Day 8 Saturday

My last ride in Provence was a beauty.  New roads & little traffic makes for a relaxing cycling.

 

Today's breakfast featured scrambled eggs with truffle oil.  Yummy!  

Saturday is market day in Apt, and it's a big one, so we headed into Apt seeking foods for our picnic lunch.  We bought a few other items too.

Parking is always a challenge on market day, often causing long walks, but one benefit is checking out all the cars of your fellow market shoppers.

I don't think Betty would fit in my suitcase.

After our picnic Joni and I drove to Velleron, about 30 km from Saint Saturnin, to return my rental bike to Hubert Flechais at Luberon Biking.  I've been renting from Hubert since 2009. He relocated his shop/home and was very proud to give me a tour of his new workshop.  Hubert noted that E-bikes have become his most popular bike.

Hubert

Returning from Hubert's, we had several hours to just rest before it was time to go to dinner which was at the Bisrtôt de Lagarde, which is located on top of the Vaucluse Plateau on property that was once the site of France's Cold War missile defense system.  

The restaurant is truly in the middle of nowhere and requires diners to navigate 11 km on an extremely steep route with many hair-pins.

Amuse bouche

Eggplant

Goat cheese

Quack, quack

Apricot and rosemary delight

The "coffee bean" trompe-l'œil.

Cheese plate

Joni and Pam unblocking my view of the four military pilots seated in the far corner.  We guessed their profession based on their build, haircuts, and the fact that a French/NATO airbase is very close to this restaurant.  As we left the restaurant we ended up speaking with one of the men who confirmed our guess.  He in fact worked for Raytheon.

Paul inspecting the portable credit card machine as the owner, Penelope,  looks on.  Penelope and her chef/husband, Lorenzo, do everything:  serve, cook, wash dishes, mop the floor, etc.  They were both delightful restauranteurs who clearly love what they do.  It would be easy to argue that "nobody does it better."