Bonnieux

Someday I want a cool door...

I really wish I knew how to drive a manual transmission car. I have learned the basics over and over every 2 years or so, but never really gotten beyond back roads where hopefully I can’t hurt anybody and with someone in the passenger seat to save me if need be. But now I find myself stuck in Lacoste looking out at lovely countryside just longing to be explored, waiting for Alan to have some free time to drive me somewhere. Sigh. At least my parents will be here in a week! Then I’ll have some company : )

Alan had his first class today from 4:30-7pm. He had to meet with teachers in the afternoon, so our only chance to go adventuring was for a little while in the morning before noon. And so we set off for Bonnieux, the village we can see out our windows. It’s less than 10 minutes by car, along a little winding road with nice views looking back at Lacoste. About half way there we passed two students obviously from SCAD, so we decided to take pity and offer them a ride, which they were very happy to accept! They had tried to find the walking trail but gotten lost as we had. Going by the road is about twice as far as the trail is supposed to be, plus you have to watch for cars, which is not so much fun.

New church with Mount Ventoux's
limestone peak in the background.

We parked at the bottom of the village and had a lovely two hours walking around the cobblestone streets. Bonniuex is at least twice as big as Lacoste, with many more shops, restaurants, and tourists. We even saw one couple pushing a pug in an obviously made-for-dogs stroller. Crazy! The old church is at the top of the hill, with great views of the valley as it is even higher than we are here in Lacoste. We were just leaving the viewing terrace below the church with the bell started tolling out the hour. There was a house with two dogs in the courtyard and the dogs started howling with the bell. It was 11 o’clock so it went of for a minute or two and was rather amusing, although probably not if you live there and they join in every hour. It made me miss Kira! They have lots of beautiful dogs here, and people seem to take them everywhere. I keep wanting to pet them all, but I don’t know how to ask in French, or know if it is a polite thing to do or not.

Alan looking back at Lacoste.

The old church

 We collected our two passengers and headed back to Lacoste for lunch, the SCAD-ites to their café and me to my mini-fridge and stove. Seriously, someone needs to tell me how people ate leftovers before microwaves? I had gotten a box (yes, everything over here comes in cartons!) of tomato soup, which works pretty well with just about any leftovers. I have had leftover pasta, ravioli, rice, and corn in it so far. But I am ready for something else for lunch! Alan brings me fruit and sometimes pastries from the café. The kitchen came equipped with a few staples, including nutella, which Alan thought was really funny. I told him you can’t be in Europe without eating it! There is nothing like it spread on a baguette fresh from the bakery down the street… so if I can’t figure out anything else I will always have that to fall back on!

The rest of the day was spent with Alan busy with class things and me reading guide books and planning all the things I want to do when he has the time to take me : )