Today we left Avranches for Provence and spent about 10 hours on the road. We ate lunch at a “Quick Burger” and a Mini Mart for dinner. We ate a lot of junk food on our road trip, chips, chocolate and ice cream. Gas was 66 euros for 2 fill-ups and about 40 euros for various toll roads.

At 7:00 PM, we realized we were still several hours away from our B&B destination, Mas des Deux Puits in Bonnieux. We bought a phone card and called the owner, Christian. At 10:00 PM, we were poking along the dark country roads of Provence, and finally got there at 10:30. Our room was even nicer than I’d imagined. Beautiful antique furniture, pretty bed linens, big stone floors and a huge shower. Our bedroom window was open and cicadas were serenading us. We slept like babies and woke up at 9:00 AM the next day.

At breakfast, Christian gave us the low-down on the area as we ate breakfast. Croissants, apples, oranges, juice, granola with macadamia nuts, yogurt, and homemade breads and confit. YUM! He told us about a concert the following night in Bonnieux and suggested some restaurants including Le Fournil and Le Tenil. We had him make a reservation for dinner for us at 7:30. There were some snooty Brits at breakfast who, when I asked them where they were from, responded, “Where am I from or where do I live?” Meh. We finished our leisurely breakfast and decided to head to Avignon. First, here are some more pics of the lovely grounds of Mas des Deux Puits.

Avignon was a pretty cool town… It’s most famous for its bridge, the Pont d’Avignon. We ate lunch in a public park, sandwiches from a shop at 6 euros each and sodas. As we were eating, a homeless person was using the park’s fountain to freshen up. 🙂 In town, we passed a Mephisto shoe shop and I got some sandals that I’d seen at Nordstrom just before we left. Even with the exchange rate, they were cheaper to buy here.

It was about 1:30 and Marc wanted to go back to the mas and chill, but we decided to press on. We should’ve listened to him… It was so hot! We went to Orange and looked around at various sites including the roman amphitheater.

We got back to the mas at 6:00 PM and had a quick swim before we got ready for dinner. We had the pool to ourselves and the water felt like heaven! Then we went to Le Tinil for dinner.

Le Tenil would end up being our most memorable meal of the trip. We were treated to spectacular views of the town of Bonnieux, and a spectacular sunset. I ordered the scallops, duck with figs and squash, and a chocolate cookie and ice cream. Hubby ordered the scallops, the lam chops and the orange gelee. We split a bottle of wine and dinner was 72 euros for two of us.

Go on the next part of the journey!