2017 Provence

Day 7, L’Isle sur la Sogure & Fontaine de Vaucluse

September 28, 2017 rick wojack

A little rain must fall in every parade, and we had a light enough sprinkle this evening that we moved inside for dinner. . . .

. . . at 7:00pm the vino stared flowing and the appetizers magically appeared. Very cozy!!!!

Pumpkin soup was quite yummy with a giant crouton floating on top. The main course was a salad with peppers and fried potatoes and a baguette grilled and topped with fresh tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, sausage and a basil sauce . . . YUM!!!!!

. . . and of course there was dessert . . . homemade cheesecake this berry topping . . . and more vino!!!

This morning it was another bluebird sky day. emJay had her gift along from Quinn. Chinese New Year money that also had good luck attacked to it.

The bikes supplied by Neil were GREAT!!! No junky hybrids like we rented on so many prior trips. Several of us had 2017 model TREK FX 7.3. A great bike for the type of riding we were doing . . .

. . .and of course ‘Designed in Waterioo, WI’ . . . just east of Madison. (but of course the bikes, like most others in the US, are all manufactured in China).

Great buildings in France. Even those that are closed have developed lots of character and a nice patina!!!!

People in France use bikes for lawn ornaments too, just like in rural WI . . .

Away we went to L’Isle sur la Sogure riding along typical roads and pathways we have followed all week.

. . . another old Roman bridge . . . no a modern highway, but lots of the bridges here have real panache!!!!

L’Isle sur la Sogure is built on an old swap that has been drained. The water table is still very high and a series of canals exist to to drain it . . . thus it is know as the ‘Venice of Provence’.

. . . nice views around every corner!!!

. . . some had boats right outside their door!!!

. . . and some of the canals were about as wide as a sidewalk . . . easy to borrow a cup of sugar from your neighbor.

The locals where big on feeding the ducks. In fact this had three loaves she tore and threw out to the birds. Most of the pieces she broke off were too big though and the ducks would pick them up and give them a Shake-Shake trying to break them apart before going to the next morsel.

The French are BIG on dogs. Both in popularity and in sizes. Many small bison freesia types but much more noticeable are the LARGE ones. This couple had three Newfoundlands and a lab. The lab looked like a pup next to them!!

. . . we arrived just about at lunch time and after a little shopping decided to eat . . . this was our restaurant of choice . . . located right on the main canal.

. . . plat du jour for most of us . . .

. . . but Bobbie had the BIG salad with cute little bacon rounds . . .

. . . four of us had the fish of the day as our plat along, preceded by a salad . . .

. . . I had the fish too but chose the post meal dessert rather than the salad. A little crème brulee, even at lunch, won’t hurt anyone!!!!

. . . after all the calories a little more walking and shopping was in order. Neil told us this was the town to shop in and the report back from the shoppers . . . it was a hit!!!

. . . lots of cute little shops . . .

. . . including a shop named Gary . . . where you can see their motto is ‘All you need is Gary’ . . . .

. . . and of course Bobbie couldn’t agree more!!!!!

This was a very unique way of advertising kids boot . . . a parade of puppys, made of their boots, leading right to their door . . .

. . . made from just stretching boots together . . .

. . . available in a variety of colors . . . FUN!!!

. . . still on the lookout for a ‘man scarf’ . . . I found a special section of ‘escharge de hommes’ . . . and bought one in my color family!!!!

Soon we were back on the road, heading upstream on the Sourge River to Fontaine de Vaucluse . . .

. . .a picturesque little town along the river, one of the min attractions is the Museum of the WWII French Resistance movement.

. . . of course it was all in French but we sort of got the idea. There were lots of interesting displays of life in rural France during WWII . . .

. . . including gas masks that were provided to citizens . . .

. . . with displays on how to properly wear one!!!

Oh . . . we’ve seen motorcycles on this trip, my nemesis from the Northern Tier ride, but BMW as been the brand of choice on the road. They are VEEEEERY quiet. No roaring Harleys . . . in fact, hopefully this is the next generation of cycles . . .