On rare occasions, you have a day that is just perfect, from beginning to end. We had one of those today, which we really needed after the prior evening, which was an unpleasant manifestation of too-much-family-togetherness over the past month, and after our poor night's sleep, thanks to the cat, which alternated sitting outside our window and mewing and sitting outside our bedroom door and mewing. We would consider locking him in the garage, but he has a cat door and so can go in and out as he pleases; we expect another evening of persistent mewing tonight. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
We decided to explore an area about 25 miles from here, including the edge of an area called the "Montagne Noir," because it was relatively close by and offered both towns and outdoor recreation. The weather was absolutely perfect today; a front had gone through and blown the clouds away, and the morning air was cool and fresh. Suzie made a picnic lunch and we headed east through the little valley below our house, through the beautiful rolling countryside.
Our first destination was a town called Revel. Known for its furniture and cabinet-making, the town also has a covered market in its center that was built in the 14th century. As luck would have it, we arrived on market day, and under and around the central market, large numbers of vendors were selling all different types of food -- cheese, meat, sausages, vegetables and fruits of all sorts, chickens, bread and pastries, and specialty items. The streets around the market were packed with people, and the vendors were loudly calling out their bargains -- Two euros for a kilo of green beans!" "melons for a euro each!" These pictures capture the sense of it.
At the stand in the first picture above, they were selling olives and pickled or cured garlic of some sort. As a garlic lover, this picture is very moving to me:
(Although it didn't taste quite as good as I thought it would, as it was pickled and I don't like pickles that much.) After walking around the market and spending more than we had anticipated (including purchasing what turned out to be the best bread we've had since we've been in France, a loaf of rustic, slightly moist and chewy white bread that was fantastic), we retreated to a cafe for some drinks. Suzie was extremely surprised when the bill for our four drinks (two lattes, a Diet Coke, and an iced tea) came to 4.20 euros, since, as she noted, we've spent more than that in Paris on a single latte. Also at that stop, Suzie took a rare photo of me.
Leaving Revel, we had a short, pretty drive up in to the nearby hills/mountains to our second destination, the Bassin de St-Ferreol, a reservoir surrounded by a pretty recreation area. My Water Agency colleagues will be interested in the fact that this reservoir is the oldest reservoir in France -- the dam was constructed between 1667 and 1672 and required the employment of over 1000 men, women, and children -- and for many years was the largest reservoir in Europe. It was constructed to provide water for the Canal du Midi, which runs from Toulouse to the Mediterranean Sea. Shockingly, it did not go through the CEQA process, or the NEPA process, or any other process ... Louis XIV decided it would be built, and it was built. Beautiful.
Around the reservoir are fairly gently sloping pine forests, which make for a nice change on a warm day from the beach closer to the water. We found a private spot and enjoyed Suzie's terrific picnic lunch -- bread and cheese, fresh tomatoes, grapes, sausages, and some leftovers from the prior day, followed by some pastries we'd bought in Revel for dessert. Excellent. (My apologies on the following picture to my son Will, but this was the best of the three I took....)
After lunch, Suzie and I walked up and checked out the dam. The more interesting and pretty spots were below the dam, where water was released to provide flow in the little river. This area included several waterfalls and a large fountain.
The view from the top the the dam was beautiful and blue....
After our hike to and around, we were hot, so it was time for a swim, which was perhaps the highlight of the day, floating in the cool, (relatively) clean water underneath a warm sun and a perfect blue sky:
Eventually we were ready to leave our pretty little spot.
Our next and final destination was a small, very old village called Soreze, which was first founded in the 9th century. It was also very beautiful, but it is late here and I am running out of steam (too relaxed, maybe), so I will post pictures from that place tomorrow. Once again, for you Google Map fans, I'm putting below a map showing the places we were today, so you can get a sense of place.
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