The Winding Paths of Provence

The theme for today, it seems, are the winding streets and roads of Provence.  Whilst it is very pretty; Tuscan like sandy coloured houses with red roofs against a bright blue sky, the roads are still meant for the old days when cars were none existent.  They are so narrow, that "Robert" the car just about fits.  I feel like today I've spent most of my day holding my breath and holding my stomach in, as though that will allow more space for the car to move through these tiny streets.

This morning we started our road trip in Chateauneuf du Pape. A pretty little town with hilly terrain and as the name implies, home to some ruins of a former Chateau.  It is also the home of some pretty pricey red wine.

Our visit of this town began with a stroll up the hill to see the ruins, the aerial views of the vineyards below and to build a thirst for the red wine.  Although the last part really required very little effort from the three of us.

We then went to the Museum du Vin, which had a couple of surprises; one it was free and two I managed to find a red wine that I like.  Apparently I like it spicy!  And typical that it comes with a pricey tag.

From here we tried to go to another vineyard to sample their wines.  But today, unknown to us is a religious day, therefore the vineyard wasn't open.  However, it did give us the opportunity to have some pictures taken of us frolicking amongst the vines, especially as there was no one around for miles.

In the afternoon, our road trip took us to even rockier terrain, Les Beaux.  If the streets of Chateauneuf were scary, then the road to Les Beaux was hair raising.  Tom Tom (our GPS) was adamant that it was a speed limit of 55mph going up the hill.  I was travelling at 19mph and that was pretty scary.  Tom Tom must have got it wrong.  Although, what made it worse was that people were zooming down the hill in the opposite direction.

Les Beaux is a stunning place and so different to what we have seen on this trip so far.  It's set up in the rocks is simply stunning and the view from the rocks is even better.  I now have a billion photos of vineyards, but I can't stop taking pictures of the scenery.

One of the things that I liked about Les Beaux was that you could walk around the fort and explore.  Ruth and I went up to the top of the fort to get an aerial view of the town.  At the top, I have to say, it was a little ropey.  Smooth rock, high winds and flip flops.  Not a good combination.  But we did make it safely back down.