My plan for today was to enjoy a meandering drive through this area of the Haut Vaucluse area of Provence. My first stop was going to be the Dentelles of Montmirail, a strange toothy-looking hilly region surrounded by vineyards producing Gigondas wine. I drove up to the Dentelles and was surprised by the volume of traffic on the roads - it was, after all, pretty early on a Sunday morning. When I got there, however, it all made sense... Apparently there was some kind of race on that day and I wasn't allowed to park and go for a walk! How's that for timing?! And it looked so pretty too!
So, I turned the camper around and was driving away when I spotted a sign to a place called Beaumes de Venise. I thought it sounded interesting so I drove in to have a look. Unfortunately, it wasn't that interesting a place, so I took only a couple of photos. But there was a supermarket there to pick up some supplies, and I sat in the carpark and studied my map for a bit.
The place I went to next would not have happened without my good, old-fashioned paper map book. I was looking in my book for somewhere to head to next, since my plan to hike in the Dentelles was foiled, and a place called Le Barroux had a little "viewpoint" icon next to it. Usually I'm not really into views like that, as I would prefer pretty buildings or something else (closer!), but it had a nice name and so I decided to drive up and have a look.
I am so very glad that I did too!
It was not easy to get a parking spot and I ended up following signs to a chateau at the top of the hill the town was built on. Thankfully, there were a couple of spaces for cars on the side of the road so I parked up there and went to have a look. Even from my parking spot I was glad I had made the detour, as the view from the viewpoint was divine!
I ventured down into the village when I'd had enough of gazing over the red rooftops. It was so pretty, I had not expected such a gem of a place! Definitely made me feel better about missing my hike in the Dentelles that morning. I spent ages ducking down all the little pedestrian streets, determined not to miss a thing!
The next stop was Sault, but I wanted to drive through the mountains a bit to get there so set the GPS to Flassan. From the road, I could see the famous Mont Ventoux mountain, so stopped to take a photo. And that's where I'll leave this post for now, as I've got a long story for you for the next post, including breaking down (yes, AGAIN! I broke down last time I hired a camper van...).
