow I think we will go to the city of Arles, to take in some of the Roman constructions, and then we have a bit of business in Marseille on Friday.  And, I have to admit, I can’t wait to get rid of the car on Saturday!