Provence: Day Three - Rainy Day

Moustiers-Sainte-Marie to Rousillon to Apt
Monday, April 12


We hit the road Monday morning with the intention of spending the first half of the day in the little town of Rousillon about 2 hours away.  The pigment in the soil in this area of France is insanely rich in color, ranging from the deep reds to the burning yellows, and they call this soil the ocres.  The plan was to walk the small streets of the town, do a short hike through a natural park showcasing the ocres, and have a little lunch.  Nasty weather made it difficult to enjoy the first two, so we decided to put it off till the next day and hope for better weather.  Eating, however, is doable indoors, so eat we did, some delicious aioli. Aioli is a garlic concoction of wonderful lovingly made to add flavor to the vegetables that have historically held center-plate in this region of France.  It is to die for if you love garlic, and we do.

From there it was back to Apt to spend the next couple of nights between day trips elsewhere in that delightful dorm room atmosphere.  With the rain pouring down outside we felt justified in having a little downtime with some BBC.  Sadly, this was when we learned about the plane crash the previous Saturday that killed 96 people in Russia, including Poland's president and his wife.

The next news story was about the big fashion show in Instanbul, highlighting the newest trends to hit a mostly Muslim part of the world when it comes to swim wear.  Apparently modesty meets glamor is on the rise, and the demand for bathing clothes that cover the woman's body while fitting closely enough to show her curves isn't far behind.  With 1.5 billion Muslims at hand, this could mean some serious shopping and some serious bucks for these designers.

As rainy days go, we lazed about until dinner time, when indulged in more fabulous escargot, delightful roasted eggplant with goat cheese, yummy duck and my absolute have-so-much-trouble-finding favorite, scallops!  The service, also amazing.

Oh, it was an indulgent day, it was.