Abbaye Notre-Dame de Sénanque and Gordes

Not far from Aix, is one of prettiest and most iconic places in all of Provence: the Abbaye Notre-Dame de Sénanque. The abbey was built in 1148 by Cistercian monks. A small group of them still live at the abbey today, farming lavender and tending honeybees. Every summer, people flock to this site to view one of the most spectacular displays of lavender. Pictures of the abbey are in every shop and guidebook in Provence. We were very eager to see it. Unfortunately, the lavender has still not bloomed. It was a cold start to the summer, even though the heat is raging now. We still had a very enjoyable time visiting the abbey. The drive to the abbey alone was incredible. Provence is impossibly beautiful. At the abbey, Madame Salade's arms proved to be too scandalous and was asked to wear a shawl. We paid for the tour, which was only available in French. The abbey is very simple and very beautiful. It was very interesting to see the stonemason's initials carved into the bricks which build the abbey. After the tour, we made a quick visit to the gift shop, where we purchased a local candy called nougat. Every bite tastes like a delicious spoonful of honey.

This is what the lavender will look like in a few weeks. (via Wikipedia)

After visiting the abbey, we headed over to the rocky cliff town of Gordes. This town is absolutely amazing. Above the village sits the Chateau de Gordes, a 12th century fortress. Rocky streets made from local river stones curve all around the town. Through buildings you get glimpses of the Provence countryside. Sunset against the town's gray stone and terra cotta buildings is especially striking. Gordes was one of the most active resistance villages in France during WWII and suffered heavy retaliation from Germany. It has been carefully restored and is up there with one of the most beautiful cities in France we have seen.

We strolled around Gordes. We walked over to a cool old church, stepping over the piles of dried lavender scattered in front (Provence's equivalence of birdseed at a wedding, perhaps?). The kids were tired and everyone was getting hungry, so we searched for a bite to eat. It's a small town and many of the restaurants were closed or too pricey for us. We eventually found a lovely, unpretentious cafe with a patio. Monsieur Bacon tried "râble de lapin à la moutarde" (roasted rabbit with mustard) for the first time and really enjoyed it. You know what we're going to say, right? Tasted like chicken. After dinner, he told the waitress that was the first rabbit he had tried, that Americans typically don't eat rabbit. We later heard her incredulously asking the cook if he knew that Americans don't eat rabbit! On our way back to the car, we ducked through a shady park where we heard a choir practicing through open windows nearby. We sat and listened for awhile, watching the sun move across the fields outside of town. In case this sounds all too romantic, we also pulled a stick away from our daughter, who had been using it to root through dog crap and then doused her in Purrell. Travel with kids, folks.

Probably not a lot of out-of-shape people lived here before cars.